Treating by Hand

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BlueberryPocket

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Do you treat/reward your horse by hand?

I know some people put it in a bucket & dont hand feed as horses become nippy. Although I know someone who doesn't hand feed & her gielding is the nippiest horse i know!

What are your thoughts?
 
It depends on the horse. I have had some I never treat by hand as they are food obsessed and can't help themselves from trying to search my pockets. It just makes their life more difficult as they then have to be reminded to stay out of my space. Some you can get away with hand feeding but I don't really find it necessary. I would rather my horses were pleased to see me than the contents of my pocket.
Oops! Gone off on one, sorry!
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Not atall, i understand what your saying.

My horse is totally food obsessed, i have tried to stop hand feeding her but it's very difficult! Something i wish i hadn't started. I was taught however to treat my horses when they came in or went out or when i left for the night.

I suppose it's in moderation.
 
Now my two are in with other horses in the field I have stopped hand feeding them as it would cause squabbles, in the field all their feed is in buckets. They only get hand fed treats when in the yard.
 
I give my horse and pony pieces of carrot or sweets when I feel it necessary from my hand and neither of them bite, I have owned these two for 7 and 8 years. They get a treat when I catch them, when I do carrot stretches for the TB and for various other reasons, neither of them has become rude about it. I have treated all my horses the same, and I have had my own horses for over 30 years. If I had a horse that was so silly about treats that I had to give them in a bucket I would stop giving them anything.
 
I do not feed in the field, that would be suicide!

I give my horse the occasional treat by hand, but mostly its in a bucket because Jake is food motivated, is 16.3 and realises his size. I am used to being frisked for food, others are not and are not as big as me, so he gets 99.9% of treats in a bucket. He has stopped frisking and saying please with a foreleg (boy do I regret teaching him that trick) and has much better manners now.
 
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