The Nipping Pony

Q: I have a 3 yr old filly that is my daughters placement pony, now MacKenzie and Kayleigh get along GREAT most of the time, but Kenzie has this bad habit every now and then of reaching back and nipping whomever is touching her. And every time she has done it, it as been unprovoked, and very very random. Since there is no set trigger so far, I am not sure how to stop this behavior. Any suggestions?


A: 3 years old is still a baby BUT *should* be old enough to know that human critters aren't teething rings! Sounds like this is more of a way to cope with annoyance, however, than teething. Although remember, 3 year olds are still teething! At any rate ... I use Clicker Training to teach a horse not to bite or nip simply by allowing them to run into my finger on the side of the face and when the horse turns its head back forwards I click and reward. I also use the verbal cue "Face!" You can teach this separately from the nipping behavior and then when the pony goes to nip, tell her,"FACE!". Then be sure to CT her when she does "face".
I also will play with a nipping pony's or horse's mouth, A LOT! I will pretty much do so with the attitude of, "OH, so you want to get your teeth and mouth working? OK! Let's do it!" and I will vigorously massage the nostrils, the lips, the muzzle, stick my fingers (carefully) into the side of the mouth to "play piano" on the tongue and will keep doing it until the pony or horse starts to say, "Nooooooo! Stop it!!! You're making me crazy!!!!!" and then I'll keep doing it a bit more. *grin* So, everytime the horse or pony goes to "nip", I'll say, "EH! - FACE!" and then play with the mouth and tongue a bit. That being said, however, this is dependant upon the attitude of the horse or pony when nipping. A 3 year old is still going to be teething as I said. So *my* attitude is going to be different with a teething pony than with a deliberate nip out of annoyance. Your attitude will make all the difference in the world - more so than the actual "exercise" to face. With a pony that's nipping my attitude is more of a "teaching" attitude while with a bonafide biter or nipper I have an assertive attitude of authority. My attitude is directly corresponding to the attitude of the nipper/biter at this point. So, try teaching the "Face!" and using your click/bridge and treat to reinforce the lesson. Let us know how you do!