Many years back, I had an orphaned (at birth) colt who would bite. He just mugged me wanting treats even though I did not feed him by hand. Typical of orphans who have not been raised by their Mum, he didn’t really know that he was a horse, not a human. He spent time with my elderly Appaloosa gelding in turn out, but that was hard on my Appy!
The treats I loved the most were Herballs by Hilton Herbs. I gave them to my old gelding and he loved them (and they were healthy as could be).
I was poor. I struggled to feed myself, my dogs and my horses, teaching Dressage and writing for several magazines… I decided to make my own “herb treats”. I ground flaxseeds, used oat flour for a base and added ground garlic, peppermint, rosemary and oregano. When I gave the first one to Snookie (the Appaloosa), he spent 3 minutes working the chewed-up pieces out of his mouth with aggressive tongue lolling. Oops.
So, I decided to try using them for Dharma Gita (the colt) as a deterrent. When he came at me with his teeth, I popped one into his mouth. He chewed it up then stared at me like, “what the heck?”. Then he spent 3 minutes spitting it out.
I continued to just pop a nasty tasting treat into his mouth every time he was “mouthy”, keeping several in my pocket at all times. It worked. Dharma Gita soon quit mugging me, quit trying to bite and I never had to slap him or get aggressive with him. The treats were safe, just horrible tasting… which had not been my intention. Yet, they were useful!
Stablewomen 