Horse won't wait for his dinner!

Foxy girl

Foxy girl

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My cob is a perfect gentleman until it's dinner time - I bring him in from the field and tie him by the stable (which also has his feed in it - I have v. little space!) and then I bring his feed out to him. All of this takes 30secs to a minute at most but in that time he gets himself so strssed out and bangs and barges and pushes at me and the door until I can't get near him to put his feed down. if I put him in the field shelter with the gate shut he just lashes out at the gate and the walls and I'm worried he's going to hurt himself (or me).

He's not starving (trust me!!). I know I could leave the feed out so it's ready for him but I'd like to teach him some manners because I don't like this behaviour.

Any tips on how to manage his behaviour?!?

Thank you
 
I am sure some people will disagree but I do not see the point in trying to make him wait or have manners with regards to feeding...it is natural for horses to be keen about their food, they are food driven...especially cobs.
Why create stress and hassle for you and your horse needlessly...just leave the food ready for him and then he will not be endangering anyone with his keeness.
I think us owners get hung up on manners sometimes, a horse is a horse, they do not understand manners when it comes to basic instincts and needs.
I am not having a go by the way, it is mean't nicely, I just would not worry and make life easier by having it ready.
 
Hi Pottamus, no it's a good point and maybe I am getting too hung up on the manners thing and I should just make life easy for him and me in this situation.

I guess I worry that if I am 'soft' in this situation, he might take advantage in other situations where it matters more. I've only had him a few months and am still getting to know him - he's a bit green with things like hoof picking out and can lash out - I don't think any of it is malicious but I want to make sure he knows there are boundaries...

Maybe if I leave the food out for him and he knows it will laways be there he'll stop getting stressed and if one day it isn't there immediately he will wait - could work?
 
My big boy used to nearly flatten us when you went in with his dinner. So now he has a manger in the corner and we go in with a tubtrug held 'closed'. He has been taught to stand back by his manger and we tip the food in. ie. the reward for good behaviour is his food. Now he stands by the manger when he hears the feeds coming. It didn't take too long to teach this. Good luck.
 
My ID is a food obsessive and it make life easier all round I always have her feed waiting for her in the stable. I have had her 4 years and she is 24 now so is not going to change her ways.

Trying to make her wait doesn't achieve anything. She has kicked out at me before and knocked my husband over so it just isn't worth it.

She has absolutely perfect manners, apart from when it comes to her feed. Once she has had it will happily stand in her stable patiently waiting for me to bring her hay so it is only her feed she is obsessed about.

She literally gobbles it down so it makes me wonder if as a youngster she had to fight for food.

Save yourself stress, save him stress - its safer and a lot less hassle in the long run.
 
I think although he's only 6, he had spent some time in a riding school before he came to me and I'm guessing he will have had to wait for his food, maybe watching others be fed long before him and that's why he gets so stressed.

I think tonight I'll do his feed ready and save us both getting het up!

thanks all!
 
I don't understand why you feed him in the yard tied up. It would be a much calmer process to feed him in the stable in his own space and peace, That would prevent him spinning on the end of the rope when you're trying to get near him too. In the stable he can just wait with his head over the door, without feeling constricted, and you can open the door , ask him to go back, reinforce with a push if need be, and put his feed down - job done!
 
teasle said:
If he were mine I would put him in the stable, and then bring him his feed.
Click to expand...

This but I would also make a point of not feeding him as soon as you bring him in; maybe give him a brush over or lead him out for five minutes; anything to stop the 'coming in means food now' syndrome which is bound to cause stress for him. I'd always have his hay ready for him though so he can get used to tucking into that before you feed and it will have taken his 'starvation head' off too. Mine always come into their hay but don't have a set feed time so they don't get stressed at all, they know it'll come sometime just not when!
 
Teach him to back off?

I like my horse to back away from me when I enter his stable to put his food down, nothing worse than a horse barging into you so you can’t get through the door or nose diving into the bucket and getting it all over the place before you’ve even had chance to put it on the floor and he loves his snap, don’t get me wrong I’m not one for telling them to stand and wait (expecting them to act like a dog) but there has to be some order, he’ll even lift his head up when I say head collar so he knows lift his head up out of the bucket for me to remove it.

Try teaching him to back off with a hand command then try it with an empty bucket, then eventually every so often offer him a treat when he does as he’s told, then he’ll do it when you approach him with a bucket, they soon learn if you practice it every day.

I'm just suggesting the above for when you feeding him in his stable but it will also come in handy for other situations too.
 
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