From: Jaie Hudson, Houston, TX

Dear Van:

I board my mare at a friend's stable. There is a normally-friendly and gentle mare in the stall next to mine. The other day, she bit me on the shoulder the as I was grooming my horse. She's never done anything like this before, and I have no idea what provoked her. Do you have any idea why she did this?

VAN'S RESPONSE:

Dear Jaie:

Even the gentlest of horses can react unexpectedly to unusual situations. My first question would be were you in plain view of this mare before she bit you, meaning were you near her head, and had she seen you? If she wasn't aware you were near her and you moved in too close as you were working, she may have snapped at you on instinct. I always recommend keeping a good safe distance from any horse you haven't made eye contact with. If you haven't made her aware of your presence, you may startle her without realizing you've done it. The gentlest horse in the world might react by pulling away, kicking, or biting in that situation.

If she was aware of your presence, knows you, likes you, and seemed to bite you as an attention-getting technique, what you DON'T want to do is reinforce her negative behavior by giving her the attention she's demanding. Habits that develop through negative reinforcement can become hard to break. I recommend -- first and foremost -- remove yourself from the immediate danger of being bitten a second time. This is a tough situation, because you don't own this horse, but you can still teach her to respect your space in a gentle way. Using the same techniques I discuss in "Ground Manners," you can gradually and gently teach this mare not to be spooked by your presence -- that you're not going to hurt her -- and to respect your space.