Hand grazing and manners

[normandy_shores]

How do you manage hand grazing and maintain manners? How do you make it clear to your horse that now you’re allowed to graze?

I have one that is mild mannered, doesn’t step out of line, sensitive. If he even thinks of grazing and ignoring me at an inappropriate time, a verbal “uh uh” is enough. If he is grazing I don’t have to use the force of 1000 bulls to lift his head and start to walk off.

I have one that is a massive pig and bullheaded and very insensitive. There’s lots of ground work in our past and future, but he will always test and be a pig (this is the horse that went behind me while I string hot wire and plucked each section, just to be sure). I do not hand graze him at all, ever. Mixed messages!

I have another sensitive pony on rest. She’s green and young and learning pretty well not to try to grab mouthfuls while I’m leading or doing something, and I’ve been leading her to nice spots, makin her wait patiently for a moment, then making a deliberate loosening of the lead.

My conundrum is this; first horse is trained to ground tie but not always reliable on grass (my previous horse was 100% great about that). I’d love the sensitive pony to learn to ground tie eventually, so how do I differentiate loosening the line and allowing grazing and ground tying? With first horse, I always drop the line, give it a little tug like “hey buddy!” And he knows…

[Feliz]

I crouch down and sort of pat the grass? So it’s a unique action. Don’t know if that’s any help . . .

[arapaloosa_lady]

You can train a specific command for ground tying & one that allows grazing. I use the same ones as for my dog…:lol:. So, a cheery “Okay!” when grazing is allowed, and a stern “Wait here” with a hand motion for standing still (ground tying).

[red_mares]

For my big mare, a pat on the neck means she can graze. Generally she’s too busy looking at the world to graze anyhow.

[beowulf]

I don’t like to handgraze, personally - I don’t think it’s inherently more dangerous than any other activity BUT sometimes horses get so focused on the grass that they spook into you or jump into your lap over something they normally would have noticed and not reacted to. I want horses to enjoy my time with them so I see why people like to handgraze with their horses, but personally, when I have my horse tacked up or haltered I like him to know that this is “work” time. I often notice with the people who handgraze their horses often that the horse learns to pull against the lead or try to pull you around, which I HATE.

If I do do it (usually only at shows or while waiting for a vet appt) what I do is give a few bumps and say ‘down’. But like I said, I really, really don’t like to do it… But I also will move them often - IE not let them dictate the course… not for control but so that they don’t have the opportunity to be dragging me around to whatever patch of grass they please.

[tabula_rashah]

I actually approach it the opposite way- it is always allowed unless I say otherwise. As an endurance rider, it took me a long time to teach my mare to grab as much as she could whenever she could. All of my horses are very respectful about it- they don’t drag me (I HATE that!) and if I say no- they know I mean it.

[merrygoround]

Hand grazing is very useful for a horse on lay up, but always a challenge for the person at the end of the lead. I’ve never had a problem with getting them to eat but have had occasional sharp reminders to stay alert.

Now gnoshing on passing branches while hacking, that is a really hard one. :rolleyes:

[SmartAlex]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8188389]
I don’t like to handgraze, personally - I don’t think it’s inherently more dangerous than any other activity BUT sometimes horses get so focused on the grass that they spook into you or jump into your lap over something they normally would have noticed and not reacted to.[/QUOTE]

Me too! The worst I ever got hurt with a horse was hand grazing and I was being as safe as possible. Still got bull dozed. I frequently hand graze, but always think safety. Politeness is strictly enforced and I stay vigilent.

Also, my grandmother was a 4-H leader and one of her girls got killed hand grazing her horse. They found her with her neck broken. They thought what happened is she leaned over the horse’s neck and the horse swung his head at a fly or startled and came up under her jaw and killed her.

[normandy_shores]

In my case, my current interest is for my pony who is on small pen confinement and rest. Her existence is rather boring right now, and there’s only so much I can do with her. And while she gets good quality feed, I know we’ve all heard of horses who just so that much better with some grass in their system. She’s been really good. I’m grazing at home just outside her pen, not at a show or or somewhere she would be more prone to spooking and unpredictable stuff.

[mkevent]

I think some of the dangers of hand grazing come from the handlers not paying attention. I have my attention constantly on the horse when I hand graze. No texting, maybe chatting on the phone if I can be watching the horse the entire time. The more athletic the horse, the more dangerous it can be. I have a few that could easily clock you with their hind feet going for a fly if you don’t stand at a distance up near their head.

I also always hand graze with a chain lead shank done up correctly. Then you don’t get into a pulling match when it’s time to go. I absolutely hate being drug around by a disrespectful horse.

I don’t have any horses that ground tie, but I think the above suggestions sound like good ones.

Some horses seem to love the pulling game or trying to rub on you but will be over reactive with their heads when you reprimand them. I have found that strongly pressing into their chest with my thumb a few times seems to get the point across without them being overly dramatic. Some horses seem to react better to pressure than a sharp smack or jab. My TB is this way with his head. He will try to rub on you when you remove his bridle. If I smack him, he just moves his head and then tries to rub again. Calmly pressing against his face with my thumb has taught him not to rub. I will then halter him and rub the itchy spots for him.

[ReSomething]

I use a verbal cue, like a Jewish mother, Eat, eat. It has a tone and cadence to it also. But I also don’t like being dragged to the next best bit of grass so it’s infrequent and what I try to do is set up a portable hot wire instead, small and restricted, or put them in a segment of the tractorway.

[SarahandSam]

I wait until my horse is waiting calmly and not trying to root, then I say “okay,” and that’s his cue. I use the same cue when we’re going into water and he wants to dive his head down for a drink–he has to wait for an “okay,” and he only gets that if he’s patient.

[Guilherme]

I use the command “eat” when it’s OK to eat. When it’s time to quit the cue is a a light tug on the lead rope and we go and do something else. If the horse wants to graze they’ll try to drop their head. If it’s OK I’ll say “eat.” If not it’s “no” with a small tug on the lead rope.

Young horses take some time to learn this. Sometimes you have to use a crop to reinforce the hand; sometimes you don’t.

G.

[Chief2]

For a rooter, I run a lead with a chain underneath the jaw. Allows them to graze without hauling me into the next county.

I agree with merrygoround. Hand grazing is a necessary skill to learn. If this is all the vet allows your horse for 30, 60, or 90 days, it’s a real PITA if you’re going to be involved in a tug-of-war battle. Dirt skiing gets old really fast.