Taming food aggression

Rae · 01-21-2006, 09:23 PM

My 4 year old, Hope is very food aggressive, towards everyone. She's nearly kicked me a few times. As soon as I walk into the pasture with food, she pins her ears, and hangs around me, crowds my space, and if I don't dump the food into her pan in a timely fashion, she gets pushy, stamps her feet, crowds me more. I've figured out she has to be positioned a certain way when I dump the food into her pan, and have to walk away in a certain direction, to stay away from her rear. If I go behind her after dumping her food, she will kick. She'll kick anyone who's behind her. And if I walk up to her head, and make any move to her pan, she'll immediately try to swing her rear toward me, and I push her away, and she stamps her feet, basically throws a little temper tantrum. She is this way with everyone, worse with horses than with me. And tonight, she and my yearling headed to the same pile of hay, Hope got there first, and proceeded to kick Rose twice before Rose was able to get out of the way. I've pretty much had it with her behavior. Tomorrow I plan to work her good, I think since she hasn't been worked for awhile she's getting full of herself and needs to be "put in her place", even though she behaves like this all the time anyway.

She was neglected with a past owner, and starved, which accounts for the behavior. But I just want to know how can I tame this aggression, before somebody gets seriously hurt? Thanks!

BuddyPalAmiga · 01-21-2006, 10:32 PM

When I start my horses on hay in the fall, I bring a crop in with me and make them wait till I put the food down and move before they can eat. If they try to crowd me, I tell them to 'get back' and if they don't listen, I wave the crop and connect with the offending body part if they get in my "hula hoop space" to show that they need to stay back. When I start hauling the hay in on a sled, I use my buggy whip to electrify the air around the sled to teach them to stay back.
It takes a bit of time for them to get the hang of it depending on the horse, but they know better. It's just what we let them get away with

My horses are great for taking advantage of the saying "give them an inch and they'll take a mile". If I let them get away with it one day, the next, the behavior is worse. Don't let your horse get away with being pushy.
Hope this wasn't too confusing

Good luck
Beth

John · 01-22-2006, 03:11 AM

Horses have a pecking order and feed time is when it is most obvious. Clearly your horse does not count you above him in this order yet. I would not try training at the feed trough . Some good round pen work will get you to where he will respect you . Cut out all treats for now.

dockeramb · 01-22-2006, 05:48 AM

My Sparky acted the same way with grain and hay. What I did with him was, tied him up by his grain bucket, and I would not let him have it till I said so. I used a crop for this. And when he finally settled down, with ears forward and lip licking, I'd let him have it. And I also put my hand in the feed bucket. He had to eat around my hand. He had to accept me being there. Of course, don't do this if you think your mare will bite you!! I worked with Sparky till this behavior quit. As far as hay went, one day he charged me while I was bent over a bale of hay cutting strings!!! So I got my lounge whip, and chased him away from the hay. I acted like the dominate horse, and tapped his butt with the lounge whip, and would not let him have that hay till I said so. He quickly learned not to as so aggressive!! He was so sweet and a good boy till it came to eating. Then I finally got him to be a good boy all the time!! Good luck to you!!!

Rae · 01-22-2006, 11:10 AM

It's funny, she's so great with me any other time, she's so fantastic on lead, but feeding time, forget it. I was going to go out there and work her butt off today, but, it's raining like nobody's business and it's all a muddy mess, I can't get around without slipping & sliding.

But at feeding time I'll go out there armed with a crop. Thanks for your help guys!

sammiee · 01-22-2006, 11:38 AM

im having the same problem with my yearling ( he half reared at me the other day ) and pins his ears and swings his back end around when i try to place his feed down.. i now go in armed with a crop and tap the area of his body which is trying to get me.. hes learning this lesson fast lol

JBandRio · 01-22-2006, 01:13 PM

Dressage whip is your friend. Carry it around her/them at all times if you're dealing with this. Getting in your space gets a smack, and anything akin to biting or kicking gets a wallop.

Rae · 01-22-2006, 05:00 PM

I tried it out tonight. The poor thing, I'm thinking she was probably abused previously, because she hates whips of any type, and she bucks if she gets hit with one. It was so muddy, water everywhere, so the going was treacherous, and when she swung her butt around, she got a whap, and she bucked anyway. Anytime that butt came around to me, she got it. At one point it got a little hairy, so I went out of the pasture and went next to her at the fence, and made a motion like I was going to grab her food pan, and she swung her butt around to me so I smacked it, and she went over to Rose's food.

I started to go back in but she went back to hers on her own. She kept her butt clamped, braced for a smack. lol Poor thing.

I hope it gets cold enough overnight for the wet ground to freeze, it'd be much safer. Hopefully she won't start thinking I'm some big mean monster.

mustangmari7 · 01-23-2006, 11:07 AM

I carry a wood mop handle when I feed in the group pasture, and sometimes when I am just out walking in the pasture. I have done this for years, I have never had to hit a horse. I poke them if they get too close. I poke them firmly in the closest body part. The length of the mop handle gives me a safety zone. I prefer not to feed grain in a group setting because of the danger of being kicked or knocked down. There was a good show on RFDTV recently. It was a Pat Perelli, it was about training a horse not to be agressive at feeding time. I was impressed. He had some good idea's.

01-21-2006, 09:23 PM	#1
Rae Senior Member+ Join Date: May 2005 Location: McRae, AR Posts: 995 Images: 254	Taming food aggression My 4 year old, Hope is very food aggressive, towards everyone. She's nearly kicked me a few times. As soon as I walk into the pasture with food, she pins her ears, and hangs around me, crowds my space, and if I don't dump the food into her pan in a timely fashion, she gets pushy, stamps her feet, crowds me more. I've figured out she has to be positioned a certain way when I dump the food into her pan, and have to walk away in a certain direction, to stay away from her rear. If I go behind her after dumping her food, she will kick. She'll kick anyone who's behind her. And if I walk up to her head, and make any move to her pan, she'll immediately try to swing her rear toward me, and I push her away, and she stamps her feet, basically throws a little temper tantrum. She is this way with everyone, worse with horses than with me. And tonight, she and my yearling headed to the same pile of hay, Hope got there first, and proceeded to kick Rose twice before Rose was able to get out of the way. I've pretty much had it with her behavior. Tomorrow I plan to work her good, I think since she hasn't been worked for awhile she's getting full of herself and needs to be "put in her place", even though she behaves like this all the time anyway. She was neglected with a past owner, and starved, which accounts for the behavior. But I just want to know how can I tame this aggression, before somebody gets seriously hurt? Thanks!

01-21-2006, 10:32 PM	#2
BuddyPalAmiga Senior Member+ Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: central Montana Posts: 2,428 Images: 328 Blog Entries: 4	When I start my horses on hay in the fall, I bring a crop in with me and make them wait till I put the food down and move before they can eat. If they try to crowd me, I tell them to 'get back' and if they don't listen, I wave the crop and connect with the offending body part if they get in my "hula hoop space" to show that they need to stay back. When I start hauling the hay in on a sled, I use my buggy whip to electrify the air around the sled to teach them to stay back. It takes a bit of time for them to get the hang of it depending on the horse, but they know better. It's just what we let them get away with My horses are great for taking advantage of the saying "give them an inch and they'll take a mile". If I let them get away with it one day, the next, the behavior is worse. Don't let your horse get away with being pushy. Hope this wasn't too confusing Good luck Beth __________________ Beth James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. My 4 legged girls - Amiga, Sassy, Dolly, Missy

01-22-2006, 01:13 PM	#7
JBandRio Senior Member+ Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NC Posts: 32,000 Images: 196 Blog Entries: 12	Dressage whip is your friend. Carry it around her/them at all times if you're dealing with this. Getting in your space gets a smack, and anything akin to biting or kicking gets a wallop. __________________ - JB Acres, owned and operated by Dynamite animals. - It's a wonder horses as a whole don't just kill us all and be done with their misery. - Keep your voice soothing and low - even when things get western (buck1173)

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Taming my colts mane	stina3246	Horse Grooming	7	01-21-2006 02:36 PM
Taming the Mane	gummiponys	Horse Grooming	0	04-29-2005 02:58 PM
Sudden Aggression	Patti	Horse Training	1	02-11-2004 10:37 AM
sudden aggression	sprocket	Horse Training	3	01-27-2004 09:40 AM
Taming Mane	XmasAngel98	Horse Grooming	5	06-23-2003 05:06 PM

01-22-2006, 03:11 AM	#3
John Senior Member+ Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: B.C. Canada Posts: 3,747 Images: 60	Horses have a pecking order and feed time is when it is most obvious. Clearly your horse does not count you above him in this order yet. I would not try training at the feed trough . Some good round pen work will get you to where he will respect you . Cut out all treats for now.

01-22-2006, 05:48 AM	#4
dockeramb Senior Member+ Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Almost Heaven West Virginia Posts: 1,710 Images: 128	My Sparky acted the same way with grain and hay. What I did with him was, tied him up by his grain bucket, and I would not let him have it till I said so. I used a crop for this. And when he finally settled down, with ears forward and lip licking, I'd let him have it. And I also put my hand in the feed bucket. He had to eat around my hand. He had to accept me being there. Of course, don't do this if you think your mare will bite you!! I worked with Sparky till this behavior quit. As far as hay went, one day he charged me while I was bent over a bale of hay cutting strings!!! So I got my lounge whip, and chased him away from the hay. I acted like the dominate horse, and tapped his butt with the lounge whip, and would not let him have that hay till I said so. He quickly learned not to as so aggressive!! He was so sweet and a good boy till it came to eating. Then I finally got him to be a good boy all the time!! Good luck to you!!!

01-22-2006, 11:10 AM	#5
Rae Senior Member+ Join Date: May 2005 Location: McRae, AR Posts: 995 Images: 254	It's funny, she's so great with me any other time, she's so fantastic on lead, but feeding time, forget it. I was going to go out there and work her butt off today, but, it's raining like nobody's business and it's all a muddy mess, I can't get around without slipping & sliding. But at feeding time I'll go out there armed with a crop. Thanks for your help guys!

01-22-2006, 11:38 AM	#6
sammiee Senior Member+ Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 1,196 Images: 83	im having the same problem with my yearling ( he half reared at me the other day ) and pins his ears and swings his back end around when i try to place his feed down.. i now go in armed with a crop and tap the area of his body which is trying to get me.. hes learning this lesson fast lol

01-22-2006, 05:00 PM	#8
Rae Senior Member+ Join Date: May 2005 Location: McRae, AR Posts: 995 Images: 254	I tried it out tonight. The poor thing, I'm thinking she was probably abused previously, because she hates whips of any type, and she bucks if she gets hit with one. It was so muddy, water everywhere, so the going was treacherous, and when she swung her butt around, she got a whap, and she bucked anyway. Anytime that butt came around to me, she got it. At one point it got a little hairy, so I went out of the pasture and went next to her at the fence, and made a motion like I was going to grab her food pan, and she swung her butt around to me so I smacked it, and she went over to Rose's food. I started to go back in but she went back to hers on her own. She kept her butt clamped, braced for a smack. lol Poor thing. I hope it gets cold enough overnight for the wet ground to freeze, it'd be much safer. Hopefully she won't start thinking I'm some big mean monster.

01-23-2006, 11:07 AM	#9
mustangmari7 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Bancroft, Michigan Posts: 742 Images: 12	I carry a wood mop handle when I feed in the group pasture, and sometimes when I am just out walking in the pasture. I have done this for years, I have never had to hit a horse. I poke them if they get too close. I poke them firmly in the closest body part. The length of the mop handle gives me a safety zone. I prefer not to feed grain in a group setting because of the danger of being kicked or knocked down. There was a good show on RFDTV recently. It was a Pat Perelli, it was about training a horse not to be agressive at feeding time. I was impressed. He had some good idea's.