Bitten by a horse

Last Sunday I got to ride Maryland. She is the dominant horse in the barn and one of the few horses that has to be tacked up in her stall. Maryland also needs to be given treats for anyone to enter her stall. So I expected some trouble in tacking her but off I went with a couple of carrots in hand and into the stall. Oh my! She is gigantic, dark bay colored and very beautiful. As I was brushing her coat, her ears pinned back to show her anger and she kept turning her head around to try to bite me. At that point, I was actually more afraid of her turning around and kicking me than biting me. That's how angry she looked and I was thinking what the hell have I gotten myself into?! The stall was very small and if she does decide to kick me there is no escaping. Suddenly, she chomped on my arm - it freaking hurt! Now it was my turn to be angry, I shouted at her and slapped her on the neck a couple of times. She looked innocent with ears forward no longer angry. I realized that by using a stern voice I can somewhat curb her from trying to bite me (she resorted to biting her food bucket). I have to say though that it was hard for me to do that, I often try to use positive reinforcement but in this case, that obviously was not working out. Later I learnt that Maryland has bitten everyone who has tacked her. But hell, she was a great ride, very responsive and smooth. I took a photo of the bite to remember it by (currently that area is burning hot, I'm guessing the recovery process).

2 days after bitten by Maryland