Horses that Bite - How to Fix Anything With Horses presented by Elite Horsemanship 

This is great! I have a 3 year old who has this playful biting problem, and after this, I was able to get him to respect me. he would barely be able to walk with a halter and lead because he would get too close and bite clothes, but after this he just started respecting and is a much easier horse to handle. Thanks!

I don’t do anything that has to do with horses, but I watched this whole thing.

I love that there’s no hitting or abuse, awesome. I’m gonna try this today

I worked with a rescued appy that had been gelded after being labeled too aggressive after he had been used for breeding til he was 10. He was donated to an organization that taught handicapped kids to ride for therapy. They'd been holding nails in their hands when leading him!! I spent about 1 hour in a box stall making him move every time he got nippy after that we were besties. He ended up being my all time favorite horse that I've ever worked with. I could trail ride him bareback with a halter and he became a great lesson horse.

I have been doing this for years without actual taught, now that I know the reasoning behind it, it makes a lot of sense!

Awesome brilliant explanation in a very short video. Massive thx !

I’ve been working with a 2 year old filly that bites and kicks and this really helped me

Having just had a beginning riding class where the very first thing the horse nipped me, this is really great. I was looking for how the person introducing me to horse care would handle being nipped. When they did NOTHING I was really baffled...was this nipping behavior just endured? I knew THAT couldn't be correct. THIS gives me substantial actions to engage the horse so that it can't think about continuing biting yet works toward showing that you as the rider are in control, not the horse. Frankly, after witnessing how the other person did nothing, I thought I might not continue taking the class. If they couldn't stop the horse's bad behavior, how could I? This shows me that to cause the horse to move backward engages the horse's mind so that they're influenced to feel you're the dominent one without abuse. Thank you so much! After all increasing fear in this world, whether fear in the rider or the horse isn't enjoyable for either party. Much better to show who's in control by thoughtful application of behavior modification.

I love the Parelli influence here...considering the psychology of the horse. Good job sir and thank YOU for making the world a better place for horses.

I hope the readers understand the the level 4 correction of hitting the rope IS a physical correction. Hitting the rope pulls the rope, the horse feels it. Physical corrections ARE needed in training, regardless if they are sugar coated by hitting the rope. I typically only need sound of the whip pop. But some people believe ANY physical correction is "violent" or "cruel". No. They are necessary, and to be used by trained people, with a plan and purpose. Know the difference between physical correction and abuse. Stop lumping the two together. Good video btw.

I like this guy lol he's making me feel like I can be more confident around horses

Woww when you were throwing the whip around and your horse was totally relaxed that showed me that you are a good horseman and really the horse doesn’t fear you he respects you. Love it

would love to see this with a horse that actually bites.

There was one horse in riding school I'll never forget. His name was Rex. He never bit me but he had a thing about grabbing one of my coat buttons, flattening it but not pulling it off and then lifting his lip like he was laughing at me. And he loved to step on my foot. He wouldn't get off no matter how hard I pushed until I asked politely for him to get off my foot and a light push got him off. I'd say hello to Rex and he's slam me with his nose. I loved that horse. He knew I needed more time to get on him as short as I am and he'd stand and wait. Other people he'd start moving and it took them so long to get on him. When I see videos of horses I think fondly of Rex. If he ever bit anyone he never bit me. But he sure liked to flatten my coat buttons!

What a fabulous video for all level of trainers...very impressive, a lovely relaxed manner you have and an excellent way of explaining the method and theory of the situation...i have been training horses naturally for 30 plus years and still learn new ways constantly, thank you

You can tell his horse has great respect for him and is not afraid of these demonstrations. I used a similar technic on a horse that was aggressive when I got him and now use him for demonstrating also. Best horse I ever had.

I have a 2 1/2 year old friesian percheron cross. I had issues a couple wks ago over him pushing by me to get in his stall for his hay. I brought him immediately out and backed him up big time down the barn isle and he got it..he respected me he waited. It really works. You don't have to beat your horse to get respect. I also longe him like when he wouldn't give me his ft to clean and he changed his attitude.

4 type, when horse mistakes your hands for food.

I like this Guy he talks sense. I have been doing exactly what he just demonstrated with my horse. He was biting, I kept attracting his attention to something else while all the time backing him up everytime he tried to bite or wasn't listening to my commands or paying attention to me. Now he is terrific and and improving each day. It only takes a little while each day even a few times a day. Just Small steps .

Excellent video, we're dealing with an 8 year old Canadian that the previous owner spoiled. I've been riding for 40 years and this is exactly what needs to be done with our spoiled 1100 lb "boss". I can see through his body language that he thinks he's dominant, thanks for the refresher.

This is all nice but... The method should be demonstrated on a horse that actually bites. This arabian isn't doing anything wrong and he doesn't understand why is he getting all this disciplining from the human. And of course he doesn't bite the human after backing up, because he wasn't biting before! But please show a horse that was biting, and then it stops biting after backing up.

Excellent video! Thank you for such straightforward, no bs explanations! Please do more

This is one of the best equestrian videos on RU-vid. A very sincere thank you for making it!😃

Thank you. I have an aggressive yearling, and this demonstration makes me feel like I can have the confidence to correct it.

I work on a farm in Kentucky I have two Mares that attempted to bite me when I'm grooming them down. This looks good I'm going to try it out when I do it again today.

I have been a loss to stop my horse from biting and this has been helping me a lot. 😁😁

I'll have to use this for my boy Wick. He is around 20 and was owned by an abusive family. I've gotten him so quiet these past few months but the biting is still there if I'm trying to ground mount or if im moving him from a place he was grazing. But he has gone from kicking, rearing, charging, biting and pushing to just every now and again nips. He is a lot better spookiness now. I just ponied him next to my SxS RZR that is very loud and bright and has lots of things to spook at but he was so trusting that we walked for about a half mile yesterday and he was chill the whole time

This is helpful, thank you. I have a yearling filly who has recently been testing boundaries. I've tried a few things (no hitting, ever, though) and will now also try backing her up when she gets nippy. The Arabian in the video is beautiful, btw.

My horse is 18 and just recently started biting me playfully, but constantly. Can’t wait to try this!

Everything is about understandin the horses natural behaviours. So many people want to ride like professionals, but don't want to really learn about the basics. Thats sad and unfair 😑 I Like the way you explain all that stuff ❤

Wow very good I've got a Shetland pony and he always nippled on me when I wanted to get him out of the box and after 2 days he stopped that thanks😊

I have dealt with defense biting more than I care to count because I used to be a rescuer. Every time they have bit, they bite then run. Never was out of wanting to be mean. They was just scared. They never stayed and attacked. The most fearful horses I received was from the Amish. I always tried to teach my space and to keep butt away from me as 1st steps. I miss having land to use for rescue. I unfortunately had to move to the city. People, please work the tools and whips around them a little at a time. Don't immediately go out and whip the ground next to your horse. I am a big believer in knowing how to train a horse before owning one. I also had several horses gave up to me or dumped in a park because the horse was smarter than it's owner.

Wow. Great video. Love the way you handle that horse.

Good video. I’ll work on this situation tomorrow.

Could hear what you are saying better without the music.

I share Equine Reiki with a five-years-old, male rescue horse who bites. It is a continuous problem. I need this horse to stand calmly while I share this Reiki. I am here to learn. I will share this with his owner. Thank you.

My horse is a 12 year old connemara. He likes to bite other horses that are near him, chase them and pin his ears back when they go past him, he also bites when there is feed around. I don't what it means?

This is so helpful! I’ve been tapping my horse on her nose and I can’t believe the progress she made in such i short amount of time

Very nice! I liked this a lot, I agree 100. I always get so upset when I see recommendations to smack the horse. The worse I saw was hold a needle in between your fingers and poke them with needle when they go to bite. I will be sharing this video!

I have an Andalusian (actually Azteca) gelding, who is very dominant with people (broke my toe when I was leading him, because he gets so close), and was very mouthy. We had him to one trainer who quit on us. He said he never rode him, because he was unpredictable--but the horse hated him, because he slapped him every time he tried to bite. The second trainer worked on him for a whole month just to get him to stop "biting," (doesn't bite hard--he's very mouthy). This is the first time I have seen the dominance issue addressed as the primary motivation and the cure prescribed. My son usually works with him after I broke my toe, but I will get the steel toed boots out and try this once the snow melts!

It does stop the biting but it will not build a real honest friendship, imagine if this was the case with another human? They would respond but no room for building a true bond, horses are way smarter than what we think, it's a sacred amazing animal and it should be treated as such!! Not trying to be just negative but just offering an opportunity for even better ways to deal with horses! May the horse be with you!!

I think this is one of the best training videos I have seen. My only issue is that excessive backing can lead to rearing. Maybe less backing and more hip and feet moving. Backing is very foreign to a horse.

I recently bought a wonderful 9 month old pinto lusitano stallion! He's a gorgeous baby and has an amazing character, but he's awfully mouthy... (In a playful manner) I'm looking forward to trying out this method soon! Let's see how it goes :")

I cannot wait to try this tomorrow with our horse. My horse has been nipping now BITING at me ALL WEEK! Can’t wait to see if this works!

Just to clarify, some of the content in this video is applicable for dangerous and aggressive horses. You should not get aggressive with a playful or young horse. Thanks.

Thank you! You have really helped me a lot !!!

Lesson: don't hit the horse. move its feet. And desensitize your horse.

Very good tip for horses who bite. Desentise is a key with all horses Thank you very much for the lesson. 😁👌🏻 I 'll try with a thoroughbred mare (5 years old) who was a race horse and bites rather often. Not myself, strangely. We have a kind of bond, since we met. I put off her halter one day she put it till an eye, eating crazy with a too short rope. That was the moment she could have bitten me badly but she was so grateful I made her rid of it! We started to really meet. She loved my caresses. Now she loves my apples too.. Not the same thing. She 's older, one year later. Unfortunately I fell two times when riding her. I used to be a good rider in my young years. Now my balance is not very good. Bad knees. She was never guilty, some riders fear her. I do not understand. Some are silly jealous, girls riders !!! 😅😅 Anyway the last time I saw her, she was unhappy with me, standing in front of her with another rider. She nipped me, not very strongly. I showed her my finger saying NO. She stepped back. All went ok. Later I was again in her stall to say good bye and she did not looked at me, only eating. I took this as a proof of confidence, that she knew it was me. I caressed her neck tenderly and she did not stopped eating too. I most of the time speak to her with a soft voice. She 's a stressed, nervous horse and I don't know what happened to her during her race horse career... I fear she was hurt mentally and physically unfortunately. I love her a lot but with health issues I can not go horse riding or simply go walking at the moment. I cross fingers that it will go better soon.🤞🏻😉🐎💓

U solved my problem 😃. Thanks a lot.

Great Great job i learned alot from your video. Thanks

Thanks for the college I'm trying to handle a Stud/Stallion and I'm trying to get to listen to me so he doesn't get too nippy this is a good example. 🙏🐴🏆👏

I needed this, I was told to hit their mouth to stop them but it has not worked at all.

And what I should do if my horse started to bite only in her stall? I have an unexperienced horse for 6 months now, she was never aggressive towards me, she let me touch her anywhere, but lately she tried to kick my friend and she bit me when I tried to clean her feet in the stall ( I cleaned 2 right legs and moved to another side to clean her left front, she bit me in my elbow when I asked her to pick up her left front foot). She never did that before when I cleaned her in the stall, she is never aggressive during training, on the pasture, in the roundpen etc. I did clean her feet in all those places before to get her used to me doing it in a different circumstances and she never showed any aggression towards me so I don't think this is a defense reaction. When she bit me my reaction was to rise my hands and make her back up, was that correct? then I took a lead rope, took her out of her stall and finished cleaning her feet in a more open space - she did not try to bit me again there. How am I supposed to get her feet moving in the stall? It wouldn't be an instant reaction if I have to take her outside so I don't know if she will connect the work that she had to do with the fact that she bit me a few minutes earlier.

Can’t wait to try this on my mustang who has recently started biting while being groomed.

How do you stop a horse from biting if they are in the crossties and you can't back them up??

Thank you 🙏❤🐴 so much I have one that gets pushy I'll work with your ideas

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS ADVISE, I’m going to try it from now on. I have a rude 4 year old stallion :)

This is a great easy to understand video. Would you suggest this for a cinch you horse or know that is sour about being tacked up?

Excessive backing can lead to rearing...so maybe not so much backing and more feet and hip moving. Not a fan of rope wiggling" No need to do that when backing the horse. "Rope wiggling" whatever you call it, irritates the horse....you would get the same effect by just walking in on him with the whip. But, nice video. One of the better videos. You got right to the point. Really helpful. Thank you.

Omg, are we in 1970? Using backing a horse up as discipline is contradictory to actually wanting your horse to back up. No where in this video do i see this horse enjoying himself with this guy. Horse is unrelaxed and who wants their horse fearful?

Best video on this problem

Awesome looking boy! The horse is pretty, too!

Fantastic tips! Much obliged

Thank you wonderful video, explained v well.

I have a 10 year old mare and when I put the saddle on she trys to bit me. I will try this out thanks

My problem is that horse #1 taught horse #2 to bite - only other horses never humans. Horse number #1 passed away an now horse #2 is biting horse #3. They used to be good friends. Horse #3 is old and tries to kick but can’t do it. Other than separate paddocks or a muzzle what can I do?

I never had to break in a horse thankfully. My mom however had to help with that among other things on the farm for awhile long after she married to a tradesman for living in the city and once she did get thrown off. I did too when about 4 years old once when the poor horse was overburdened with us 3 children. My aunti Rita just wasn't very good at estimating how much all 3 of us weighed on that horse all at the same time. Yea I know. What can you expect from a bunch of city kids while expecting only a harried pre-teen to babysit while minding the farm outdoors for a while too. My grandfather was so used to working hard while growing up in Germany until emigrating during the late 1920's and continued to do so while encouraging the rest of us to do the same. To expect things to go smooth all the time during adversity is not what I would call preventative medicine.Which is why everyone has to find their own training a horse style. In my case that meant spending a little time asking the horse handler a lot of questions first before starting to ride a new horse I haven't ridden before while not being able to take any formal paid lessons and because I did that in a polite manner I was lucky enough in getting a well broken in horse all the time at first.

This is what is known as "positive punishment", which doesn't really mean you punish the horse but just that you want to discourage a behavior and add something to get that (you put pressure and then release). Another great way to train is "positive reinforcement", which I have seen being very usseful for aggressive horses when they bite being saddle, in this case you can put a target, reward the horse when they touch the target with their mouth and having that target away from you and with the horse knowing they can get something good out of just keep their face there you can saddle or whatever without any issue as the horse will be focus on keep its face on the target to get the reward over bite you to make you move away haha... I would recommend that for everybody as it makes the whole situation much easier and nice for both horse and human but especially for people that is new around horses and might feel a bit insecure as this way you don't really need to show "who is the boss" :) I am not saying your method is bad, there are just different ways. You are more of following the way horses comunicate with each other but I always had this idea of I am not as strong as a horse which doesn't mean I can't tell them what I want them to doI just should have a different way to comunicate with them :)

Lmao. I don't regret seeing this video with this guy in it. xD

I don’t own a horse or know jack shit about horses but I saw a TikTok of a guy getting bit by a horse and then I watched this whole video just for the KNOWLEDGE 😂😂

What to do if it happens in an environment where you cant back etc. Like in the stalls, on the standing area where the horse is partly tied etc.?

Great advice

I don't know if my horse is biting with a playful mode... when i ride her then she would stop and try to bite my legs... i do not know how hard she bites because when she comes to bite, i dodge... because i am scared that she will bite me ...

How do you put a halter on such horse? Thanks!!

You are a horseman. Not too many people in the horse world with your level of understanding of a horse.

Excellent discussion and video of these concepts. Only a few horse people understand these concepts and know how to put them into practice like you do. Well done. What is the type of lead line that you are using? Is it sail line?

Ever observe what you or others do ...when they're anxious /scared? Mouth gets dry we swallow and possibly lick our lips. I see this sign described as 'the horse is understanding or accepting something. It's just a reaction to the stress that they were in. Kinda like taking a deep breath after the heartrate has risen is a tense situation. This horse obviously did need all that ...and ya it would have been nice to see this on a horse that actually has the problem. Beautiful Arabian btw ;)

Where have you been

This trainer makes total sense to me! Wonderful!

That is a very good natured horse haha! Thank you for this video

So I understand the principle of what you are saying, but to demonstrate these techniques on a horse who isn't doing anything wrong is so confusing to that horse, which I think is why he showed you his teeth while you were backing him up. Backing doesn't have to be 1/4 mile at a time to be effective - several steps can be enough. And jerking on the lead to back him up after you were scratching on him is frustrating as well - he doesn't understand this is a demonstration, all he knows is that he was standing politely and his handler suddenly went batshit crazy on him.

I'm good with your philosophy, but how did you get the halter on in the first place? Some won't allow that.

Amazing trainer and horse 🤩

Great video!

Thank you. Very helpfull

I’m going to try this in the morning, I’ll let you know how I go 😊

Hey i just acquired two thouroghbreed mares and they really dont like the lead and brush i noticed you talked about de sanitizing them to your tools what would be the best way in doing so also really like the video and your methods definitely going to attempt this with the younger mare to stop the nibbling thank you!!!

Please make more videos!!!

Could you please do a video with horses who threaten to kick a lot?? I have a kill pen mare and she is nippy and threatens to kick. I back her up when she faces me but she is very fast.

Hello and thank you for your calm and discussion-based video. I have had a million horses yet, the current one is the only one I have seen bite. She bit the farrier out of both defensiveness and aggression. This is NOT normal behavior for her so while I fired him for his poor approach to her, I want to make sure that she does not do this again. I understand there needs to be correction but at the same time, I do not want her to fear me. Can you help me?

The problem is, I lease my horse, so I don't see her on a regular basis (I see her twice a week) and I'm not in contact with the other leaser or the schooling students that ride her, what should I do?

Fantastic! Thank you! 🎄🥂

Beautiful Boy 🦄 very helpful thank you for posting 🙌🏼

Amazing! I'll definantley try this method! :D sorry for my bad English! :P

I have a Welch pony that I'm teaching my four year old daughter to ride. She is a sweetheart with no bucks or spooks and if I'm out there I don't even need a lead rope, she just follows me around. But when I just stand there and my daughter tries to get her going on her own,( kick/tap her side) the horse turns and tries to bite her. How would I break her of that?

Great! Thank you! What can you tell me about my horse that is starting to pin his ears? He did this before he tried to bite me...

I've started working at a stable. One of the horses is very nippy. He will be at the gate, turning his head sideways, and chomping the air. I have to feed and water him, and I've been lucky enough - but I know it won't last forever.. from getting out of having to muck his stall. I did have to fix his blanket strap today. He was a bit head flingy. I was slow and gentle to fix it. But after that I was out of his stall fast. After I made it out, I lingered outside of his stall and he had his head poking out the gate. I spoke softly and tried giving him some pets. I let him smell my hand and he ended up grabbing my jacket sleeve in his mouth. I had to force my arm downward to get free from him. So my question is, how do I handle a horse who is un-haltered?

I have a new 4 year old welsh section d , he has no manners and thinks I’m a horse I’ve worked so hard with him to build my trust with him and get him to respect me but he still bites and he’s pierced my skin a few times now and I’m at my wits end with him it’s only on the morning he does this before he goes out to graze , he has no patience at all , he’s worse when I’m trying to put his rugs on in the morning he constantly goes to bite me and he means it too , he shakes his head all over the place too , he’s huge compared to me and knows it too , even though I’m not scared of him at all , I really don’t know what else to do xx

Nice. Thanks. What about horses biting before your even halter them? How do u halter them?

Thank you for good videos. I have a very sweet and calm 1 year old, he does not bite me, but he bites the children and other people. How do I fix that? Do I need to teach my 7-year old daughter to do this work with him? And some other people too, so he learns it. Or is there another way? I'm thinking, maybe he eventually grow out of it if I do nothing, but I do not like this behaviour, and I could get to be a habit.