The Hay pile dance :)

Lea1985

Lea1985

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grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr my horses are crazy!!! They play swap the hay pile, If only I could tell them each pile is the shame as the other.....I watched them this morning they are so comical.

Xander Gyspy vanner 14 months old happily muching away.....introduce tessa 14hh arab evil ginger mare shunts him up the bum so off he potters around towards claude 16hh patchy tank. (there is of course tessas hay pile in the middle that she left but NO! you mustn't take the middle pile!) Xander stands waiting....them wammmmmmmmm claude bashes tessa out the way so he can eat her pile. Xander moves forward, tessa goes to the back pile....and so on and so on!!!

I was in stitches, its so funny. If Xander would be brave and also be a shunter rather than waiting politely it would be even more hilarious (sp?)

Anyone elses monsters do this too??
 
Hahaha mine are exactly the same, there's also 3 of them and all have switch round so many times before they settle. Me and my mum are always laughing at them.

It's like 'oh maybe your piles better, I want that one... Actually no that ones better.... Nah I'll go back to the first one'

I'm standing there going, fgs! Pick a pile and stick to it!
 
Oh yes - this sounds familiar. The big cob would go and have a mouthfull of each one just to make sure no one else got something tastier. The sensible one is our little honey monster, she just holds back and as soon as she sees and opening she dives in and gets it down her neck and doesnt bother what anyone has or hasnt got.
 
That's why received wisdom is that it is best to put out at least one more pile than there are horses, so that none need to stand waiting for the others to make up their minds. there will always be one available. If you put out more than one extra pile, so much the better. also leave enough room between that horses cannot eat and kick each other at the same time.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
That's why received wisdom is that it is best to put out at least one more pile than there are horses, so that none need to stand waiting for the others to make up their minds. there will always be one available. If you put out more than one extra pile, so much the better. also leave enough room between that horses cannot eat and kick each other at the same time.
Click to expand...

We do that - and they still think someone is getting a better deal. Obv our girls just cant make their minds up (well aprt from the cunning Honey monster)
 
You should count yourself lucky!
Mine have developed a hay dance extraordinaire.
The KWPN does a terrific capriolle(rear/buck) and he has taught his young companion to do the same. He leaps....She leaps higher. He leaps higher still....she does a handstand. Then they swap piles and repeat the leaps.

I put the hay down and hasten to a place of safety.
 
lol my 4 are out in pairs but still do swapsies on hay piles:rolleyes:, and no matter how many piles i put out the bossy boys still have to check out what the other horse/pony is eating:D
 
If only my particular hay pile dance was entertaining...unfortunately, the biggest one (who gets the most) is the one who gets chased off by the other two and stands off looking bereft...the smallest one (who gets the smaller pile) is an ears-flat-back-to-the-head-threatener and the middle one is not mine and owner is choosing not to feed hay just now which means I have to tie her up while she watches the other two eat, because otherwise she will chase BOTH of them off complete with double barrelling (already have a kick-induced haematoma on the face of the small one)
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
So I am spending rather a lot of time watching them all eat/not eat at the moment - its like being a school-dinner supervisor!!!!!!!
 
We usually put out 4 piles for the 3 horses, but it's the same for us. Herd leader 14hh cob moves everyone where he wants them, pees on a pile of haylage and then moves them again. Then keeps moving everyone around until generally he is in charge of 3 nice piles and my 15hh cob and friends 15.2hh filly share the remaining pile, often the one he peed on!!!

Think it's just a boredom / in charge thing we just leave them to get on with it as after a while the herd leader has eaten his fill and will wander off and the others will eat their fill.
 
A year ago we had 4 horses of varying ages from the oldest at 27 to the youngest at 6 months my xtrotter has always been dominant, rounding the others up chasing them off the round feeder, being a total prat, when he first arrived he had a 2 day battle with our dominant mare, they eventually agreed to share top spot, with him urinating on round bales in the field and chasing the others from the stables the only one objecting was the mare.
Today, we are down to 2, my bolshy boy and an 18yr old, my bolshy boy dictactes where the 18 yr old grazes, when he can go into the stables where he can eat hay etc, I often give the old boy haylage and shut my bolshy boy out, I will chase bolshy boy off showing him who is boss, remind him of manners in the stable/being lead, but it is part of his personality and I accept that
 
I put hay out in a square to facilitate the hay dance!

Boss mare normally settles nicely but my old gelding is a pain and always has to check the ones below him haven't got a better pile. This year my friends food obsessed cob gone I think there will be much less jossling.

The old Shetland cross is a wise old bird and will tend to side up next to big Boss mare and share her pile whilst the others do the silly dance and waste valuable eating time!
 
At the riding school we had a horrible litl slut of a welsh pony who would pick a pile of hay, pee on it then go to the next pile!

Loved it when we fed out with the tractor and trailer - they would buck and bounce around the trailer grabbing mouthfuls from each pile as it was dropped - running on with us to the next pile. The sensible ones waited until the trailer was part way up the paddock, pick the nearest pile and tuck in before the others came back.
 
Your lucky you can put hay out my cob would kill if any of my others if they dare grab a mouthfull of any pile Mine all mine and dares anyone to tell him different.
 
Yes I am missing this entertainment as one of mine now has to have soaked so she either stands on the yard and has it while the other is in the field or stable, or has it in the field while the other one is on the yard. I am currently working on a tying up hay net for the field prototype so I can leave them both out while I'm busy. Not sure whether to make a peice of single post and rail or tie up to an old trailer or something. Have tried putting piles of soaked ahy out but they eat it too fast at night!
 
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