[QHGirl]

I just wanted to pass on some information to everyone. I was informed by a very knowledgable horse person to not feed my mare from my hand. I used to give carrots to her and not think a thing about it. The reasoning is great and really is true for mares and stallions and a few geldings as well. It is really noticable for mares. The reason was because feeding a mare (or any horse) from your hand is submission, they are the "alpha mare now". It is basic pecking order. The Boss mare when turned out in a field moves anyone out of the way and is able to eat wherever she wants, in turn you feeding her is giving in and she now dominates you because she is "TAKING" it from you. Even though you are giving it to her, in natures mind, she is taking it from you. SO I always feed my mare from a tub or on the ground and man does she respect me more. I still give it to my gelding by hand, because he really doesn't care too much one way or another plus he knows who is the dominate female

Just thought I would share some new things with you. Anyone else heard of this too?

[spyro1]

that is interesting. It definately makes sense. I have never owned a mare (except our shetland pony mare), always geldings and have never had a problem with my boys. We have always fed my daughter's pony nicker makers by hand. We have had no dominence problems with her. I wonder if we should stop? Nah, she would probably die!! that would be abuse in her mind's eye LOL...what you posted does make a lot of sense though. Why can't us non-pro's come up with stuff like that

<small>[ September 30, 2003, 11:55 AM: Message edited by: spyro1 ]</small>

[horse_crazy]

Hmm....I dont know if i agree with that. I know feeding from your hand can cause the horse to think you are going to feed them from your hand all the time and when you pull out your hand they may become nippy. But with the whole alpha mare thing Im not sure if i agree with that. I feed our horses treats out of my hand but i work with them so well it doesnt show quite as much...because they are so aware of their manners. But that was an interesting topic...Ill have to think about that! lol!

[perrin]

sounds to me like one of them questions...Do you get wetter runnin or walkin in the rain.? going by that you take away several trainers tricks for overcomming a timmid or scared horse. one of the best shoeers i ever knew used small pieces of carrot to train spooky horses to stand he could do more in 2 half hour sessions than most can do in a month. also, i've had a couple of boss mares that took every opp. to prove they didn't need nothing for nobody! best way i had to tweek em off was to feed everyone else hunks of apples...after a few min. of hearing the crunchin...they just couldn't stand it any more and would try and move in like it was their idea all along to hang back:P:P

[Dawn]

I think that it makes sense. But if you're going to say that, you would need to lay out all of your horses hay and feed where he can't see you. Just because it's not coming directly out of your hand doesn't mean that he will not still associate it as you giving it to him.

[carmi]

This is an interesting topic. All my horses are mares, and I have fed them all treats by hand, but I do not make it a habit. I agree with Dawn, a horse knows where the feed comes from, and whether you feed the horse on the ground or out of your hand doesn't matter. When I go out to feed my horses, they are all waiting at the fence and nicker at me when I come out of the house. Dominant mares will pin their ears and chase the subordinate horses away from the feed. A horse has NEVER done that to me, meaning that they respect me. They know that the feed comes from me, and I can take it away if I want (not that i would).

I think that each horse is different, and so is every situation. Maybe there are some horses that get out of "control" when you feed them out of your hand, but I would not generalize it to all horses, or all mares.

[Miz Khiz]

Hmm I think it only goes with some mares..
With my 7 year old.. I think that's what she believes.. but she's constantly trying to establish a new pecking order where's she's boss..
My 25 year old.. not a care in the world as long as she gets treats every once in a while

[QHGirl]

Sorry I forgot how picky the readers are in this post. I didn't type, "SOME HORSES". That is my fault.

I never meant to say ALL HORSES just some horses have a dominate issue which both of my mares did, they never got out of line, they just reacted better to feeding NOT out of the hand due to the above "dominate" issue. If you don't believe that, that is fine, like I said it was told to me, not proven or had scientific research that I have looked up but in reality it makes sense.

Yes some horse people feed treats, some trainers feed treats. I feed treats, but a lot of trainers and people don't. Some range from too expensive to they feel love is the best reward.

It is ALL personal preference, I just wanted to put the post out there for some people to think about it before feeding their horse out of their hand. Some people here wonder why they are having issues and maybe rethinking some ways they are letting the horse "Think" they are dominate over them might help with fixing problems. Just a thought!!!!

I can see both ways, like I said my gelding is fine, I don't have a stallion but both my mares respect me better and I have less "issues" with them when I don't feed them directly out of my hand. I am not saying don't feed treats, but put them in the bucket or on the grass or isleway and let them eat it from there.

As far as feeding them, that is different, you are the boss mare, allowing them to eat. You have control over them and when they get it. Some people have horses that come take the hay right out of their hands when they walk through the door, not only is that dangerous but should not be done. My horses back up and wait for me to put the hay in the corner and then they can eat. It is more of a respect and dominate issue, I am letting them eat when I say they can so I still have the upper hand.

It just works for my horses and they respect me. You need to treat them like they are in the wild. Love on them (scratching, kissing, petting) but make sure they are in line when it comes to other issues. Watch 2 or more horses together and check out the way they treat each other... that is natural for them.

[spyro1]

quote-"As far as feeding them, that is different, you are the boss mare, allowing them to eat. You have control over them and when they get it. Some people have horses that come take the hay right out of their hands when they walk through the door, not only is that dangerous but should not be done. My horses back up and wait for me to put the hay in the corner and then they can eat. It is more of a respect and dominate issue, I am letting them eat when I say they can so I still have the upper hand."
Definately agree with you on this My gelding does the same. There is nothing more frustrating than having a horse rush you for his grain/hay the minute you step in the door. I have walked out (with hay in my hand) when an old horse of mine started this. It took me quite awhile to finally end up feeding him that night. I just kept walking out until he finally stood by his bucket waiting for me. Trying to break a horse of this display of dominence is very hard....