Grumpy at feedtime...

[Mlini]

My horse has always been a little grumpy at feedtime, but over the past week he has got worse. He doesn't like anyone near him when he's eating, his ears go flat back and he snarls at you. I usually just leave him alone while he is eating, but now its winter I am always rushing.. Changing rugs/brushing/picking out feet/mucking out etc while he is having breakfast - he just gets more and more annoyed that you are there. Even if I am just mucking out and walk past him he snarls at me. If I tell him off straight away, he stops. If I ignore him and just carry on what I'm doing, he stops. He has never actually bit me, just looks at me like he's thinking about it!!

I have recently got a sharer and she's been feeding him at lunchtime (I do AM & PM feeds), she took his feed down to the field yesterday and he bit her on the arm, quite hard. I think she was trying to give him a pat on the neck when she put the bucket down and he lunged for her. She said she told him off, but he still went for her afterwards I have told her that if he tries it on today, to give him a slap and let him know who's the boss!! She's only small (and a little novicey), he's 17hh.. So I'd prefer it if he were to behave.

Does anyone have any idea's as to why he is getting nastier? It is only at feedtimes, he is fine at all other times. He is fine with treats/haylage, its just with the 'hard' feed.

 

[AmyMay]

Does anyone have any idea's as to why he is getting nastier?

Probably because he's hungry and would like to be left in peace to eat.

Get to the yard 5 mins earlier to allow him to eat without you 'faffing' with him.

 

[Dizzle]

My tb is VERY grumpy around feed, so I have now started a very strict ‘food does not come from humans do not bully them into giving you noms’. So when I give him hard feed I remove him from the stable, tie him up outside, put the food in the stable then pop the horse back in and he must turn away from the food and stand nicely to have his head collar off before he’s allowed to eat. I’ve also changed his diet slightly so he gets nothing with any cereals in, I’ve even cut out the pony nuts so now he’s just on graze-on and supplements, had to get him to eat some meds last night so chucked in some pony nuts and he was back to pulling faces again...

I also try and leave him alone when he’s eating, I personally HATE being mithered when I’m eating, I can’t even have OH pop a hand on my shoulder whilst I’m chewing, it makes me feel sick so I offer my horse the same curtsey! (Yes, the horse and I are very similar odd bods!)

 

[Ladyinred]

Probably because he's hungry and would like to be left in peace to eat.

Get to the yard 5 mins earlier to allow him to eat without you 'faffing' with him.

Let's try saying the same thing but rather more kindly.

Does he have enough hay overnight, and is there still grass in his field? If the answer to either of these is 'no' then he is probably hungry and you need to up his hay/haylage.

If you need to muck out before you turn out then I would suggest tying him up outside where he can eat his feed in peace and change his rugs etc when he has finished. This sort of behaviour can quickly become a habit if you don't find the cause and address it early on.

The other possiblity is, have you changed his feed? Possibly to one that is higher in sugar or mollassed? One of mine, normally the kindest horse on the planet, is a complete swine if he has sugar.. a real Jekyll and Hyde. A couple of days without and he is Mr Charming again.

 

[AmyMay]

Let's try saying the same thing but rather more kindly.

Does he have enough hay overnight, and is there still grass in his field? If the answer to either of these is 'no' then he is probably hungry and you need to up his hay/haylage.

If you need to muck out before you turn out then I would suggest tying him up outside where he can eat his feed in peace and change his rugs etc when he has finished. This sort of behaviour can quickly become a habit if you don't find the cause and address it early on..

Was it unkind Or just direct and to the point.

And for the record OP, never, ever tie a horse up to feed. Incredibly dangerous.

 

[FestiveBoomBoom]

Mine is grumpy too. I make him back up a couple of steps in his stable, wait calmly for a few seconds, respect my space and then I just let him get on with it. I don't like to be bothered when I'm eating either! I do suspect that his face pulling is directed at his neighbours as I can go into his stable and he wont try to attack me or anything like that but personally I just like to give him some space to enjoy his tea alone!

 

[Ladyinred]

Was it unkind Or just direct and to the point.

And for the record OP, never, ever tie a horse up to feed. Incredibly dangerous.

Not if you have a manger that hooks over a wall, or fence.

And, the reply was abrupt to the point of being hurtful implying she was too lazy/stupid to get there earlier.

 

[AmyMay]

Not if you have a manger that hooks over a wall, or fence.

Good point actually.

And, the reply was abrupt to the point of being hurtful implying she was too lazy/stupid to get there earlier.

Don't be daft.

 

[Fellewell]

I think at this time of the year the yummy bucket feed takes on a special importance and while they're eating they're totally focused on protecting it. If something moves nearby they won't bother to check whether it's horse or human they'll just lunge/kick out instinctively.

 

[Mlini]

Don't think 5 minutes earlier would make much of a difference. He takes an absolute age to eat his breakfast. It's probably going to be a case of sitting and waiting for him to finish I think.. Maybe I should turn him out and throw it in the field with him..

I feed at 7.30am/6.30pm everyday, he gets ad-lib haylage, plenty of grass in the field, high-fibre/low starch diet. However, I do suspect that someone has been feeding him carrots, I've seen bits in his bed. Would the sugar from carrots be enough to affect his grumpyness?

I don't need to tie him up to feed, he's stabled in a barn the size of 6 stables! I put him at one end to eat breakfast and I muck out at the other end - he's not bothered unless you walk past him. Anyway, he'd probably wrap himself up in the leadrope and give me a huge vet bill!

Maybe it is just a case of leaving him alone, but don't want him to get any worse. He bit her as she put the feed down for him! Maybe it was just him saying 'put it down & p*** off!'

 

[Lolo]

With my old boy, you put the feed in his stable and left him well alone. If you fed him in his field (he was usually fed in the field in the summer as he lived out) you put the feed down and exited very briskly. He had no qualms about aiming a kick at you/ anything that came near him when eating despite being an angel to handle in every other respect. We just organised that we'd do everything before we fed and then leave him to it. After a while, he'd let me/ my mum/ my sister rug him and stuff after he'd been fed but we were still really careful...

We think it was because he was turned out in a group of very dominant horses who were younger/ bigger/ fitter than he was so he had to defend his food so the habit never died. Didn't bother us, and his field mates quickly learnt that he didn't like to be bothered!

 

[AmyMay]

I don't need to tie him up to feed, he's stabled in a barn the size of 6 stables! I put him at one end to eat breakfast and I muck out at the other end - he's not bothered unless you walk past him.

In that case it seems that there's probably no problem. Pop his breakfast in, muck out around him - fill haynets, water etc. by which time he'll probably have finished his breakfast. You can then rug and turnout. The other option is to give a slightly smaller breakfast, and a larger lunch.....

 

[Mlini]

With my old boy, you put the feed in his stable and left him well alone. If you fed him in his field (he was usually fed in the field in the summer as he lived out) you put the feed down and exited very briskly. He had no qualms about aiming a kick at you/ anything that came near him when eating despite being an angel to handle in every other respect. We just organised that we'd do everything before we fed and then leave him to it. After a while, he'd let me/ my mum/ my sister rug him and stuff after he'd been fed but we were still really careful...

We think it was because he was turned out in a group of very dominant horses who were younger/ bigger/ fitter than he was so he had to defend his food so the habit never died. Didn't bother us, and his field mates quickly learnt that he didn't like to be bothered!

This makes sense, but he has never been out in a group. Always had individual turnout since being in training.

He wasn't so grumpy in summer, it's just the past week..

Suppose I'm just looking for a reason... Maybe he's just a grumpy twit!

 

[Mlini]

The other option is to give a slightly smaller breakfast, and a larger lunch.....

But then he will be extra hungry at lunch and eat my sharer alive

 

[fburton]

And, the reply was abrupt to the point of being hurtful implying she was too lazy/stupid to get there earlier.

I didn't read it that way to be honest. Also, I'm a big fan of not faffing at mealtimes - best leave horses in peace to eat.

We think it was because he was turned out in a group of very dominant horses who were younger/ bigger/ fitter than he was so he had to defend his food so the habit never died. Didn't bother us, and his field mates quickly learnt that he didn't like to be bothered!

Bl**dy dominance - more trouble than it's worth!

He wasn't so grumpy in summer, it's just the past week..

Hungrier (because of the colder weather and burning more calories)?