My gelding tries to put everything in his mouth. How can I stop this bad habit?

Reader’s Question: My gelding tries to put everything in his mouth. When I put on his halter or bridle, he usually grabs it with his mouth and doesn’t like to let go. How can I stop this bad habit?

Parellis’ Answer: This is the sign of a playful, curious horse that’s probably really bored! So everything becomes a game, even putting on the halter. The key to this horse is not punishment, but to play with him. Pretend to put the halter on his leg, rub him all over with the halter, play with his lips, give him treats, teach him to back away from you and to stand on things, even put the halter and the ropes into his mouth!

Think about how to become more interesting to him, to engage his mind with other things, so it’s not just the halter that looks like a toy. Horses with this much play drive often have an especially hard time being confined or isolated from other horses, so they really look to you to fulfill those needs. If you watch horses that live together, you’ll see that they spend a lot of time nuzzling, scratching, nipping, playing and moving around. The rest of the time they are eating or dozing. Our approach is heavily based on understanding a horse’s needs and what kind of “Horsenality” and energy level he has. Through understanding our horses in these manners, we can interact with them in meaningful and highly productive ways that are fulfilling for the horse.

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One last important thought: Rather than seeing this behavior as a bad habit, think of it as a talent your horse has. One of our students actually taught her biting, mouthy, playful and curious horse to do things like pick up items off the ground, such as her cap, brushes, saddle pad, et cetera, and to give them to her! Much nicer than slapping him! With this kind of approach you get a horse that wants to be with you, even more than with other horses. More about Pat and Linda >>

18 years ago

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Karen says:
March 23, 2007 at 11:28 am
Hi,
I think that Pat and Linda Parelli have the best answers and understanding of horse behavior n the industry. Please give us MORE of there information. Thanks!!!!
Nancy says:
March 24, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Pat and Linda's solutions (or viewpoint) to a mouthy young horse are excellent. They are so amazing at inspiring us to listen and learn from our horses. They have so much to teach us, our horses that is!
HEIDI says:
March 25, 2007 at 7:45 am
THANKS FOR THE GREAT ARTICLE, LOVE THE WAY THE PARELLI'S TEACH AND FEEL ABOUT HORSES. GREAT HEARING ABOUT HORSEANALITIES. GIVE US MORE!
Susan says:
March 25, 2007 at 7:56 am
I love Pat and Linda Parelli's response to this question! How to turn a "perceived" negative habit into a positive! I think if we can consider the horses point of view in everything we do, it is the first step in having the kind of relationship most of us want with our horses and making it fun for horse and human along the way :)
Please give us more Parelli!
Jill says:
April 1, 2007 at 10:07 am
WOW!! Pat and Linda Parelli are always right on. I can never get enough of their teachings. Sometimes you have to hear something over and over until it just hits home. It is like the light bulb came on. Another Ahhhh moment.
Kerry says:
April 5, 2007 at 9:30 am
Excellent article and great ideas. Very informative and helpful.
Karen says:
April 12, 2007 at 7:32 am
I have a 11 yo tb stud grandson from seattle slew his like a big kids very gentle but like to play with things as well I hang thing from a double tie so my horse has things to do to me if they are not being bad give them somthing to do
pat I watched your clinic on rfdtv yesterday I love it wish I could get more
Erika says:
April 13, 2007 at 8:38 am
My gelding has a similar habit. I've found that keeping his mind engaged while I work with him (grooming, etc) helps tremendously. I also clicker trained him so that he doesn't use his lips on me. With the clicker training he found that the more still he held his lips, the more quickly he got treats. If he was nibbling on everything in sight there was no click, therefore no treat. When he was still he'd hear the click and get the treat. He now stands with his head down (a clicker trained habit) while I groom/etc so that I'll click & treat him. It really works!
Aly says:
May 31, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Thankk you!
Carrie says:
July 18, 2007 at 1:33 am
This sounds exactly like my mare, I too began to play back with her and our bond is stronger than the bond she has with any of the other horses. She's sooo playful, and now i am too!