# Horse bites while grooming



## KatieNZ (May 10, 2007)

Hey,
My horse wont stop trying to bite me while i'm grooming him. It doesnt matter what im doing he always tries to nip me, as soon as i look at him when he does it or put my hand up he quickly turns around. Its always only little nips, but it is still annoying. He used to just do it when I did his girth up but now its all through getting him ready. I use soft brushes and I dont brush him hard enough to hurt... any suggestions why he is doing this? and how to stop it?


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## meggymoo (Mar 10, 2007)

Umm, does it matter which part of the body you are grooming? Is he maybe trying to groom you back?
Does he still nip when you do the girth up? Its just a horse will normally nip when being girthed up if it causes discomfort etc Not saying that it is that but might be worth while looking into.


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## Dave Singleton (May 3, 2007)

It sounds as if your horse could be doing it for attention, is he usually an attention seeker? It could also be that he is a little bored in which case you want to see if you can keep him occupied, you know your horse best with this. Finally, it could simply be that he is showing affection to you or trying to groom you in return. When horses groom eachother they will often start around the girth - stifle area and it could just be that he thought you were grooming him when you were putting his saddle on.

Dave

PS - It could also just be a horsey quirk. A horse I know will quite often turn round and nudge me on the bum/lower back when I am picking his off-side fore foot out! He doesn't nudge me hard enough to unbalance me so I just let him amuse himself although I'm not eactly sure why he does it!


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## HaflingerCowGirl (May 10, 2007)

I had a friend how had a horse who nipped for fun and they took a breath freshener(the red spicy kind)and everytime the horse tried to nip the would spray him in the muzzle area.It worked for him so it might be worth a try.


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## NirvanaRider (Mar 28, 2007)

You could be not doing it hard enough, you could be lingering on one area for too long, he could just be very sensitive, he could be impatient, he could just be wanting attention. When my mare gets impatient and nips in my direction, I just go and bite her on the cheek. A couple times of this and she knocks it off. Try different things, go harder, go quicker & dont linger, just dont groom him (if he is overly sensitive), play with him, talk with him & play radio while you are grooming, try biting him on the cheek (not hard) or you could hold a tack between your fingers and everytime his head comes around puit your hand up so he bumps the tack. That is more extreme in my opinion, that is more for bad behaviour.


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## DesertGal (Apr 28, 2007)

I had a gelding who did this. He was in pain, and he just didn't want to be touched. He had arthritis, although it wasn't bad enough to see... His gait was normal, etc. Once I realized he hurt, and gave him some meds for it he started enjoying his grooming. Stopped being cinchy too. 

Don't know if this applies to your guy, but thought I would mention it.


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