Horse nipped me

[CharlesPetrescu]

I don't own a horse but I see them regularly on my walks with or without my dog near where I live. I like horses. A few weeks ago I was walking my dog with my partner. We were crossing a field with horses in it. It is a public footpath. We kept to the edge of the field. We weren't being loud and I thought I was being mindful of not seeming like a threat to the horses. The other horses remained on the other side of the field. Our dog was with us.

We had crossed this field a few times before recently. One of the horses approached us. It sniffed our dog but didn't seem to mind his presence. We didn't have any food with us. It then came up to me and nipped me on the arm. It drew blood but the wound wasn't deep.

Does anyone knowledgeable about horse behaviour know why the horse might have done that? Could it be that the horse was being territorial?

There wasn't much blood. Just a little bit.

Come to think of it we did have poo bags in our pockets, though we didn't have cause to use them while crossing the field.

You can get biters. We had one in the stables where I was at, he was only gentle with his owner. He was totally vicious. But not with any other horses, he must have had a traumatic start to life.
I hope you are ok and it's not put you off walking through horse pastures.

Thank you. I am more wary about going in fields with horses now- if I do I think I will stick to ones where the horses are fenced off. Perhaps they can sense if people are nervous.

They 100% can sense nerves etc.

I’m also surprised it drew blood, I’ve been nipped several times, bruising for sure, but never had the skin broken, in fact that must have been a hell of a bite to break the skin, as horse teeth aren’t really designed for puncturing, they’re designed for picking and chewing. Horses are easy enough to shoo away though, although they might turn their backside on you and aim a kick!

That must have been incredibly painful! I’ve been bitten by our mare & it’s left massive bruising but it would have to be so forceful to break the skin, especially through clothes, as their teeth are quite blunt, poor you!

Don't you need jabs if you're bitten by a horse? I am no medical expert, but I do remember my friend having to go to AE to get one. This was a long time ago, but if it was me, I would check with a medically qualified person.

It did hurt but not too badly, fortunately 😅

It was a few weeks ago now. It healed up pretty quickly and wasn't infected.

Thanks all for your comments. It's been illuminating for me. I still love horses but to me they remain a mystery. I think they are beautiful intelligent creatures - who can do you a lot of damage if they choose 😁

I have a footpath through my paddock. If one of my horses kicks or bites someone it is my fault. I electric fence off the footpath.

I would want to know if this happened.

I agree that people feeding horses is a massive pain in the bum, but it doesn't absolve the owner or responsibility, sadly.

I mean its legally my fault.

Usually horses don’t tend to approach people and bite but It could be for a variety of reasons tbh!

Perhaps people were feeding it previously, perhaps it’s a young horse playing (they can be nippy), or it could just be a bad tempered individual.

its impossible to say without knowing the context really. You said you were one side of the field and the horse the other but then it came over. Did it approach you calmly or did it gallop over like a maniac? Did it bite you immediately or was there any interaction before this happened?

generally you can shoo horses away. They are flight animals after all and aren’t usually looking for a fight. So you could try that next time, or avoid the field! You do need to watch its back end though. A nip is painful but a kick could do you a lot of damage.

I have a real dragon mare who is not shy with her teeth.

She's left plenty of spectacular bruising & scarring under the skin but has never broken the skin or drawn blood - that is very unusual from a horse bite let alone a nip. The horse must have seriously felt threatened possibly by the dog.

The owner needs to know what's happened. There are things they can do to make it safer eg fencing off the footpath. We have had temporary closures on one of our footpaths due to persistent failings of dog walkers to keep dogs on leads & have a closure in place when there are young stock - several will persistently trespass but it protects us if they get hurt.

Even if you fence off horses and someone climbs over the fence and goes in, and then get injured, you are still liable. Crap I know, but its what the law says.

Watch the ears. They're a mood indicator. Pricked forward is engaged, interested, excited. They're probably going to interact with you in some way, either search you for food so thoroughly that you come away feeling slightly violated or try to play with or groom you. May get crabby when treats are not forthcoming.

Flopped to the sides, they're relaxed and chilling, unlikely to harm you, just saying hi.

Ears pinned back, they're annoyed, angry, unhappy and warning you to piss off. Keep your distance and do not allow them to turn their butt to you.

@Cacktus Sorry, I overlooked responding to this.

The horse didn't gallop over to us - it seemed calm on its approach. It sniffed our dog - who was on a lead, and was calm- before approaching my partner and me.