Feeding, do you handle your horses when they are eating?

Cortez said:
Just got a new horse: he LIKES his feed and is quite rude about applying himself to it! So he's got to learn to be polite and move over, etc. when we're in the stable. Perhaps he hasn't had quite enough where he was before, but now there is no question that he'll have all the hay he'll ever want, so I have no qualms in insisting on him moving over/away from the feed when we are in the stable. Just good manners really.
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So when you get home and are eating your supper, having been V hungry for most of the day, you enjoy having your other half saying to you - move over woman / man, I want that last mouthful of steak / or vegetarian noodle?
 
Moomin1 said:
My mare gets cuddled/kissed and has her ears ruffled whilst she is having her dinner! :o
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Haha I'm glad someone else has owned up to this :D My mare is not at all cuddly so the 5 mins she spends with her nose in a bucket is the only time I get to sniff her mane :o
 
I leave mine in peace. It's a respect thing really. All 3 of mine are sweet and easy to handle, I doubt they would mind me fiddling about when they eat, but I feel it's their time and they should be left alone to enjoy their food, as I like to be left alone to enjoy mine!!
 
maisie06 said:
I leave mine in peace. It's a respect thing really. All 3 of mine are sweet and easy to handle, I doubt they would mind me fiddling about when they eat, but I feel it's their time and they should be left alone to enjoy their food, as I like to be left alone to enjoy mine!!
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Well said Maisie!
 
My boss mare likes her bowl held :rolleyes: if you dont hold it she gets half way through and starts pedalling at it with her foot, meaning food in foot on floor but not in mouth grr.

T'other lass takes for evvvvvveeeer to eat and usually ends up getting fly sprayed/teats scratched as I get bored waiting for her.

I wouldnt be messing about making them move around but I expect to be able to walk around and between them without an issue.
 
Completely agree with Enfys. Really annoys me when people mess when horse has a feed; they wouldn't like it when they were eating, why should it be any different for a horse; surely they can wait for ten minutes at least.
 
No one has mentioned youngsters. They are horses too, aren't they?:D I consider feeding time a major opportunity to handle/train nervous foals -- which I do in the full knowledge that I could get double barrelled if I'm not careful! The object of the exercise is to get them to realise that being handled is not threatening or a big deal -- but I do use a long stick!:D I'd expect the experience to be remembered in later life and to be able to do most things with them when their heads are in a bucket or they are around feed.
 
I always handle and check ours when they're eating - it's part of their routine and it doesn't bother them at all. My mare is very fussy and stand-offish, she'd soon let me know if it wasn't OK with her.
 
I have two mares, both very different personalities. My TB can be grumpy and likes to be left alone while eating, my ISH loves people and can be touched/poked/fussed anywhere without a problem.
When they live out through the summer, my TB is left alone to eat but my ISH has her feet picked out, flyrug adjusted, fly repellent applied.
When stabled overnight in winter, I put breakfast in and leave them to eat - I do however, pick the poo out of their beds while they eat - both are fine with this. Rugs go on after they have eaten. In the evening, after riding, both get dinner and are left alone.
 
dressedkez said:
So when you get home and are eating your supper, having been V hungry for most of the day, you enjoy having your other half saying to you - move over woman / man, I want that last mouthful of steak / or vegetarian noodle?
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Do you leave your horse v.hungry all day then? :confused:

Mine have adlib hay or are on grass all day and night so shouldn't be ravenous when they get their bucket feed.

Also, I'm not my horse's 'other half', our relationship isn't 50/50.
 
I always handle at feed time, my horse lives out and while she eats I pick her feet out, brush her, rug her up etc and she's happy as larry, when left alone to eat she kicks the bucket over and then refuses to eat from the dirty floor. It depends on your situation really, if she lived in I wouldn't interrupt her eating unless rugging or for a reason, I wouldn't stand there plaiting tails like I do in the field.
Saying this, my horse is completely sane on the ground and is the dream pony when there's food around!
 
As many of you have said I usually leave mine alone to enjoy his feed. He is very polite when I put his feed in. I can and do poo pick, change rugs etc when pushed for time which has never been a problem. He is a real foodie but never shows aggression.
 
Yes, I do. No horse should be agressive over food if they consider you higher in the rankings than them - i.e. If your horse kicks if you get near it when eating, you have a problem. It's like watching a herd of horses with a large bale out in the field. Only horses higher up the pecking order will see others off.

I expect to be able to rug, unrug, groom, pick feet out and handle the bucket itself without issue. According to a previous owner my cob used to be a "drop it and run" when it came to feeding. His manners are now fab + it doesn't bother him in the slightest.
 
Afraid I don't have the luxury of time so mine does have to put up with hoof picking, a quick brush over and rugging whilst eating hard feed. Usually in the morning rush. At night they're invariably left to it. But it's hardly abuse (:D) and mine doesn't seem to mind. In fact, none of my horses/ponies have ever been bothered by me peforming routine tasks as they eat.
 
I have one who was anxious about being faffed about with when being fed right from when she arrived with me as a foal. Following a behaviourist's advice I arranged things so that she had as much peace as possible when being fed. Gradually over the years she got less and less stressful until it was possible to go in the stable and rug her while she was eating.
I now have 3 in the field and two are fine whatever I want to do when they are eating. The other is obviously anxious about food, I don't know why, but it starts with leg waving while he's waiting for the food, and then when he has it he pulls faces and waves his head if not left alone. He's lovely the rest of the time so I have decided, if it makes him feel that bad, why do it? 5 minutes out of his life every day when he has asked, quite politely, to be left alone. 23 hours and 55 minutes out of every day when he's an amenable and kind horse to be around. I honestly don't see why we have to insist on "higher rankings, pecking order, leadership, asserting authority" etc etc over a bowl of feed and a few minutes out of our lives.
I'll just add, before people make assumptions, that all of my horses are an absolute joy to be around. They don't push on people, drag them about, or exhibit any common behaviours that people often label dominance. So giving this little Arab a bit of leeway hasn't affected his compliance when it's needed.
 
maisie06 said:
I leave mine in peace. It's a respect thing really. All 3 of mine are sweet and easy to handle, I doubt they would mind me fiddling about when they eat, but I feel it's their time and they should be left alone to enjoy their food, as I like to be left alone to enjoy mine!!
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I like this. I have no problem with the word respect being applied to horsemanship when it's obviously a two-way process.
 
Rhythm is very polite whilst eating, not at all posessive and I CAN do anything to/around him whilst he's eating....but i try not to 'fuss' over him whilst he's eating as i see it as his time.

In the mornings he has to put up with me mucking out around him whilst he eats, but in a 20x13' stable that's no real hardship! But in the evenings i ride, groom down, rug up, pick out feet etc and then leave him with his feed whilst I sweep the yard, rake the gravel, put tack away etc.

Eating haylage is dfferent, I don't class that as a meal.
 
Does it matter?

I expect to be able to do what I want whether it's eating or not. It's a horse. Not bloody royalty. I was told by a master that mealtime is a horses' "private" time. I probably shouldn't have laughed but I just don't see it that way.

As it happens, I don't fuss when she's eating. Got plenty to get on with without worrying if should touch her while she's stuffing her face. She has been trained to accept rugs, pick up feet just in case I'm in a hurry one day.
 
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I do all sorts to mine while they are eating. I don't think anything of it, and they don't seem to either. I see it more as 'if they are going to have to stand still to be groomed / trimmed / plaited / generally faffed about with, they deserve something to keep them occupied'!
 
Dry Rot said:
No one has mentioned youngsters. They are horses too, aren't they?:D I consider feeding time a major opportunity to handle/train nervous foals -- which I do in the full knowledge that I could get double barrelled if I'm not careful! The object of the exercise is to get them to realise that being handled is not threatening or a big deal -- but I do use a long stick!:D I'd expect the experience to be remembered in later life and to be able to do most things with them when their heads are in a bucket or they are around feed.
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Its true about youngsters. Especially young colts who can be very defensive of their food bowl. At my old yard his manger was in the far corner so i would muck out whilst he quietly stood at that side eating or he would have his rug put on or a quick brush if he was dirty or a rub if soaking wet. I no longer do this but at least he respects that I can be in the stable whilst he is eating and if I needed to do something, i could.
 
My boy is fine about being rugged when munching on hay from the feeder or a net, it's just his bucket feed that he seems anxious about.
I think that a lot of horses just don't mind being handled while eating, there's no need for any particular training, they just don't mind. Then there are some that are a bit bargy but not worried, normally easy enough to teach them to stand back a bit because they aren't worried or stressed, just used to pushing forward. Some though are genuinely stressed, probably because of experienced before they came to us. That's a bit more difficult to deal with maybe - if we want to.
I think, with respect, that some of the posters saying their horses are good and that's what they expect of them, haven't had a horse that was really bothered by this.
 
I tend to leave them alone when they're eating and get other jobs done. Mainly because I don't want feed dribbled all over me!

My old pony was very possessive of his feed so I just kept well out of the way. Why wind him up?!

My mare has such a small amount of feed that she's done in a minute or two anyway. In the winter, I often feed her in the adjoining field so I'll be holding her and might de-tangle her mane or swap rugs while she's eating but only if she doesn't start to get nadgy.

My gelding loves his food and has a fair amount - he would let me do stuff to him while he ate but I can see that he'd rather I didn't so I don't. I had to move him out of a stable the other week while he was mid-feed and surprisingly he allowed me to move him to another stable by moving his feed with his head still in the bucket. He didn't miss a chomp and seemed totally not bothered by it.

But I do think they should be left alone if possible but still have good manners if they HAVE to be disturbed.
 
with the boys yes i could handle them but i don't as like others i feel it is their time, the big girl is a different matter, she had 'issues' when she was younger over a lot of things, he previous owner assumes from the way she was that she had had some very rough treatment, she was very quick to try and see you off with threats and if you persisted she would carry them through. her old owner did a lot of work with her and she is a lot better mannered but when she's got her nose in a bucket it's best to leave her alone;) not acceptable to some maybe but it's something i can live with. strangely enough i can hold her bucket of food and she'll eat it and not try to take your face off but if you put it on the floor and then try to mess with her or it and she'll threaten and carry that threat through if you persist. complex girl :rolleyes:
 
Enfys said:
I am seriously hot on manners and won't tolerate any kind of rudeness, but I believe that a horse should be left in peace when eating. Maybe not a good thing, but none of my horses are ever handled when they have their faces in the trough.
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Ditto - I have always left them well alone. That doesn't stop me from doing things around the horse if necessary.

ShadowFlame said:
Yes, I do. No horse should be agressive over food if they consider you higher in the rankings than them - i.e. If your horse kicks if you get near it when eating, you have a problem. It's like watching a herd of horses with a large bale out in the field. Only horses higher up the pecking order will see others off.
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I reckon it's best to avoid altogether the horse perceiving your presence as a pecking order issue. I definitely don't want horses to consider me a rival horse (of any ranking) - that way lies madness. That's one reason I leave them in peace when they're eating high-value grub.
 
tallyho! said:
I expect to be able to do what I want whether it's eating or not. It's a horse. Not bloody royalty. I was told by a master that mealtime is a horses' "private" time. I probably shouldn't have laughed but I just don't see it that way.
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Should horses have any private time at all? Interesting question.
 
fburton said:
Should horses have any private time at all? Interesting question.
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Which is probably why I laughed. I just couldn't work out what he meant by that to be honest. Mind you, he was french, trained in some very Haute Ecole places and to be frank, I keep mine on a farm and they get plenty of "private" time be that in a stable or out with the herd.

In my mind, where he trained/grew up horses were probably stabled and worked a LOT. So I can understand why a horse needs some "private" time to enjoy his reward.

My set up is very different. Out 24/7 unless need stabling for any reason and I work full time so if I need to muck out several horses then multitasking involves changing rugs/picking out feet while eating so I can be done in an hour. Never had a problem.

My perogative.
 
My youngster is not food agressive and I could if I wanted change a rug etc while she's eating but I chose not to. Comes from feeding racehorses in training years ago where there was no way you would want to be messing around them when they were having their feed. Old habits die hard!!!
 
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