Advice for horse behaviour problem, please

[helmstead]

Quote:
Heck, no - you're doing it right...otherwise you're begging for a good colic.

 

[patandchickens]

I was always under the impression that it is better to spread it out.

Oh definitely.

Often, not being religious about the time helps, if you are around at other times *not* feeding them. (If you are only at the barn to feed them, then varying feeding times really does no good, as they know that Mom Showing Up Equals Mealtime). But this is no guarantee, it depends on your horses.

Speaking of which, another thing that might help you would be to streamline the haying process as much as possible, so there is less delay in which they can get all wound up and start pawing. So, like, if you are going to have to get hay down from the loft, or open a bale, or weigh out the feeding (I know most people don't, but I weigh out my hay), do it right after you hay them so it is sitting there READY for the next time -- next time you just nip into the barn, grab the hay, and bang you're out there putting it down for the horses.

Training (that is, not rewarding undesirable behavior) really DOES work for this, though. Come visit sometime and watch my three guys, all of whom came to me as bad mealtime pawers, just stand there and wait politely

Pat​

 

[helmstead]

Yup, it truly does work. I've turned whole BARNS of horses around who kicked stall doors and banged and pawed at mealtimes. You have to spend a little more of your own time with the routine, but it's well worth it.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Horses are FOR SURE smart enough to figure out the lack of positive enforcement. This is NOT the same as negative reinforcement, I did not hear anyone say run at him with a whip or throw rocks or scare him off. That would be negative.

Think about it, very badly abused and afraid horses are rehabed simply by clicker training often. The simple LACK of a positive (click, linked to a very small treat) is enough to get them past huge fear and move forward in facing situations that used to part of their abuse. Almost all movie training is done this way as it requires the handler to be off to the side of the set controling the horse. So for most of the clinics that I have been to they state clicker training is the best way to get control of your horse from a distance if you need that for a certain thing.

I totally agree with feeding at irregular times, I do it due to my work schedule now, but it's the best way to prevent bad habits and get good ones. My horses come when they are called from a huge acerage as I call them in to feed. I hope to seldom feed them due to them waiting, but again do to my work at times it happens. If it's the exception instead of the rule in your horses life it will help for sure. Sometimes call them just to check on them, groom or ride, and then walk away without feeding too though.

Feed more often, sure, or like I said get a hay that can be free fed mostly. When I'm free feeding I do let them run out so they clean up every couple days, but for the most part they have hay. And I do top it up to make it more interesting between. The suggestion to be ready to feed is a great one too, the less lay up to it the better, that includes a certain time, a certain chore just before that, or the feed preperation. Don't call them till the feed is out either, and to make it fast feed small piles out for all then make them bigger to the amount you want.

 

[Nubiansrus]

I have a 24 yr old gelding that has this same problem. He had it before I got him. I have tried the stopping and not feeding him when he paws... we have done this over and over every feeding for about 4 months now. Hasnt worked yet. He stops then I walk forward then he starts I stop. Dont feed him til he stops and lets me get there. Free choice , or more feed is not an option, hes already a bit rolley lol.

 

[chickypoo]

In an ideal world every horse would have free choice to nutritious grass hay. Not sugar loaded hay or alfalfa but a good high protein, high fiber grass. Feeding them everything at once is not the way to go. Horses are grazers, telling their body that they can only eat once a day is not good at all. It is also a mental thing too, they have a built in urge to graze and if they can't fulfill that urge then that can translate into bad habits when they see food coming.

That urge to graze constantly is very strong and not satisfying it will make him edgy. I don't know how you are set up, is he in a pasture or stabled 24/7 because that can make a huge difference too. Irregular feeding schedules, and cutting back on grain could help. You don't really need any sweet feed or grain unless you are really working it off, otherwise it is best to get calories from hay.

Clicker training would help too, I have yet to see anything it can't help with when done right.

 

[gaited horse]

yes spread the hay out between 2 or 4 feedings

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
I have to agree with the general sentiment, but add that for a number of horses it would have to be "spread very very thinly over an extremely large area" to avoid them eating like a goldfish and exploding

The capacity of the horse stomach, and the appetite of many horses' brains, seems calibrated better to poor naturally-occurring wild pastures than to a roundbale plunked down in front of the shed <g>

Me, I would probably feed my two TBs free choice, despite the attendant extra waste, except that they live with a fat white Lipp-Morab cross whose mission in life is to hoover down every last edible object in the landscape as fast as possible. And who does NOT even remotely tolerate a grazing muzzle.

So, I think often there is very, very legitimate reason for doling out the hay in multiple feedings per day rather than keeping it in front of 'em full time.

Pat

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Personally I do a lot of voice training. My stallion will paw if I don't correct him. He's used to responding to the tone of my voice, so if I tell him sharply, "Hey, quit that!" he quits. So how did I teach him this?

I started schooling him on a long line, calling out the gaits as I wanted them, snaping the long whip until he picked the right gait, then rewarding him vocally with a cheery "Good Boy! That's right!" when he got it and growling at him when he didn't want to. It took a few weeks but eventually he got push-button about it. Now I can lounge him anywhere without a line or a whip, controlling him just with my voice. This also means I can stop him anywhere, square him up, back him, etc. all with just my voice. Since stallions can be buggers if you let them, this makes him so much easier to live with. It also means he now knows to wait for stuff.

Pawing is just impatience because the horse has not been taught how to wait. The more ground work you can do with him, the more attention he pays to you and the better he listens. These combine to make it easier for him to wait without pawing because he knows that's what you want from him.

Horses with good minds do want to please once they know what we want from them. They are herd animals and they go along to get along, but I think they also get some enjoyment when they know they've pleased us. They like being a team, I think.

JMO

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
I do the same thing and it's always worked well for me. I say, "Ahhhht!" in a certain tone and they know what it means. It's sort of like how Ceasar Milan uses "sssst!" with his dogs. You use the sound along with a correction and slowly remove the correction. You can teach them to just about anything by doing this... stopping with just your voice, moving away from you, anything.
But, yes, ground work is really the key. Lots of ground work!