Feeding time with horses can be one of the more fraught and dangerousinteractions you can undertake. There are some very simple things you can do to minimiseharm to yourself and your horse when the feed buckets come out.

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to feed out to large and small groups of horsesof varying types, disciplines, experience, ages and sizes. I’ve seen lots of differentbehaviours – from polite to downright life threatening.

One of my earliest experiences was when I first bought my own horses home about ten yearsago. I was pretty inexperienced. Feeding out hay I blithely put down one big pile of hayand left them to it. My gelding savaged my mare so badly he tore open her side.

More recently a Victorian man was left hospitalised and in a coma with broken ribs whenfeeding out his group of horses. One mare lunged at another causing her to launch forwardstraight over the top of the man.

It was an accident, but one that could have been fatal. Thankfully he recovered.

There are some very simple rules to feeding out, particularly with two or more horsesthat help make things a little safer for both horses and human.

Know Who Is Boss
There are two parts to this. Human. Horse.

Any time you are doing something around horses the human should always be boss. Thismeans that you should not be stood on, barged over, lunged at or in any way bullied byhorses you are feeding. You decide where and when they will be fed. In a very real senseyou are taking the place of the Alpha horse in the herd.

Carry something to help create space around you. My absolute favourite training tool is ahat. Pulled off quickly and flapped vigorously at a horse invading my space workswonders. Hats have saved me from dangerous situations a number of times. Alternately alead rope swung around you is another good space creator.

A polite horse should give you a couple of metres space when entering a paddock carryingfeed buckets.

Rude behaviour is: a horse that crowds you; barges over you; swings their hind quartersat you (or worse, double barells); that stands in front of you (to impede yourprogress).

Horses paddocked together have already had a conversation with each other about who isboss and nothing you do or say will change that fact. Your job is to watch them andfigure out the “pecking order”.

A submissive horse might dart in and get a mouthful from the first bucket you put downbut the dominant horse in the herd will quickly move in and claim that feed chasing off alower status horse in the process. So ... just put the bucket down and move out of theway!

Spend time during feeding out to watch what order horses eat in. It will likely beexactly the same order every day. From most dominant horse to most submissive.

Feed The Boss First
Once you have established the herd hierarchy from top to bottom, feed out in that order.Even if a horse jumps queue they’ll quickly be moved down the line by horses abovethem.

Lose the notion that you can teach the bossy horse to wait his turn (ie, by making himwait till last, it won’t happen). As I said, the horses themselves already had thisconversation with each other, and nothing you can do or say will change the order theyestablished with their paddock mates.

What you can do however is ensure the herd boss doesn’t boss you!

Distance Is Everything
The further you place feed buckets or hay apart the more likely you will avoid accidentsor dangerous situations and the more likely everyone will get their feed.

Placing feed buckets closer than around 3 metres allows dominant horses to guard morethan one bucket or pile of hay. A submissive horse is likely to be unwilling to enterthat space. So boss horse will gain two or more feeds for himself.

By placing feeds a good five metres (or more) apart you allow submissive horses theopportunity to eat their feed. A boss horse might chase a lower status horse off but hehas to leave his feed to do it and the submissive horse will just swap and eat theunguarded feed.

Don’t Feed In The Gateway!
I know it’s tempting to just dump your feed bucket near the gateway, particularly if it’smuddy in the paddock, but this can have a couple of negative consequences.

Firstly it can create a rude, impatient horse. Make them wait a bit as you walk about 20metres out from the gate before putting the feed down.

Secondly in group situations it can put a horse in danger. A boss horse will thinknothing of cornering a lower status horse in the gateway and double barrelling them upagainst the gate. Similarly, it can put you in danger.

Try And Match Up Feeds
If you are feeding multiple horses try and ensure they are getting similar feeds – bothin quantity and type.

It’s no good trying to feed your boss horse his small “diet feed” (because he’s fat!)when a lower status horse has a nice big juicy feed in the same paddock. Your boss horsewill just keep getting fatter and your lower status horse will struggle.

If you can’t match up horses according to feeds you might need to look at separating themat feed times.

Create A Yard Inside The Paddock
I have found this to be extremely useful for a whole range of reasons. What I do at homeis create a yard inside the gateway, easily big enough to bring a horse through andusually big enough to park a ute in.

Firstly I can bring horses into and out of the paddock without other horses eithercrowding us or trying to follow us through the paddock gate.

Secondly, if I need to drive a car/ute in, for example when having a round baledelivered, it can be driven through the first gate and into the yard, close the firstgate behind it and open the yard gate into the paddock. This allows a safe drive throughwithout the risk of horses escaping.

Thirdly, use the yard if you need to separate horses at feed time to make sure horses aregetting their correct feeds.

Fourthly, when you have to medicate one horse in your herd, separate them to make sure noone else is getting their medicine (eg. powdered penecillan).

Feed Wasters
These are the horses that paw their feed bin, knock it over, roll it around. There isnothing more frustrating than seeing your good quality feed flung around, stomped intothe dirt by horses that kick their bins over and waste their feed.

I know some people who have stood by their horses at feed time and tried to prevent thebehaviour. Of course, the moment they turn their back, the feed bucket goes flying!

Save yourself the trouble and stress I have a couple of options for you!

One – build a heavy, hardwood base for your tyre feeder. Screw the tyre feeder onto thebase. Believe me, they can’t be knocked over!

Two, dispense with the feed bucket and put down some loose hay on the ground, then pouryour feed out on that. This method usually gets rid of the pawing behaviour altogether(in my experience) and the hay stops the feed getting dirt on it.

Recap

• Understand the pecking order in your paddock
• Establish yourself as Boss and make sure horses respect your boundaries
• Feed your boss horse first and then in order of status
• Keep a good distance between feed buckets. Five metres or more is best.
• Don’t feed in gateways!
• Try and match up horses and their feeds.
• Use yards inside your gateways.

Comment on this article using the Comment Function below. Discuss this article with otherusers on the Horse Forums.

Follow us on Facebook.