My 11-year-old daughter is having trouble with her pony nipping at her when she is girthing him, and when she goes to mount without an assistant. He also smacks his tail and pins his ears, almost looking like he might cow-kick at her sometimes. If she has an assistant, he knows he has to behave, so even though he doesn’t like it, he knows he can’t do much.

We have considered simple behavior modification, as you have described for other problems like needle shyness and picking up feet (see www.TheHorse.com/emag.aspx?id=4085) to reward him for keeping his head straight ahead while he is on the cross-ties. The barn where she rides and takes lessons has a rule that you can’t give food treats. Their philosophy is that the food treats cause the nippiness.

Any comments or suggestions on how to address this problem with the horse and communicate with the barn manager on using food treats? It seems like food treats are most often suggested for behavior modification, for example with clicker and target training in horses