The bite - flashback

I posted this on a forum and have pasted it here, because it's kinda part of the whole process.

9/24/2007 6:58:50 PM

I know this seems like a strange question. First off, I do have to say she bit our 4-year old daughter one day last week. Kiddo was standing at her head petting her, I was standing beside the horse's shoulder. It looked to me like the horse nosed her and kind of pushed her away. She said "she bit me!" I didn't see any place she'd been bitten but had seen the nose shove, so I held the lead up closer to her halter and took a step more towards her head. (I'd been brushing her.) Just as I did this, she bit my daughter's shoulder. I yelled "NO!" and popped her on the muzzle good with my hand.

I don't know if it was a jealousy thing "back away from my mom" or a herd thing "get back little foal." The bite wasn't bad, and very small so it was really just a nip. Not that I think that's at all acceptable. It's just not as bad as I expected on a 4-year old little shoulder. The horse was pissed at me a few days but didn't try to bite again and seemed to get over it. Obviously, that was not an accident - she meant to bite and I let her know that biting is NOT acceptable.

Today the farrier came for the first time since we've had her. She did really well. I was very proud of her. They gave her a 9+ out of 10 for behavior, especially with being only 3-years old. She didn't try to bite or kick, she did try pulling her leg away some but by the second foot was pretty much okay with it. She's not really great with having her back feet handled for very long yet, but will tolerate some and did much better than I expected her to do. Overall, I was really happy with how she did, and of course she gots lots of love afterward.

The vet came literally 10 minutes later for booster shots, she commented on how much more calm she seemed since they had been out last. She did say she was having some discharge and asked me if she was in heat. Turns out she is, and I didn't know. I haven't read anything about horsey cycles.

I told the vet about the bite, she said some mares will get more aggressive when in heat. I totally understand PMS! So she just just be really watchful especially when she's in heat. Again, she did really well and I was awfully proud of her. I spent a good hour or so with her this afternoon a few hours later and brushed her and groomed her and talked to her, etc. I didn't tie her, she just stood and let me do it.

Then tonight I go out to feed her. I had a gallon size plastic canister with her food in it to take out to her, the same drill as every other night. Our retriever started toward me from across the yard. Horse is standing at the back door. Dog is coming right at her, headed for me. The horse does NOT like the dog, and the dog really wants to like the horse. I do know the dog has growled and bit at her several times when the horse got a little too interested in sniffing her. Point being, I know they are still working out their own issues. I'd told the dog to go back because usually the horse will turn her butt and kick out at her and I didn't want her to get kicked. The dog kept coming.

The horse throws her head and bites the **** out of my thigh. I screamed - out of surprise and pain. I've never been bitten by a horse before. The dog turned and ran, the horse backed up, I dropped the feed container, grabbed my thigh and my husband came running. All in the period of about 2 seconds.

I really do *not* think she meant to bite *me.* I think she meant to bite at the dog who was coming at us and I just happened to be standing there in range. Not that it's any better, but I don't think it was intended for me per se.

My husband is livid. He's not at all a horse person. I went inside, sat and cried a few minutes, had my husband get the dog in and I went out and fed her without any problem from her. The bite is bad, the skin isn't broken but it sure looks like it should be. It's very very purple and bruised up almost immediately and hurts like crap. She meant business.

What am I missing? What am I not doing? What should I be doing? Was this just one of those "accidents happen" and hope that my piercing shriek scared her to death and she doesn't do it again? Is this because she had a bad day, is in heat and I was just standing in the wrong place?

I love her to pieces. Her ground manners are usually excellent. She will let me rub her ears, rub the top of her head, she stands for grooming, braiding, comes right to you, halters and accepts the lead rope without any problems. She's grown apparently and the beginning of last week I tried putting the same halter on her 4 times because I was sure I was doing something wrong or it was buckled wrong. I quit and tried another one, same thing - I just couldn't get it up over her ears. She just stood there and let me figure out the halters didn't fit anymore. So she really is very patient and calm most of the time. I just don't know if this is a problem beginning to surface or something else.

A postscript:

She hasn't bitten or even attempted to bite since that incident. I really think that it was just a combination of circumstances all at one time that threw her into a blind rage kind of thing and I happened to be within range.

I did a lot of searching for what horse bites look like, because I'd never had one. I had no idea if you were supposed to do anything for it or not. There was a severe shortage of pictures, which I think is a good thing. But just for the sake of adding one more to the very small number, I took a picture of my leg. This was taken a week after the bite. It is not for the squeamish. You have been warned. Horse bite

Standing in the pouring rain

We'd been out yesterday and it was raining and cold. When we came home, Anya was standing out there in the freezing rain. I have to shake my head because there's no reason for her to be standing in the rain. She has a perfectly nice barn that will keep her dry if she'd just go in it.

Then she had the nerve to look at me like it was my fault she was cold and wet! I know she's a horse, and horses are made to get wet and be in cold temperatures, but it just boggles my mind that she'd actually want to be cold and wet. She really didn't look very happy about it and was sure to shoot me a few dirty looks to make me feel guilty for something I didn't even do.

The smell of poop in the morning

Anya's blanket was crooked this morning and so I went out "just to fix it." Which turned into a good half hour's worth of time spent out with her. The sun was just starting to come up. The stars were beginning to fade. I stood with her a few minutes after fixing her blanket and just laid my head on her neck, smelling her. I wonder if it takes a certain love of horses to be able to just relish in that smell. Or if there are people out there who would think I was crazy for sniffing my horse. There's just something about that horsey smell that relaxes me.

I piddled around a little bit, checked on her water, gave her a cookie, and just stood and pet her. The sun started coming up over the horizon into the sky. There was a soft wind, cool but not too cold, and the smell of horse poop and horse lingered on the breeze. Maybe it's not so crazy to like the smell of a horse if you like the smell of horse poop, too.

For those few moments in time, the sun rising slowly, brilliantly into the sky, the smell of horse, and my horse standing at my side watching the sun with me... It's a moment like no other. Just a peaceful, quiet, beautiful start to the day. I briefly wondered what it would be like to be out on the plains, waking up like that every morning. It felt like we were the only two beings in the world, and the sun was rising just for us.

I have no idea what she was thinking. Probably something along the lines of "gee where's breakfast?" But maybe just for a minute as she nuzzled my arm she thought, "There's nothing like the smell of warm human in the morning."

Back!

I figured we'd work on backing a bit, to see how much she'd respond to. To my astonishment she backed a good 15 feet!

I held the lead rope under her neck towards her chest and just said "Back" and she took a step. So I took a step towards her, "back." She stepped again! I expected a few steps, nothing much. I was so surprised that she went so far. She didn't seem to be at all confused by what I was asking or bothered that I was making her go backwards. I let her stop a few feet from the fence and gave her lots of praise. Times like these, I have no doubt how smart she is, and how willing. Other times...I wonder.

The blankie

Anya actually let me put a blanket on her last night, without any fuss! It's amazing how such a little thing made me so excited. Granted, it's cold. But still!

I made a blanket for her Friday evening, it got really cold and we had 30+ mph winds from the hurricane that skirted the coast. Of course the single tack store we have only had a 70" blanket and I needed a 72" one for her. So I got a really soft microplush something or other blanket. It's like a towel, but silky. I have a robe made out of the same stuff and I love it. Anyway, got that and lined it with fleece. I cut off the velcro front from her 1/4 sheet that doesn't do what I thought it did. Used that for the front closure, and took another doubled piece of fleece and made a belly band that velcro's to the other side. That piece goes from the back of her front legs to the front of her back legs. That's one good thing about having a mare! Don't have to worry about extra parts there.

I had tried to put just the blanket on her originally, to see how it fit, what I'd have to do to it to make it into a horse blanket. She was not at all interested in getting anywhere near the horse eating monster. I held it balled up in my arms and let her sniff it a while. Still no go. I unfolded it, at which point she was sure it was going to eat her. I wrapped it around myself and just stood there a while. She finally came over and sniffed it. It was actually really warm! I took it off and draped it across my shoulder like a beach towel. Now the wind flapped it and she was not very happy. She did come over and taste it though. Woohoo progress! After a few minutes she wasn't quite as jumpy when the wind blew it, so I balled it up again and held it. Then I put a carrot on it and waited until she came to get it. While she was eating the carrot, I moved up next to her shoulder, blanket still balled against me, and leaned into her a little and draped the blanket across her shoulders. She startled a little, but was more interested in the carrot. I slowly rubbed her and spread it out across her back. It didn't stay on long because the wind flipped it and that scared her pretty good. I balled it back up and held it so she could see that it wasn't going to eat her. Gave her a few good pets, let her sniff it and went back inside.

A few hours later, we repeated the process and it went much better. She still wasn't too happy about it but wasn't quite as convinced that I was going to let the horse-eating blanket have her. She actually stood for a few minutes after I got the blanket on her. I think it was long enough for her to discover that it was cutting the wind and she wasn't as cold. Instant reward!

So I pet her all over, rubbing her through the blanket so she could see how it felt. After a few minutes, I bunched it up and took it off of her.

I made the blanket, which took longer than I thought it would. It came out okay I think, given the fact that I had no idea what I was doing and had makeshift parts.

I got it all finished but for the belly piece and took it out. I actually tied her and fed her and put it on her. She was a little not too happy, but that bucket of food kept her distracted enough for me to get it on her without too much fuss. It worked! I just needed to put it on her to see where the belly piece needed to go. She completely jumped when I undid the velcro on the front to take it off of her. She backed up as far as the rope would let her and gave me the look. I held the blanket and let her sniff it and made a note to undo the velcro before I put it back on her. I ran in and finished up the belly piece while she was eating. She was still working on dinner when I came back out. I got it on her with little problem. I wasn't sure how she'd do with the piece around her belly, but she didn't seem to care.

I think by that point she realized that it was keeping her warm and wasn't going to eat her in her sleep. She sniffed the side of it and finished eating. I untied her and she finished eating, and then took a little walk around. She didn't seem to care at all. Now the question was would she leave it on? Or would she rip it to pieces?

I checked on her a few times that night and she was still okay. The next morning she had it on still. It was dirty. I'd actually seen her one time out rolling in it. Everything must have that dirt smell. It had rained a little during the night, and either she went in the barn or the blanket did fine. The top layer was a little damp in places but when I put my hand underneath to feel her, she was completely warm and dry. I was so excited! I left it on her because it was still cold and windy, fed her, and we went to riding lessons.

When we came home, she didn't have it on. She'd managed to unvelcro the front and it was piled up by the door. Amazingly it didn't rip anywhere. I've never had to make anything for a 1000 lb creature before and had no idea if it would hold up. Needless to say, I was pretty happy.

Last night I washed it and dried it and took it outside about 9pm. It was supposed to get down into the 40s last night and was pretty cold already. I went out, no treats, just the blanket. I held it and she sniffed it a minute and just stood there. I thought "nuh uh...." and walked to her shoulder and put it on her. Not even a flinch. I put it around her shoulders, velcro'd the neck, pulled it across her back and reached under her to grab the belly piece. I had that up and was about to velcro it when she took a few steps. I think she thought she was done. I told her "whoa" and she stopped and kinda looked at me like "huh?" I finished putting it on her, gave her a rub and she took a few steps away and circled back. I think she was saying thank you. I rubbed her face and went back inside.

She still has it on this morning so I grabbed a couple pictures.

This, from the horse who was deathly afraid of a lead rope. It feels like a milestone.