I have heard of doing this snake thing with the lead rope and think I will start working on that with my 3 yr old. I just took him to a clinic to get him started and that was one of my initial concerns. The boy was always mouthing/nipping at me and in my space. On the first day when he was totally in my space the instructor told me to bump him on the head. Well, being a little timid, I took my fist and bump, bump, bumped him on the neck just behind his ear. He paid no attention to me at all. I was told again to bump him on the head. I bumped a little harder, but still no results. So the instructor came over, and with the heal of his hand he wacked him between his ear and his eye. Now if he had told me to wack him upside the head I would have understood :) . By the end of the clinic with a few not quite so upside the head reminders he was standing very respectfully at a nice distance from me. But being young he still needs some reminders to get back. The other thing the instructor asked me is if I hand feed treats to him. He said that is why he is always nipping at me with his mouth. That I have become a treat food source. So for the time being he only gets food/treats on the ground, in a bucket, or in a pan. Probably the thing he said that really made me think about not feeding treats from my hand is this. Many of us feed carrots to our horses, and know how easy it is for them to bite a chunk off of a carrot or easily munch down on a pellet. Think about the size of a childs fingers and how easy it would be for a horse to, without being mean, just looking for a treat, nip at a childs fingers and break or bite one off. Most of us are adults, age wise anyway, so our hands being more developed don't break as easily. Plus our reflexes are better. So with that in mind, for now with my young horse at least, treats don't come directly from my hand. Now my older endurance horse will still get them on the trail. But at home she gets the same treatment as the baby. Food in the pan not from the hand.
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