OMG Horse tryed to kick mee!!!!!

ShowJumperBeckii

ShowJumperBeckii

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ok So before school i go muck out in the mornings and i feed my horse at the same time and for the last few months and so if you touch her or go close to her she will stamp her feet or kick out never at me but just a kinda like 'ITS MINE GO AWAY' sorta way
but today i didt even go close [as i try not to!] but she kick out AT me this time and im so lucky i had my shavings fork as i would of had a nice hoof print on my stomach and it scared the **** outta me but the thing is i dont understand why this is? because iv never taken her feed away? or not given her any feed she gets feed twice a day and has enough for her work ect

i was thinking maybe she is hungrey and when she gets her food she feels like shes NEEDS it and no one can touch it? my mate feeds firber cubes said they fill them up but dont put weight on but other than that i dont know

any help?
 
Food is the only thing Harry gets anci about. He is an absolute sweet heart the rest of the time but when he knows you're making up his dinner, he paws the ground and generally gets a bit funny and impatient. He won't kick you but if you move his food when eating, he'll follow it regardless if you're in the way lol.

I've just decided that I should just leave him to it. He'll listen when I tell him to back up and stuff but once he's eating, I leave him alone.

I'd say tie her up out of the way so she can eat in peace and just don't do things around her when she is eating as she clearly gets very protective, like a lot of horses
 
Why don't you muck out then give her the feed at the end, then you can leave her to eat it. Or could you ask someone else on the yard to give it to her before you get there, you could make it up the day before. Hope you get it sorted soon.
 
Why don't you muck out before you feed her?
My mare is very touchy over food. While she knows I'm the boss, she does stamp the feet and flick her tail at me, if I am in the stable while she is eating. I have made sure that if anyone else is feeding her, they must not stay in the stable with her while she is eating.. She possibly would kick out and I won't take the chance..
 
nelle48 said:
Why don't you muck out then give her the feed at the end, then you can leave her to eat it. Or could you ask someone else on the yard to give it to her before you get there, you could make it up the day before. Hope you get it sorted soon.
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Quite. Mine is fairly food aggressive, so he gets his feed early doors, then is mucked out later. I don't think I'd appreciate someone fiddling round my feet were I eating.

Alternatively, find somewhere safe to tie her up and leave her to it.
 
I think really you will just have to get up earlier or sort out some other routine where you can let her have her feed in peace. I don't think it will be because she is hungry.
 
get down earlier?
i usally with my two give them there brekki then go and do there hay and water and other bits and bobs so when there done i turn them out and just the beds to do.
its worth spending that little bit more time staying away from here eating than gettin a kick.
i am also a great beliver in not messing around with them while there eating .. i know people that groom while there horse is eating and wondering why ther horse pulls a face =/
 
Ok...understand its hard only getting 10 mins - im like that sometimes too :)
What you need to do tho like pretty much everybody has said is do it differently - why does she need to be eating her feed in that 10 mins?
I would do what you need to do...then as a parting gift - feed her....then she will be on her own and have time to enjoy eating it...!
 
Can you not let her eat her breakfast in peace, then muck out in the evening? I used to always go down after school and muck out, leave bed up, ride and then pull bed down. It worked for me :)
 
BSJAShowjumper123 said:
but i cant as my parrents take me so i cant make them take me earlyer can i?
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Why not? You only need an extra 5 minutes.
I was up at 4.30 this morning, feeding at 5.30 and turning out at 5.45.
At work by 7

Anything is possible if you put your mind to it. You will need longer in winter to deal with rugs, etc, so you may as well get in the habit of going earlier now.
 
i'll disagree with everyone and say it is not acceptable for a horse to kick when it is eating and i certainly wouldn't leave her to it!!

i would don a hard hat and a body protector and work with the issue- staying around the front end to start with. perhaps just stand a few feet from her head and don't try to interact with her so she learns you aren't a threat and build up to moving around her slowly.

i have a mare who can be a bit stroppy and there is no way in hell i would allow her to dictate when i can and can't go in her stable!
 
millitiger said:
i'll disagree with everyone and say it is not acceptable for a horse to kick when it is eating and i certainly wouldn't leave her to it!!

i would don a hard hat and a body protector and work with the issue- staying around the front end to start with. perhaps just stand a few feet from her head and don't try to interact with her so she learns you aren't a threat and build up to moving around her slowly.

i have a mare who can be a bit stroppy and there is no way in hell i would allow her to dictate when i can and can't go in her stable!
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I agree that it shows a lack of respect, and that given time it could be trained out (I can go in with any of mine when they are eating but actually choose not to) - it isn't going to get sorted in a 10 minute morning rush so, so alternatives need to be found
 
Do that when you've only got 10 minutes for the mare to eat and to muck out. ? Horses tend to kick you in the leg when they're p'd off of course, so a hat and body protector won't be much help with that.
Out of interest, does your mare get turned out?
I honestly think it's reasonable to leave a horse in a bit of peace for 10 minutes to eat it's food. I don't think that they should kick you if you need to move about them a bit while they're eating. But to be rushing around every day trying to muck out, do water and hay etc while the poor horse is eating isn't really fair.
If the mare wasn't always like this, and this behaviour has got worse over the last few months then I'd say this horse is being caused a fair bit of stress by her morning routine. Getting progressively more stressed and now starting to show it.
 
OP asked for help and the only thing anyone has said is 'don't go in when she's eating' or even that it is 'polite' to let her eat in peace??

no-one has suggested working through it- it is the weekend tomorrow so perhaps she could work through it in the daytime when she has more time?

i am sure that working through it over the weekend and then after school as well OP would be able to get it sorted- telling her to just leave the horse in peace isn't that helpful in solving the issue, it's just avoiding it.
 
I think respect is an over-used word when it comes to horses. What happened to a bit of mutual respect? It's all my way or the highway with some people isn't it?
 
millitiger said:
i'll disagree with everyone and say it is not acceptable for a horse to kick when it is eating and i certainly wouldn't leave her to it!!

i would don a hard hat and a body protector and work with the issue- staying around the front end to start with. perhaps just stand a few feet from her head and don't try to interact with her so she learns you aren't a threat and build up to moving around her slowly.

i have a mare who can be a bit stroppy and there is no way in hell i would allow her to dictate when i can and can't go in her stable!
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I sigh in disbelief when people try and excuse a horse kicking out because its eating.. The horse is challenging you by kicking at you, thus your not considereed to be a worthy leader by your horse and they'll probably question at some point why should they trust you. Horses need to accept you as their leader as if they don't its just far too dangerous. If you just accept that your horse kicks while he's eating and someone else isn't aware of it they are in danger of being kicked too..
 
Tinypony said:
I think respect is an over-used word when it comes to horses. What happened to a bit of mutual respect? It's all my way or the highway with some people isn't it?
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i assume that's aimed at me? :)

i do respect my horse- which means i don't batter her if i am eating a sandwich and she shows interest!

it certainly is all my way with my horses on matters like this; horses are too big to allow leeway with issues about personal space and kicking.
 
Respect, leader, challenge, what confrontational words.
Look at it this way. You put a bowl of feed down on the floor, then wade in with a shavings fork and proceed to chuck shavings about causing dust, and muck out the waste from the night before surrounding the horse with the smell of piss and ****. Bearing in mind how sensitive their sense of smell is, does that put a different perspective on the situation?
Notice also that the horse "tried" to kick Op. No, it didn't try, if it had wanted to kick her it would have done. The horse warned her that it wanted a bit of space, in the way that horses do. The horse has been warning her for some time, and been ignored.
Go eat your breakfast in the loo after your OH has been in there for 15 minutes (with a magazine probably) to share the experience this horse has every morning.
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Respect is a 2-way street.
 
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