Can you stop this behaviour or is there nothing to worry about?

RuthnMeg

RuthnMeg

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My 9 month old NF filly foal has bad table manners! She can not eat her tea without holding a front leg up and waving it about - often to the point of seemingly losing balance. I understand that she probably wants to eat faster - greedy pony syndrome? I was just curious to know if this is a habit she will/might grow out of or is it a habit that I can stop? I have to tie her feed bucket to the fence or she will send it flying (unless I have a firm grip on it myself!) I put that down to being playful perhaps? She only gets 1 double handful of s youngstock mix with a sprinkling of chaff and a chopped carrot. Neither of the other two have these habits, and I know her mum didn't either - so where did she get these ideas from??? lol
Thanks in advance.
 
my pony does it and shes 9 :rolleyes: , I heard somewhere that apparently they do the whole wavey front leg thing as a sort of dominance thing, as if saying, this is my food. Erm that or she just really likes her tea! She should calm it down abit as she gets older (maybe :) )
 
Im afraid to say she'll probably always do it, no idea why they do it, some horses do some dont. We had a little TBx filly foal & she did it from day one of having food, but her mum did it as well, so i guessed its something they just pick up. One thing is for sure it is really annoying, as they end up destroying buckets & sending their dinner flying as well!
 
I used to know a 17 year old pony that did a similar thing - he would paw ferociously at the ground and at his bucket while he ate. No harm ever came of it, if he tipped his bucket over he just had to eat the rest off the floor! His fieldmate did pick up the habit though, and continues to do it even after being moved away from him, so be aware that it might be contagious... :p
 
My foal/yearling used to do this - then stopped aged 19months or so.
i wouldnt say its a 'bad habit' - I might be buying a few rubber feed buckets though!!!

Probably nothing to be done - God forbid you hold back the food asking her to stop - i should imagine she would only get worse!!!

will probably grow out of it when she realises that food times come quite often and she is usually left alone to get on with it :)
 
we have a TB filly that does this, we have pretty humungous buckets though so she usually ends up standing right in it wondering where her food has gone. We're not worried by it, they often grow out of it or if they dont just get the feed bowls that go inside tyres.
 
Its because they are enjoying their food - nothing to worry about - a sign of contentment. I used buckets which hang over the stable door - prevents food going every where are buckets getting trashed! xx
 
My big brown horse does this and also pushes the bucket about really violently with his nose inside it. I assume that as his full brother also does it that they learned it as foals. Doesn't seem to cause a bother for either of them so I just ignore and feed from a rubber skep.
 
Really don't think it's anything to worry about, we have one that does a similar thing when food is involved. Putting the bucket in a car tyre often stops them spilling it.
 
I wouldn't dream of taking her food away as a 'lesson'! Sure it would make her worse, as in most horses too. I was just curious to know if it could be stopped and how - if at all. Seems like only time will tell, and maybe a 'feed bucket' fund is in order! lol I've thought about the tyre bucket thing, something I will do if my invention of tying it to the fence no longer works perhaps?
 
My eight year old Friesian waves his foreleg around when there's any food about. Actually I don't mind - quite endearing really - he's never nasty or likely to hurt anyone.
 
Eriskayowner said:
Mouse does this. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'm assuming she's not colicky or anything so it won't be doing her too much damage.

Would putting it on a door help though?
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All living out - and tried Megs bucket which hooks over doors or fence, Penny gives that a flying lesson too - hence why I tie her bucket to the fence... its working for now, but the front leg waving madly about still! lol
 
It's their way of coping with their frustration of not being able to move, as they are designed to constanly be on the move as they eat. Nothing to worry about-totally natural :)
 
RuthnMeg said:
My 9 month old NF filly foal has bad table manners! She can not eat her tea without holding a front leg up and waving it about - often to the point of seemingly losing balance. I understand that she probably wants to eat faster - greedy pony syndrome? I was just curious to know if this is a habit she will/might grow out of or is it a habit that I can stop? I have to tie her feed bucket to the fence or she will send it flying (unless I have a firm grip on it myself!) I put that down to being playful perhaps? She only gets 1 double handful of s youngstock mix with a sprinkling of chaff and a chopped carrot. Neither of the other two have these habits, and I know her mum didn't either - so where did she get these ideas from??? lol
Thanks in advance.
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My mare used to do this ALL THE TIME! Her previous owners had a herd of nearly 30 horses and they reckon she learnt it from Sarason their 'boss' horse, he used to wear his front shoes through really quckly so they tried to nip it in the butt, they used the rope end of a leadrope and tied a knot in it, they would stand by her when she ate and every time she went to do it would flick the offending leg with the leadrope and growl at her, in the end she stopped it, once in a blue moon she will 'very daintily' pick the leg up now (she is 17 this year) and I just have to growl at her and she puts it down. It is fixable and I would fix it before it becomes a bad habit! :)
 
It's a displacement activity hun. Horses have evolved to eat on the move, ie a step, a mouthful, a step, a mouthful etc. Some horses are closer to this hard wired behaviour than others and the waved foot at feeding time is just the tail end of an unconscious step. It's not dominance. Dominance would be ears flat, stamp a leg at you, even lunge towards you. Don't take her feed away, just smile and love her and shake your head and say, it's the zebra in you, ponio. She may grow out of it a little as she matures but hey, so what if she doesn't.
 
Box_Of_Frogs said:
It's a displacement activity hun. Horses have evolved to eat on the move, ie a step, a mouthful, a step, a mouthful etc. Some horses are closer to this hard wired behaviour than others and the waved foot at feeding time is just the tail end of an unconscious step. It's not dominance. Dominance would be ears flat, stamp a leg at you, even lunge towards you. Don't take her feed away, just smile and love her and shake your head and say, it's the zebra in you, ponio. She may grow out of it a little as she matures but hey, so what if she doesn't.
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I absolutely agree with this! A sensible, informed reply :)
 
I agree with Box of Frogs as well. It would be unfair to do anything to try and intervene in this. If she's being fed in the field in company she may also be a little bit anxious, but if she's getting her food then it's not the end of the world.
 
I was always told that sort of "pawing" was a natural behaviour based on not being able to move when eating as Box of Frogs says..mine does it occasionally. I've seen a horse at our yard that does have issue with people being near it (and other horses) when eating its feed in its stable and it's a totally different response - ears back, head swinging, tail swishing and if that's ignored - kicking out and squealing sometimes. In that case it's best to put the food down and leave the horse in peace to eat.
 
I have a rising 3 CB filly who will often pick up a foreleg when eating. But the odd thing she does is - roll. After finishing she will try to roll on or near the bowl. She only does it if the ground around the bowl is good for rolling on. If the bowl is on poached or deep mud she doesn't do it. Also she doesn't walk away to roll after eating. Do any other horses have this odd behaviour ? I've never worried about it, just a quirk she has. She lives out with others so not sure if she would do this in a stable.
 
try giving her a small feed of hay half an hour before the bucket so she's not so ravenous when the bucket arrives, i would'nt take the bucket away in case she bangs her leg or foot against the wall.
i have one who used stomp on the bucket and send it into orbit, but he seems to have got over that stage.
i feel a bit like that when my dinner is late!
 
Oscar does the same as well; sometimes throwing his bucket across the stable and having to chase it!! I dont mind; although I have notcied he is worse the longer I make him wait for it (i.e. if its already in stable he isn't as bad as if I make him back up and wait 5 seconds..... heaven forbid if he has to have manners!!!) :-) Its his quirk! I would be worried he was off colour if he didnt do it! :)
 
I have 8 horses and ponies and it seem to be more of a pony thing. Small ponies like NF, welsh etc tend to live out in herds and soon learn to defend their food. When you feed him do it where he does not feel somone is going to steal it, and to him this could mean you, so it may be better to leave him to eat in peace.
If you are feeding inthe field I would take him out to give him food. I also think they prefer a wider shallow bucket as mine like to eat the good things first and rummage around and save the 'orange creams' till last and a normal bucket doesn't give them much room to do that.
 
Nothing to worry about at all. My gelding did that, well he used to lift his foot up and wave it around but not with the intention of hitting anyone.
 
Box_Of_Frogs said:
It's a displacement activity hun. Horses have evolved to eat on the move, ie a step, a mouthful, a step, a mouthful etc. Some horses are closer to this hard wired behaviour than others and the waved foot at feeding time is just the tail end of an unconscious step. It's not dominance. Dominance would be ears flat, stamp a leg at you, even lunge towards you. Don't take her feed away, just smile and love her and shake your head and say, it's the zebra in you, ponio. She may grow out of it a little as she matures but hey, so what if she doesn't.
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Thankyou for your reply, a very imformative answer. I am not worried by her table manners behaviour, just don't want it escating into something (somehow) uncontrollable. If that makes any sense?
She is a very good little young girl, I can groom her and check her feet any time I want, even if she is eating, and without a head collar (I choose not to during feed times mind, but I can do it if I wanted). She is polite and easy and Iam thrilled with her calm attitude. Part of me wants time to speed by now 3 years so I can see what she is like when she is more mature!!
 
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