[bay_blnd jmpr07]

I can not for the life of me get Mars to eat out of my hand or eat a treat...not even when the treat is mixed in with his grain!

I've showed the treat to him and then had Fiona or Lucy come over and eat it from my hand and he kinda goes "huh? you're eating that? I want it now" but when I try again he just sniffs it and plays with it, never puts his teeth on it.

I know there are cons to hand feeding. But I would like to be able to give him something by hand.

I guess I should be happy that praise alone, just rubbing him up and down and loving on him, has done all his training. There really is no need for any type of food motivation. He's just happy getting hugs and kisses when he does something right.

But I like being able to walk by the horses and slip them something from my hand real quickly. To me there's just something about hand feeding your own horse.(And none of mine are mouthy, they're all very gentle when being hand fed, especially miss Fiona...Mars won't even play with my hand with his lips...or try to snatch my coat or anything)

I've tried the "monkey see, monkey do" method, I've tried just putting it in his mouth and "holding" his mouth shut, I've tried putting applesauce on a treat, and I've put treats in with his grain, but no luck.

I've been battling this "problem" ever since I got him. I tried teaching him what treats were with his own mom to no evail...

A co-worker suggested popping a peppermint in his mouth.

Any suggestions? Are there actually horses that just don't like/eat treats?

[kellypistachio]

Hi! I'm sort of having the same problem with one of my geldings. We have had him for 2 months and he was never given treats before - he's 17. I'm the same way you are, just something about giving treats to my horses that is satisfying somehow! Anyway, he is finally starting to show a bit of interest in carrots, but nothing else, and not a ton of interest. But I'm working on it, we'll see how it goes!

PS - I tried the peppermint trick, he didn't go for it. Oh, but I almost forgot - once in awhile I'll put a sugar cube in his grain and he does eat that.

good luck!

[bay_blnd jmpr07]

Wow, 17! My guy just turned 6 months exactly today.

[Anti-Silence]

my horses dont usually like peppermints, but they will take a piece of a candy cane... all except for the two year old... he doesn't seem to like them either...

[AllSpiffedUp]

Well, if he is only 6 monthes he may not understand yet. Some babies need more time. Wait until he is a little older. Another possability is that he doesn't like the treat you are giving him. Have you tried apples, carrots, peppermints, sugar, and other various treats. A lot of them really like peppermints, carrots, apples, nicker makers are also popular for the buyable type.
I hope these suggestions help!

[bay_blnd jmpr07]

I have a HUGE tub of Nicker Makers that I just got, and I bought a small bag of them a week ago. And he'll kinda play with them in his mouth, but he doesn't bite down on them...So Fiona gets them all LOL

I'll hafta get an assortment of goodies to experiment with.

[HorseGurly143]

So, will he not even eat the treats out of his feed bin? If he will, then let him try them first from there. WHen I first got Jester, he hadn't ever had treats, and was terrified of them. I put honey and molasses on my finger and rubbed it on his gums. I then slowly got him to lick it from my hand. You might want to try something that is liquid or gel like that first, until he learns that good stuff comes out of your hands and is willing to try more. Good luck!

[Dawn]

Have you tried a different type of treat? He might just not like that one.

Or feeding him a small handful of his regular grain out of your hand (without the treat)?

All of my horses will eat treats, any treat. But Scotty will not eat a spearmint (haven't tried peppermints). So I don't push the issue.

None of my horse's are mouthy, and don't give them many. Rusty has a tendency to get a little pushy about food in general, so it's on a rare occasion that he gets a treat.

[bay_blnd jmpr07]

He won't eat any type of treat. I've tried apples, carrots, these pastel colored treats that everyone else loved, nicker makers, and 2 other treats that were given to the ponies by a friend. Everyone else eats them up just fine, including Legz who is 7 months old and she's never snubbed a treat from me or anyone ever.

And he won't eat grain out of my hand either. He used to for a little and was good about it but he kinda stopped. He'll sometimes take hay out of my hands, but that's not exactly hand feeding because he doesn't need to be near my hand to grab it...

[3WishesDun]

Isn't he your baby that hurt himself (his eye)? Maybe he equates taking treats by hand to being handled to doctor/care for his injury. He might just be a little suspicious. Probably way off base, just a thought I had.