how to partition a paddock if my two horses fight over hard feed

C

Cor

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 September 2011
Messages
100
Visit site
Hi there, can you please suggest any good solutions to partition a paddock into two when my two horses are provided with hard feed, as they seem to fight a lot for it?
I was thinking of something that can be easily removed once the horses are fed.
Also, if they horses also compete for hay. Would placing two bales or additional haynets to the paddock help? To ensure both have access to hay…
Please note that the stables are quite far from the paddock so moving them to the stables for their hard feed 3 times a day would be time consuming…
 
Have you thought of fencing off a small corner (roughly stable-sized) with electric fencing, so one horse can be brought into the 'pen' to be fed whilst the other is fed in the main field?

With the hay, it usually works well to have one more source of hay (piles, haynets etc) than there are horses in the field - so three nets/piles of hay for two horses.
 
TGM said:
Have you thought of fencing off a small corner (roughly stable-sized) with electric fencing, so one horse can be brought into the 'pen' to be fed whilst the other is fed in the main field?

With the hay, it usually works well to have one more source of hay (piles, haynets etc) than there are horses in the field - so three nets/piles of hay for two horses.
Click to expand...

Agree with this
 
I don't think fencing is the answer. I feed up to four horses in the paddocks together without problems. You need to put the boss horse's feed down first and then drop the feeds in (I do it over the fence) in order of hierachy. If you get one horse that finishes first and then steals a lower ranking horse's feed, just put more chaff in their feed to keep them going longer. I have a paddock with 3 in and another with four and no fighting. One horse has to be kept in a separate paddock at all times though.

If this still does not work why not put the boss horse's feed down and then take the other one out and feed outside of the field?
 
Catch one and take it out. As Wagtail says, you can either put one bucket down, or you could put a loop of twine onto the fence for safe tethering, catch one and tether, put bucket on with field horse, feed outside horse, then bung them both in. A bit of a hassle, but no more so than faffing with partitioning bits off.
 
Oh, I dunno. Sometimes I have a little electric fence enclosure across my gateway with a bungee gate. At feed time I open the gate and Bossy Mare walks in for her feed. I go through the gate with the other feed bowls and feed the two Chesnut Boys. This means I can wander off and poo pick while they eat. Bossy Mare gets less food than the boys because she's fat, so it stops her chasing them away and hoovering their food. They boy who has conditioning mix has more chaff in his feed, which stops him finishing too quickly and chasing the old boy away from his little dinner. Even when I change fields they soon pick up on the routine and start to stand on their spots waiting for the bowls. It works with the hierarchy and also keeps the real pain out of everyone's way,
 
Thanks very much guys for your comments they are very helpful will try something tomorrow and let you know how it goes.
 
Have done similar to Tinypony in the past for feeding - bossy one out.
Current Fuzzies come in for grub & brush off (or I shoot off with barrow round paddocks)

Hay:The 2 current Fuzzies had 4 to 5 piles of hay out last winter each morning.
I put this out before they went out & it was very well spaced along each boundary if possible.
1 huge pile (intended for biggest fuzzy) then 3 or 4 smaller piles.
Little fuzzy doesn't need much (as is porker!) but also eats slowly as is old & teeth are a little shot now.
Big Fuzzy is a bit of a ferocious monster when it comes to food when in with little Fuzzy, but eventually got the idea that it was not worth the while charging up and down the paddock as there was indeed plenty of hay (took a couple of weeks tho! :rolleyes: )

Am not planning to hay mine for a good few weeks yet outside (unless the weather gods indicate otherwise tho)
 
Wagtail said:
I don't think fencing is the answer. I feed up to four horses in the paddocks together without problems. You need to put the boss horse's feed down first and then drop the feeds in (I do it over the fence) in order of hierachy. If you get one horse that finishes first and then steals a lower ranking horse's feed, just put more chaff in their feed to keep them going longer. I have a paddock with 3 in and another with four and no fighting. One horse has to be kept in a separate paddock at all times though.

If this still does not work why not put the boss horse's feed down and then take the other one out and feed outside of the field?
Click to expand...

This is what I used to do for mine - I put down boss horses feed first, the fastest eater got more chaff and the slow eater less. Once all feeds were down the boss horse had to be returned to his feed as he would move over and sample everyones.

Space them well apart so they cannot kick at each other while eating. As far as hay goes, again spread well out and put out an extra pile for 'the absent friend' then everyone gets a chance to eat.
 
That's bizarre and no criticism, but I would never feed a group of horses loose in a field for fear of something getting kicked.

I would stand with them if there were a couple to ensure I could head off a potential fight, but would not leave feedbowls in field, nor would I feed off the ground for fear of fighting later over imagined scraps of food.
 
siennamum said:
That's bizarre and no criticism, but I would never feed a group of horses loose in a field for fear of something getting kicked.

I would stand with them if there were a couple to ensure I could head off a potential fight, but would not leave feedbowls in field, nor would I feed off the ground for fear of fighting later over imagined scraps of food.
Click to expand...

If you space the feeds well apart and balance the contents according to who eats the fastest you rarely get problems. I used to feed 32 horses and ponies out in the paddock with no fighting, lots of running around after the wheel barrow or tractor dishing out the food but no fighting or kicking.
 
Evelyn said:
Once all feeds were down the boss horse had to be returned to his feed as he would move over and sample everyones.
Click to expand...

Ha ha yes, I have that problem too! However, after a while I find they learn that their feed is either just the same as the others or better still, the best, and don't bother moving the others off theirs.
 
siennamum said:
That's bizarre and no criticism, but I would never feed a group of horses loose in a field for fear of something getting kicked.

I would stand with them if there were a couple to ensure I could head off a potential fight, but would not leave feedbowls in field, nor would I feed off the ground for fear of fighting later over imagined scraps of food.
Click to expand...

If the herd is well established and you feed in order of the hierachy and space out the feeds, then you will not have a problem. I would never feed this way in a herd that was still establishing the hierachy though.
 
Wagtail said:
I don't think fencing is the answer. I feed up to four horses in the paddocks together without problems. You need to put the boss horse's feed down first and then drop the feeds in (I do it over the fence) in order of hierachy. If you get one horse that finishes first and then steals a lower ranking horse's feed, just put more chaff in their feed to keep them going longer. I have a paddock with 3 in and another with four and no fighting. One horse has to be kept in a separate paddock at all times though.

If this still does not work why not put the boss horse's feed down and then take the other one out and feed outside of the field?
Click to expand...

Agree with this, I had 6 in a field at once, a shire (everyones mommy), ebony (boss) annie (2nd in command! :D) and 3 ponies (one of which was a daemon diva) Feeding time always went,
Ebony
Annie
Maddie (diva dartmoor)
Harvey
Connie
Saffie (shire)


They all fed happily together with not one bit of fuss, when maddie finished hers she went and shared saffies 2 heads in the same bowl!
 
siennamum said:
That's bizarre and no criticism, but I would never feed a group of horses loose in a field for fear of something getting kicked.
Click to expand...

Thats the exact reason I split everyone up. The newfies (one in particular) will spend his whole time running around and chasing everyone off their bucket, which enables him to eat his own and most of everyone elses. He comes in to be fed (as does one other) and the remaining pony is fed in the field.
Even the two that are best friends are fed on opposite sides of the fence!
 
We feed in the same way, have 6 horses with 3 in each field. Boss gets fed first, then the middle one, then the one that gets bullied!

My old boy is a big fat pig and woofs his whole dinner (a bucket of chaff with supplements) and then tries to eat the other two dinners despite the fact the other boys don't have any chaff in theirs! I had to solve this by actually trying him to a hitching rail whilst he eats, the other two wouldn't DARE pinch his but he is on a diet and the other two needs building up so needs must!

In the girls field it is bliss, mare and foal get fed first, then her sister gets fed. The mare is quite food agressive so her sister leaves her well alone although she finishes first!
 
I keep my old boy, the TB, in a seperate paddock overnight, so he can have access to his giants night feed and haynet for 12 hours unbullied. He then has a breakfast, and then goes in with the two fatties for daytime grazing. He is so soft, even the small pony can just walk up to him when he is eating, and he will give way to her.

The other two don't really need a feed and get a handful each. The bully gets his first, then the small pony a little way along the fence. If they were all fat, it wouldn;t bother me so much, but the old boy eats slow, is easily put off and needs so much more than the natives, so its easier to fence him off overnight.
 
My two can be fed in a field together no problem. Give the boss extra chaff and it keeps them happy.

If the young one had finished first, then she used to creep forward, and try to take hold of the boss's bucket and pull it slowly towards her. The boss simply made a face and pulled it back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top