Those involved in the horse world - or even those who aren't - have probably encountered a horse that bites. They might be referred to as "girthy" or "mare-ish" or another similar label. When a horse does bite at you, it obviously isn't a very enjoyable or pleasant experience. Think to those occasions and recall what happened next. What was your reaction? What did the other people around tell you to say or do?
You might recall being told to "put the horse in their place", to "not let him get away with it", or even to smack the horse. This is all in an effort to tell the horse that their biting was not appreciated and to punish the behaviour, in the hopes of it not happening again. However, unfortunately, it misses one crucial component. It doesn't ask the question of why is the horse biting at me?
The 'why' is one of the most important questions when it comes to any behaviour. It allows you to step into the horses' shoes (no pun intended) and see the situation from their perspective.
Who's communicating what to who?
Let's use a horse being 'girthy' as an example because it is one of the most common reasons for a horse to nip at you. To clarify, the girth is the band that is underneath the horse's belly and attached to the saddle on either side to keep it in place. When buckling up the girth, horses can sometimes be seen swinging their head around at the person to nip at them which then results in a quick slap across the face or neck. Naturally, the horse will most likely put their head back to the front and not bite again. Problem solved, right? Not quite.
This doesn't address the cause of the issue. Why was the horse biting in the first place? A lot of people might want to say it's because they're being 'lazy' and 'not wanting to work'. This is a band-aid solution that in no way helps the horse. Looking at it from your equine's perspective, maybe you tightened the girth too quickly and it was uncomfortable. Maybe they have stomach ulcers. Maybe their saddle doesn't fit properly and it's digging in somewhere. Next time you get a rock stuck in your shoe try going running for 30 minutes without removing it. Or doing some intensive exercise in a clothes that are two sizes too small. It would not be comfortable! If we wouldn't put up with it, I think we should reconsider why our horses should.
All this to say, in the instance of girthiness, perhaps biting is the only way your horse knows how to communicate to you that they aren't happy. It is the equivalent to a human saying "no" or "stop that". Horses don't have verbal communication so they communicate to us the best way they know how - with their body language.
What does punishment teach?
Punishment of behaviours is not only problematic in terms of the human-to-horse relationship, but there is also debate over whether punishment is actually effective long-term when learning. Does our punishment communicate what we think it does to the horse? There is research indicating that perhaps not. Punishment is associated with a heightened emotional state of stress and frustration, and it subsequently has been shown to decrease learning ability.
Not only that, but punishment has limitations as a tool because it doesn't provide the learner with an alternative behaviour. To correctly apply punishment as a learning tool, it requires the utmost precision and accuracy of the handler or trainer. If it is not applied within several seconds of the 'undesirable behaviour' taking place, a cognitive link between that behaviour and the punishment won't occur. In other words, your horse won't understand why they're being punished.
For me, I know this automatically makes punishment an unreliable behavioural tool. I know that my initial response to a horse bite is a pain reaction. In those first few seconds following a bite, I've flinched or pulled away automatically. By then, it is too late because that crucial moment has passed.
So what can I do if a horse bites me?
Punishing a horse for aggressive behaviour has been hugely normalised in the horse industry. It becomes the default. However, to summarise the above, perhaps punishment should be reconsidered because:
It doesn't uncover or aim to solve the root cause of the behaviour.
Punishment as a learning tool is challenging to use effectively.
If it doesn't change the underlying issue and the horse doesn't learn from the interaction, there is a high chance the behaviour will happen again - i.e. they will continue to bite you.
However, I am not condoning the behaviour of a horse that bites. Any behaviour that compromises safety need to be addressed. The safety and welfare of people involved always needs to be maintained as a top priority. There is no question about that.
The question is in regards to the response we have in these situations.
In that moment of being bitten, it is very easy to act out impulsively - not out of any malice or ill-intentions, but out of a natural human reactivity to pain. That is why longer-term solutions are needed. Evaluating the whole picture and maintaining horse behaviour and body language as the primary communicator.
These days, if a horse bites me, or attempts to do so, I literally take a step back from them to give them and myself physical space. That way I can also take a figurative step backwards and look at the sequence of events that led up to the bite. Horses have very subtle body language and it can be easy to miss, especially when you're in the moment itself. That's why retrospective reflection is so important. Ears flattening, a tail flicking, muscle tension, a white eye, can all be signs of discontentment in a horse. These, or other subtle cues, will almost-always occur before a bite ever happens.
This post solely focused on the behaviour of biting. However, the consideration of whether to use punishment or not should be applied to all undesirable behaviours.
The more I learn about animal behaviour and psychology the more empathetic I feel towards them. Animal science has advanced massive amounts since humans first chose to domesticate animals. As horse caregivers, handlers, trainers, whoever you may be - don't we have some level of responsibility to our beloved horse companions? It is our job to learn how a horse communicates, recognise it when it happens, and then respond appropriately.
That is why I don't punish a horse for biting me.
References
Paul D. McGreevy, Andrew N. McLean, Punishment in horse-training and the concept of ethical equitation, Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Volume 4, Issue 5, 2009, Pages 193-197, ISSN 1558-7878, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2008.08.001.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1558787808001123)
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