Look in the questions and answers here ,Monty has some tips for biting ,like bumping the shin just when he takes a pop at you ....Distractability ! :)
I think I would back him off immediately and ask him to return to the sweet spot again,if he tried to bite me...

Me again. I just re read your question Shazza .... are you giving him slack when he is in the sweet spot?Sometimes with a dually you have to manually loosen the training rope as it can stay quite tight on the horse ..just a thought ..

Thanks for the reply. I've tried bumping the shin but generally I miss or his leg is too far back so that doesn't work. I give him slack when he's in the sweet spot, it's generally when I change from going forwards to asking him to go back, when I turn inwards he bites my arm just before I ask him to go back. My arm is so bruised from his bites. But I'll try to keep going and distract as best as I can. He's so loveable tho. I think it's been a shock to his system as he was owned by kids beforehand and had no manners and now I'm trying to teach him some manners he's objecting... little munchkin!

Maybe a second person could help situated behind the horse. At the minimal movement to bite the person could act on the Dually with a long line. You should protect your arm with thick clothes, a piece of plastic, whatever. The timing will be crucial.

Thanks Rudi, I'll give it a go. Gr8 idea!

My friend just told me a trick her grandpa did with a horse they had that bit. I don't know if this is just an old wive's tale, but she swore that it worked a charm. She said the horse would bite her grandpa's arm (or anybody's arm) whenever he walked by him in the barn. So, one day he wrapped a raw potato against his arm with a towel. When he walked by the horse and the horse bit him, it bit into that potato. And she said the horse never bit anyone again!

I've heard that story of the potato too! It was a warm, baked potato, though, not raw.
An old cowboy (horsewhisperer kind of guy in Oregon, back in 1976) named Ralph told me had used it on horses that wanted to bite, but he also warned that there was always the problem of making sure the horse actually bit you where the potato was.

You are right, Kicki, it was a warm baked potato. I told it wrong! LOL! And I thought about that, too...How do you know the horse is going to bite in the exact right spot? But, it might be worth a try if the horse seems to always bit in the same general location!

thanks guys, I'll bake a potatoe tonight and let you know how it goes. At least i have bruises so I know where to place the potatoe lol

Hi Shazza... just a thought but is he used to going backwards?
Some horses find it quite uncomforatable to start with and if there are any physical issues backing up may cause pain. My horse was a little bit agressive (although he never bit me) when I first asked him to back up from the ground... he was tight in his back and once I started doing regular stretches he was fine. Just a thought.

Hey guys check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN4Xr_nuMHg&feature=related

Hi Shazza, when I introduced my colt for the first time to the Dually he was extremly hard to move backwards and he also started biting badly. The last bad bite is today three weeks ago and still visible. It is often the arm: when I put presure on the Dually asking him back, during the follow up after Join-Up, beeing tied up for cleaning. I realized that he is very sensitive on the head/nose and changed the plan. I started with very very low presure of two fingers on the bony part of his nose. Even this was answered by kicking towards me and I had to answer with really harsh sanding back just with the line throwing on his chest. But: taking my time and answering his biting in differnt ways like a very quick consequence with the Dually, the kick on the shin if I was close enough or just placing my elbow into the correct position if I knew a bite was coming, for example when putting on or off the halter, so that he bumped into it and hurt himself - all that got him step by step from biting badly. He still trys or just kind of immitates a bite but things about it then and just doesn't do it. He has been an entire colt until thursday (:-( ) and his hormones might have been a reason too. Biting is so bad because it hurts so much and comes so quickly. I really forced myself to keep trusting him NOT to bite when I am closed to him, just to give him a chance but that was hard as I was so tired of being bit by him. I even used the light not halter and the long rope for a while to keep him on a certain distance off me. And I always wore a helmet when grooming him as he bit my head too. But it will go away working on it, believe me. Let us know how he liked the potato! Good luck, VioBerlin

I am very curious too to hear about the potato! Always wondered if it really did work as I've never seen anyone actually doing it.
As I've written in another thread, I have some biting issues with my 3 yo too. Can't blame hormones since he was gelded 2 years ago. I guess it's "that age".
Has anyone tried what Kelly writes in her book?
A woman giving a lecture (if I remember correctly) was asked what she would do, and she started jumping and screaming like a mad person for quite some time. Her point was that most horses wouldn't want to unleash that kind of behavior - but I haven't dared to try it myself.

My husband's grandfather was often brought horses to gentle that were one step from going to the killer because of bad behavior or aggressiveness and he was most always successful. He had different steps that he tried initially working up to last resort methods.

He used the HOT baked potato as a LAST resort. When a horse kept biting my husband on the back of the leg each time he went to mount him,(my husband was nine) his granddad held a hot potato in his gloved hand and shoved the HOT baked potato in the horses mouth. A horse can't spit and was stuck with a hot potato in his mouth and probably had a rather sore mouth for a few days as a result. The horse thought the hot potato was a result from biting, not a result of a human mistreating him.
Similar to a child learning not to touch a hot stove, it was a lesson the horse never forgot. Again, Granddad wouldn't use this method or recommend it until ALL OTHER METHODS HAVE TOTALLY FAILED. A horse that bites is a dangerous horse.

Hi Shazza,
I think if you can avoid using methods which cause fear or pain then you will be staying more alongside Monty's guidelines. I noticed you said it's usually when you are changing from going forwards to backwards, as you are turning and about to go backwards. I'm wondering if you might be doing it a little bit quick? Slowing down and pausing in between might help. When I've been training with the dually I usually go forwards. Stop, turn to the horse and reward by the rub on the forehead, so he knows when we stop and I turn towards him something nice is about to happen. Then the request to go backwards is made after that and is clearly different from everything else. Also, rewarding the backing up, after just a couple of steps, encourages the horse to relax and enjoy it more. Hope this is of some use. :)

I had never heard of the hot potato thing before my friend told me about it. I said I had no clue if it really worked...just thought ti was interesting. I was thinking it was just a potato (forgot about the hot part) so I thought maybe horses don't like the taste of potatos or something!
My horse has never bitten me, thankfully, but any time I think she is nipping at me a bit (don't know if her former owner gave her treats from the hand or not) I try to remember to give her a tap on the shin with my foot as Monty suggests. She is a quick learner...but I am not always so quick. My instinct is to swat her with my hand and I don't want to do that. Her former owner told me to punch her in the side of the head which I would NEVER do, no matter what! I thought the potato seemed more along the lines of the horse schooling itself. I didn't know about them not being able to spit it out. My friend said her grandpa wrapped it in a towel against his arm so the horse would not have actually got the potato in his mouth or even felt the full impact of the heat...I'm not advocting doing it, but it desn't seem like it would be as bad as punching a horse in the head. I sometimes can't believe my horse is not head-shy with how she has been treated in the past by her former owner.
At first she wouldn't listen to me because I was too soft with her...but she is learning to listen to me and that I am not going to beat her into submission.

I am thinking that if the Shazza and VioBerlin's horses are biting like that then they may not have completely joined up. It is my understanding that the four gesture "messages" the horse sends during the join up "conversation" indicate that he is willing to trust you and will accept you as the leader. A biting horse is neither trusting or submissive. I would suggest reviewing the join up sessions and trying again. Make sure he demonstrates all four of the gestures, thus completing the conversation.
Also, Monty's suggestion of lifting the horses hooves (weapons) are an indication that he is not going to hurt you. When I first started working with aggressive horses I put a lot of faith in this and had to remind myself: "she will not come after me. We had the "conversation" and she promised she would not hurt me." I have not been let down yet!
If the horses is not backing nicely off of the Dually then he is not ready to find the sweet spot. Go back to working on moving off of the Dually both forwards and backwards. When he masters that he is ready to find the sweet spot. Good luck!

Monty says in order to solve the problem of biting, you should bump him not hard but as though you did not do it intentionally.

Thanks guys for all your comments. I decided in the end to pad my arm up well and continue the training, ignoring the biting. It worked. He has no reward and also no reaction when he tried to bite, now I can do all movements successfully and he doesn't bother to bite anymore. Just ignoring this behaviour and rewarding his good behaviour did the trick and I now have a very well mannered horse that walks in the sweat spot and doesn't bite at all!! Success!!

Wow, great, Shazza. I had been thinking about to pad my arm but didn't... Ignoring "lighter" action of biting helped me too. I will also go back to work, be slower in my action and - very improtant - wait for him if he is about to learn. Thank you jcycleb for your comment, I'll keep on working. VioBerlin

Thank you all for your helpful comments. Good luck to Vio Berlin I hope it's successful for you too. Toffee has not bitten me in over a week now, and fingers crossed that is the end of it. Happy days!

That is great to hear, Shazza! Congratulations!