Food possesive 2 year old-only with people?

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blueberry

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Hi, i was reading a similar post and it made me think about our 2 year old gelding.

When you go to take his finished feed bowl from his stable, his ears go flat back and he becomes aggressive.
He actually bit one of us a few days ago and when i was grooming him in his stable whilst he was eating his haynet he threatened again as i walked by it.

We bred this horse ourselves, he is a big boy at 15'3 and still growing, we have had several youngsters but slightly older as we dont like to have to undo problems caused by others. He has only been handled by us and a part time groom who we have always trusted.

There has not been a day that he has been kept in and whilst he was on 24 hour turnout and using a field shelter he is fine and will even eat with another youngster from the same bucket and share haylage in the shelter.It just seems to be people.

He was always a friendly foal, when you call him from the filed he will even canter to you to bring him out.
His mum pulls faces but never to the extent that he does and she would never bite.
So im wondering where has it gone wrong or is it genetic predisposed behavour, i dont know.
I am concerned that he has an issue that is going to be difficult to resolve or improve.
Any advice will be welcome.
 
Unfortunately 2yr olds are finding their feet with pecking order and a human is usually less threatening than the Alpha horse in the herd, you need to become that Alpha horse but not with anger or violence (not that you would) but by firm discipline. If it is not nipped in the bud it will snowball into him not allowing you into his stable in the end! Make sure he is not the last one to be fed on the yard, if he first puts his ears back at you need to show your disapproval, this can be done by opening your hand right out and hold it up to his eye (try it over the stable door first for safety) if he automatically turns his head away from you he is submissive and you will probably be able to sort it, when you are feeling confident enter his stable and stand by his net or feed bucket and when you get an agressive response from him hold you opened hand up to his eye again (keep doing it until he turns his head away) when he turns away you have to reward him, the best reward is to put your hand over his wither and quite vigorously squeeze up and down, its hard to explain without showing you! a bit like clicking your fingers but over the wither, this is a stimulant that takes him back to his foal times when his mum would groom him, they love it (usually) have a go and see if it works with him, make sure you wear your riding hat for safety for a while, after he has backed down you need to bend down and pick up his feed bucket but looking up at him ready to open your hand out to his eye if needed. Good luck (this is a technique from join up that disciplines them without force), it really worked with a couple of rather naughty youngsters I worked with on the stud, they used to fly at you with legs and teeth, after 4wks using this method they used to step back from the door to let me in. When you feel safe with him the next step is to reverse him into the corner of the stable and each time he takes a step forward use the hand technique to halt him, they learn that is their space to stay until you are ready to allow them forward (a bit like a naughty chair for children!!!)
 
We were very fortunate when we got a mare who was proud of her food and hay, there was a walkway at the back of the bos by the manger so we could stand by her feed safely at the other side of the mesh, she got used to this and then we moved into being in the bos with her. She would still sometimes 'snake' her head but gave up if you stood your ground.
 
Horses seem to go thru a terrible twos stage - Ive found the boys are worse than mares but that could just be me
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Can you handle him more with food? I lead my 3yo with a bucket in my hand and teach him not to hassle me for it but to just walk nicely beside me like its not even there, i also groom him while hes eating, he accepts that i can give and take food as i please
 
hi, thanks for the replies.They have given me some food for thought.
i will definitely be putting into practice the practical technique with the hand, so many thanks for that.
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