My, What BIG Teeth You Have!
Though horses aren’t fanged carnivores, they can inflict catastrophic bites with powerful jaws and teeth designed for tearing hardy vegetation. In the wild, horses use their teeth for survival in many ways, including fighting. By contrast, domestic horses must learn that using teeth to inflict harm is unacceptable.
For horse owners, a biting horse is a liability—dangerous to you, other people, and other horses. Here, we’ll look at how horses use their teeth, why they bite, how to keep yourself safe, and ways to change the behavior of a horse that bites.
Biting in the Wild
Horses living in the wild use their teeth for grazing, interacting within a herd, and dealing with outsiders and predators.
Most biting is done by stallions, directed at other stallions to keep them from stealing mares. A herd stallion will try to chase any bachelor stallion away by biting at his rump. If the retreating stallion turns to fight, they’ll both rear and bite at each other, aiming
