How to deal with a Tricky food obsessed foal? (My longest post yet!)

3Beasties

3Beasties

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I will fill you in as briefly as I can

I took Pixie on between Xmas And new year (I haven't brought her but am looking after her for friend). She had come from a sale, was very thin and full of lice and worms. We think she is about 6 months old, cob x arab? but not 100% sure.

When she first arrive she was very weak and could barely walk (had a long journey to get to me). I have been feeding her twice a day, she gets ad-lib Hay and is turned out regularly. She has been wormed and is still being treated for lice.

At first I turned her out in the field next to Millie and Charlies so that they could get used to each other without risk of injury. She has now been in the same field with them for about 1o days.

Millie and Charlie have not completely excepted her yet, they will chase her off if she gets too close to them and won't let her share the same hay pile as them (Obviously I put hay out separately for her). They do seem to slowly be getting better though and they go mad when I take her away from them!
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She is very good in a lot of ways, I can tie her up, pick out all her feet, groom her and have walked her down the road all with out a problem.

Recently though I have noticed her have a bit more life about her (which is great because she is obviously feeling better). When I have walked down the field she canters after me and will turn and buck towards me, this I just put down to high jinks so have been ignoring it.

However today she was kicking out and charging at the dog when he went near her whilst she was eating. OK I though, Not great but the dog has got to learn that he can't eat her breakfast and I thought she must have felt threatened, but then when I went towards her (to get the dog away) she started doing the same to me! I was quite shocked and wasn't really sure how to deal with it.

Another thing she has been doing is charging at her door when ever I walk past it and she thinks I have food.

Do I just ignore it or should I be telling her off? Is this something she could have picked up from the two bigger ones chasing her of? Is she trying to dominate me? How do I stop Her being so food obsesses!?
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Does sound like she's trying to dominate you to me. I wouldn't have gotten that from the other 2 chasing her away, I think thats more likely to be them putting her in her place. Sounds daft but maybe you should try doing the same, put her food down and chase her away from it, so she can only have it when you say so?

If she was deprived of food for a while maybe she is just possesive beacuse she wasnt when she'd next get fed. In which case I'd guess she will get better when she's settled in more and trusts that you will keep feeding her.
 
I'd ignor the behaviour and avoid going near her whilst eating, so the behaviour doesn't become a habit. You can understand her been possessive when she was so short of food before.

If she's coming into your space at other times and acting threatening towards you, then you need to move her away from you........ but without terrifying her in the process ('due to previous treatment).

You might be able to move her away just by looking her had in the eye and taking a step into her space, or by flapping a lead rope across your body etc You don't want to damage the trust you've already gained
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This is pretty normal behaviour for ANY weanling. Suddenly they're on their own (without Mum) and they have to make their own place in the world. I wean my youngsters in groups of 2 or 3 and there's ALWAYS a bit of argy bargy between them at feed time - and sometimes a brave (stupid!) one will aim a kick at me when I go in to feed them. They WEAR the bucket/bowl - hard!

I wouldn't chase her away from food - but have a spare rubber feed skip in your spare hand and if she DOES try to kick, let her feel it and say NO - very sternly. She'll learn!

And it's nothing to do with being deprived of food previously - just sorting out the pecking order!
 
Thanks all.

Since I have had her I have always made a point of handling her whilst she was eating, just grooming, feet and changing rugs etc. Not every time I feed her but enough for her to know that I'm not going to steal her food and to try and stop any future problems. She has always been fine with this which is why I was so shocked today when she started being a monkey. She was eating out in the field though today so weather that made a difference I don't know. I also wonder if the dog being around her wound her up enough for her to just start kicking out at anything that went near her even though the dog didn't really do anything wrong.

When I feed her in the stable I always make her back away from the door as I am going in and she has to wait until I move out of the way before she can go and eat (she did start pushing me out the way which is why I started doing this).
 
You also need to remember what food means to young horses. It isn't just nourishment, it is reassurance and comfort too. Your young horse is going through some big changes and is just confused at the moment - and if the other horses won't play, then you will be tested as a potential playmate - and rushing up and rearing is all part of the games.

Teach one thing, do it for a week and consolidate, then teach the next thing, whether it is about standing nicely in the stable, or walking out in hand - it will all settle down given time.
 
my youngsters are out and get fed a bucket feed every day.i always make a point of leaving them alone while they are eating,in fact i leave all mine and go and do another chore while they are enjoying their food.
the youngsters are very keen on their feed,i have had to put the buckets in tyres because the paw them over.
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Just to add, when putting hay in the field always make sure that there are more piles than horses.

So 3 horses = 4 piles and so on.

That way there is far less danger of bullying and damage.
 
Would not handling them at feed times cause a problem later on? I have to handle all mine at feed times to change rugs and groom etc, I just don't have the time to leave them and then come back. Would leaving a foal to eat now not make it more difficult when you do need to handle it whilst its eating?

The two older horses are quite happy to share a big bale of hay in the field but I do put a couple of separate ones out for Pixie.
 
People have different views on feeding and handling.

I never handle horses when they are eating - it's their time. Rugs get changed before or after they eat.
 
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