My friend's gelding keeps biting my horse

squidsin

Well-Known Member
Feb 16, 2013
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Every time I travel Rox with my friend's gelding, she comes out of the trailer with her neck looking like she's been attacked by a zombie. (Well, not THAT bad, but bloody.) It's weird as you can't see the shape of the mouth like you usually can with a bite mark, but there are lots of small rips in her neck. There are no sticky-outy bits in the trailer that she could be hurting herself on - and it doesn't happen when she travels alone or with my other friend's horse - so I've concluded that my friend's gelding is biting her. It's weird as he seems to really like her. What is with that?
 
Could it be mutual grooming that's got a bit heavy? Joe used to mutually groom with Storm but sometimes teeth played a big part and she would end up squealing and being sent away.
 
Could the gelding be a bit riggy? Biting mares on the neck is what stallions do when they cover them. That said, my mare bites her gelding field companion on the neck if she gets impatient or cross. Maybe it's because this gelding feels stressed in the trailer?
 
Is biting a sign of stress? I don't know, have one mare who doesn't get stressed travelling, so no experience in this!
He does do very green, sloppy poos and he is not a good doer - my friend struggles to get and keep weight on him. I think he could well be a stressy sort of horse.
 
LindaAd & Gimp have a good point and yes nipping/biting can be a sign of stress. Some horses even nip themselves.
Horses don't just nip each other because they don't get on though, a lot of the time nipping is playful. Jam and Picasso are best friends but they get surprisingly rough! He could just be trying to play with Roxy and she's not having any of it.
We took Jam and a client's horse to a show in the trailer once and when we arrived at the venue the client's horse had bitemarks all over the side of his neck - and Jam had a bunch of mane hair hanging out his mouth :rolleyes:
Whatever the cause is, if it's happening every time they travel together I would suggest the gelding travels in a muzzle, either that or you smear something on Roxy's neck that will make it taste horrid!
 
You can get a grill for the front so the horses can't bite each other.
Horses have a personal space and being beside another with no option to move can be stressful.
Or its a bit of looovve going on.

There is one on my yard that starts of licking mine, that moves on to nibbles, then it's nibbling on the headcollar to get her free to get a bit nearer to him!
I moved her over but a buddy started taking her headcollar off so she could "get friendly" with the original.
 
I too would muzzle or put a partition up, mostly because a few nips is one thing but if he were to get a tooth/his halter caught on her rug/halter things could get interesting fast, plus I doubt roxy is enjoying travelling and being bitten all the way :(
 
I would guess he's stressed.

My horse is a quiet traveller however I did travel him in a friends trailer with her horse, her horse is the herd leader and quite aggressive in the field but the field was big enough for everyone to get out of his way. Once my horse was loaded in there you would think he was the aggressive one ! He started pinning his ears back and biting this horse on the neck, I assumed straight away he was feeling threatened in such a confined space and thought he would start to defend himself first. We managed to sort the grill out but it he would still try through the grill he was that unhappy in there ! :(
 
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