Jac at 2 hours 20 minutes of training.
Jac just keeps asking me questions! This time he asked again, ‘who is in charge’, but he did it by biting me.
When is a ‘bite’ a ‘bite’….as soon as they consider doing it. Which means that a horse can ‘bite’ without ever opening its lips.
Are you having trouble visualizing that? If so, imagine and angry teenager who really wants to cuss at an adult, maybe a teacher, but hasn’t quite crossed that line yet. Are they cussing in their head? Yep. Does that lead them closer to cussing out loud? Yes.
By the time a horse bites it has been considering it for awhile or maybe it has been practicing it with other people or horses.
I have to earn the right to be in his space and he needs to earn the right to be in my space. When we are in the arena it is easy to keep out of each others space. There are times when our personal ‘bubbles’ of space will overlap, for example, when putting the halter on or off. Those are the areas where you must be very mindful of what is happening until the relationship is well established.
Watch and listen as explain:
Click to Watch Episode 9!
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[…] Look at how horses ask other horses questions! In just over one minute Jac struck Popcorn…just to ‘ask’ a question. Then Jac proceeds to nip and nip and nip repeatedly…no wonder he tried taste-testing me in Episode 9. […]
This series is wonderfully educational! Could you briefly describe how you corrected Jac at the moment when he tried to bite you prior to the video? Thanks so much.
Not sure where my brain was that I didn’t explain that…but I didn’t. It was a bit like a Karate move, block and strike in one fluid motion. I was carrying the stick and string so it made it easy. People might ask where I struck…anywhere I can reach inside that immediate moment. In this case it was the side of his neck. I can’t wait for you all to see Episode 12 because it talks more about biting (nope, not biting me).
Thank you! Looking forward to each new episode.!!
Hi, Stacy, I was wondering what you would do if he cut in toward you instead of staying out on the circle? I am trying to lunge my 2 year old and having that issue where she makes more ovals than circles. I think in her case it may be because I’m kind of a security blanket for her, but it is disconcerting for me! I realized from watching this that I definitely need to push myself forward instead of backing away while lunging. I think I’ve been one of those people!! Thanks. 🙂 Rhonda