Posted: 7th July 2014 | Back to news feed
This month we get some great advice from the team at Parelli Natural Horsemanship on the steps to take if your horse or pony nips and bites when saddling up.
My horse tries to nip or bite me while I’m saddling, what can I do?
Of course in any instance like this, the first thing to check is that your saddle fits properly and there are no physical issues. This article assumes that these things have already been checked.
All horses are naturally claustrophobic to a greater or lesser extent so it is easy for them to become worried or upset about something that constricts them like the saddle, the girth or even a rug.
To help this problem we would use the principle of ‘approach and retreat’ that is part of the Friendly Game, the first of the Parelli seven games.
Set yourself up in an area where you and your horse can move easily with a headcollar and rope to allow your horse to drift. This is to allow your horse to feel that he can move away when or if he wants. This exercise is not about simply getting the saddle on but changing the horse’s opinion of the saddling process.
The first step is to see what happens when you approach your horse holding the saddle. If they need to drift, allow it, wait until they have stopped. Start again, repeat over and over until you can walk up to your horse holding the saddle and he doesn’t move. Allow your horse to sniff the saddle and check it out thoroughly. When your horse can stand still when you walk up to them you are ready to go to the next step.
Swing the saddle up towards your horse’s back but don’t put it on! This will be the last thing your horse expects. If your horse moves while you are swinging the saddle wait until he can stand still, repeat until you can swing the saddle towards your horses back and he can stand still.
Repeat this process with swinging the saddle and resting it on your horses back (keep a hand on your saddle while it’s rested on your horses back to stop it falling). Get to where you can rest the saddle on your horse’s back and take it off all without him moving.
Next it’s time for the girth, take hold of the girth and hold it round your horses middle, if your horse moves or goes to bite, put them off this idea by waving your hand or arm up and down. As soon as they stop and stand still release the girth. Play with this until you can start to do the girth up with no fuss.
When doing the girth up for the first time, do it up snug enough to hold the saddle in place but not too tight, move your horse e.g. walk a small circle, you will find that the girth has loosened as your horse moved so you can tighten it again – do this at least three times until it is tight enough for you to ride.
Doing the girth up all in one go would be similar to someone tightening your belt up after you’ve just eaten.
The Parelli programme teaches you many strategies to overcome lots of everyday problems with horses.
For more information visit www.parelli.com or contact Parelli UK on 0800 0234 813.
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