Does your horse have enough mental stimulation?
Is your horse's diet uniform and not well-balanced?
Were you giving your horse treats frequently?
Does your horse show any other unusual symptom of health or behavioral problems?
Did you encourage your horse when it first started licking you?
A horse that lacks adequate exercise or mental stimulation may develop the habit of licking any surface, including its owner. The issue is due to boredom. Changing the daily routine of your horse will help to resolve the behavior in the long run. Providing your horse with frequent exercise and new training techniques happen to be the best solution regardless of the horse breed.
Dietary deficiencies are a possible cause of horse licking habit. They are licking the skin of the caretaker or rider to help themself obtain salt and minerals that are not being provided in their daily meals. Provide your horse with a healthy and well-balanced diet to prevent him from licking more than normal.
A horse can develop some unique behavior based on how often the caretaker treats him. Giving your horse treats frequently tend to create the urge more often. Therefore, your horse will develop the habit of licking your hands in the name of searching for their favorite treats.
The horse tends to lick excessively as a sign of gastric ulcers. Licking helps the horse to produce more saliva, which is antacid. It helps to relieve the pain. Also, a horse licking more than normal could be due to separation anxiety or other behavioral issues. Resolving the cause of this issue will combat the licking behavior.
Horses have unique personalities, just like humans. They will lick their owner or caretaker to show affection. If you encourage this kind of behavior and end up rewarding the horse for displaying affection the horse will end up picking the habit and start licking more than normal with the intention of getting rewarded.
A horse can lick your hand with no explanation. It could be due to their initial reason, which has grown into a serious habit. Correcting a chronic licking habit in a horse is a daunting experience. Stopping the behavior will take a lot of time and patience.
https://www.horsetackdatabase.com/why-does-my-horse-lick-me/
Sreten null
Hi! I’m Sreten Filipović. I graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Belgrade, with a master's degree in Environmental Protection in Agricultural Systems. I’ve worked as a researcher at Finland's Natural Resources Institute (LUKE) on a project aimed at adapting south-western Finland to drought episodes. I founded a consulting agency in the field of environment and agriculture to help farmers who want to implement the principles of sustainability on their farms. I’m also a founding member of the nonprofit organization Ecogenesis from Belgrade whose main goal is non-formal education on the environment and ecology. In my spare time, I like to write blog posts about sustainability, the environment, animal farming, horticulture, and plant protection. I’ve also published several science-fiction short stories.
You can find me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sreten-filipovi%C4%87-515aa5158/
