Hi Veronica, little question.. do you or anyone else feed titbit by hand or have them in your pockets?

Check out the chapter in Monty's book "From my Hands To Yours" where he addresses this problem. He uses a Dually halter and a distraction technique where he gently nudges the horses lower leg with his foot when it goes to bite. If you read the chapter I'm referring to he explains it very clearly.

The dually is great for this. The nudging on the leg didn't work for me but a quick correction on the dually every time they go to bite certainly does.

Nudging the leg didn't work for me either.
What helped me was to be incredibly consistent with firmly backing him up (in whatever halter he was wearing, but Dually is preferable)every single time and try very hard not to flinch, snatch away or make other sudden movements when his head came round barracuda style. (Which really was the hardest part because the instinct of self preservation is a strong thing!) ;) If I snatched away this only seemed to trigger his adrenalin and make him more offensive.
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Another thing that helped me with both biting and kicking, was to pull his tail to the side. Maybe not entirely "kosher", but I was running out of options.
On the plus side it kept me out of reach of both his mouth and legs and I didn't pull to hurt but to make it uncomfortable. So in a sense it worked like the Dually only on his hind parts. He still loves it when I groom his tail, so I think I can safely say that I haven't abused it.

The tail pull is a novel idea, Kicki - I like it and I am sure you were gentle with it too!

Yes, I allways gave him carrots by hands. and a friend told me that I should stop that and when he tries to bit me, I have to hit him in the mouth. but im not sure if its ok that.

Hi Verónica,
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your friend is right when he/she tells you to stop down all feeding by hand. But please, do NEVER ever hit your horse! Please do Dually Training and the things that where advised here before. But hitting your horse on its mouth will only trigger the problem of biting and make your horse mouthshy so you can't touch it there anymore or get a bit on it.
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Good luck for you and your horse!
Best wishes from Hamburg, Germany
Jasmin

Part of my problem with my horse biting is that someone else slapped him over the mouth or head when he tried to bite.
I can understand the reflex reaction, but I will never understand why she - who is a very accomplished horse person - had to go "play with his nose" when she knew he was mouthy and then slap when the horse tried to nip her. I was so cross with her for that.

Just wish to support the "never slap your horse in the mouth" comments made here. That is certainly a big "NO" in my opinion and I totally agree with Jasmin. by the way nice to hear from you again, Jasmin. Dually halter with a sharp correction and if necessary also backing up should correct the problem. It is possible to feed horses carrots without turning them into nippers if you do it in a sensible way. If your horse is inclined to be a nipper then don't allow your horse to look for carrots - correct on the dually halter if they do - make them stand their quietly and wait for you to give them the carrot. I taught my very scared and severely abused Pie NOT to try to bite and attack me with carrots. I doubt if I could have ever gained her trust without them.

I also had issues with biting. My horse was semi ferral (wild,UN-handled)so I think his was largely fear based, however when he first came to the yard he was also bullied by the herd being the youngest and quite timid, so it also became food related. I thik he felt he had to fight for his food. His biting has much improved with his aclimatisation with living with people and being handled. We tried the dually which eventually worked once he stopped thinking we were attacking him. At first he felt so threatened when reprimanding with the dually he would bite more. I tried the nudging the leg but he got such a fright he went to bite really hard. I think nudged too hard as I was also feeling scared and he was very defensive.He would bite people walking down the passage past his stable to the feed room around food time. I found that giving him more time and then working with the dually less fiercely again really worked. Then recently at feed time I took a stiff riding crop...I can hear you all shreek aaah.....ha ha...I took it not to hit the horse but as and extension of my arm just because it has a rubber stopper on the end. I kept it hidden along the underside of my forearm with the rubber handle end by my elbow. I went to the rails in the passage as if to greet the horse. As usual he went to nip me as it was near feed time. So I very discreetly, but immediately prodded his shoulder with the rubber end of the crop. He was extremely surprised and very quickly jumped backwards looking a bit stunned. He has been 100% better ever since. He has not since tried to bite in this situation and I have tested him by giving him the opportunity but being ready to repeat the same procedure. The reason this worked is obviously as I was lucky to get the timing exactly right and he did not see me doing it so he did not know where the feeling came from, ie me. It is exactly as Monty suggests with the boot on the shin but perhaps easier to do in certain situations like over the stable rail. It just gives you the chance to be at a safer distance away from the horse bringing adrenaline down on both sides. The horse must however absolutely not see the stick or crop as then it won't work. Hope this helps.
Best wishes from Botswana, Africa:)

Loved this comment Helene - great idea and it worked!