Any tips on how to deal with a horse that runs around and kicks out during feeding time? Horse goes after neighbors over the fence and will buck and run like they’re having a temper tantrum waiting for food once feeding time starts. Horse is turned out 24/7, and it’s started to become a safety issue and horse is boarded full time. I can show up to work with her in mornings only.
Thank you.
Do you have hay out 24/7?
If you can’t keep hay out 24/7 I’d definitely throw a flake about 20 minutes before graining
I feed at different times of the day and at different points in the routine so they aren’t coming to expect, “human comes down at this time of the day and immediately feeds us.” The few times I have gotten into a predictable feeding routine like that, that’s when the sillies start.
Horse has round bale 24/7.
It’s a co-op barn, it doesn’t matter when feeding starts. Once she knows it’s started she loses it. Lastnight she was just double barrel kicking the fence towards her neighbor over and over. She’s not fed in her stall because she does the same thing to the walls in her stall.
I’d find or install a good strong post and tie her on a blocker ring.
Feed her first, and/or tie her (safely) so she can’t do this, before any movement is made to the feed room/getting buckets/etc. Obviously if tying her is only possible in a place where she could kick a fence and endanger herself, that’s not “safely”
Are they fed 1 or 2 times a day?
Another thought is the anticipation of feed is aggravating ulcers, so it’s worth a trial of Gastro/Ulcergard for a week to see if things change, and if they do (or even before), scope to see what’s what.
I say scope even if things start improving, because while omeprazole may make glandular ulcers feel better by raising stomach liquid pH, it’s not going to help them heal, and you’d need additional or different drugs for that kind.
I admit, ulcers was my first thought.
I had to manage horses like this before. I’ve noticed that solo horses get excessively proprietary of their fence-line. Don’t know if it’s because they’re insecure, or what, but they talk big game around the fence-line because they know the other horse can’t put them in their place. It’s worth investigating ulcers here, and moving her to a bigger pasture with a buddy and no shared fence-lines (if possible). She sounds anxious and insecure.
Kicking out at a fence line is how horses get killed. It’s absolutely unacceptable behavior. She needs to be discouraged from doing this. Tie her up in a safe area so she can’t rile up the others and hurt them in the process. If she absolutely can’t be tied and must be fed free - growl at her, clap at her, throw a bucket, whatever needed to redirect her away from the fence. All it takes is one kick for you to have an emergency vet call on your hands. BTDT.
Bucking and general shenanigans is fine, as long as it is not next to a fence.
Short term management solutions include lining the stall (or kick area) with a stall matt - most of these horses kick out because of the spectacular noise it makes. You can also try feeding her first or pulling her out before grain.
She is putting other horses and your co-op barnmates at huge hazard with this behavior.
She is 3 weeks into ulcer treatment. She’s always gotten worked up during feeding time but the past 2-3 weeks she’s gotten a lot worse.
We are doing a trial run of Regumate due to the timing going into spring.
I’m planning to take time off of work to work with her on it and instill some manners.
What product(s), and was she scoped? Using omeprazole can make hind gut issues worse, for example
She’s on omeprazole and Sucralfate. Attempted to scope 3x but difficult due to her behavior during feeding time in her stall, so we tried muzzling her and leaving her out but she kept getting it off.
This doesn’t make sense to me. Why can’t you have her scoped?
She freaks out kicking in her stall during feeding time, which is dangerous for her and the stall. In order to fast her she either needs to be stalled or kept outside with a muzzle on. For safety reasons we left her out with a muzzle on so she could fast for the scope but she kept getting the muzzle off and eating. Therefore unable to do a scope.
Ugh. Horses. Can she be hauled to a clinic to be fasted and scoped? She might not get as worked up about feeding there as it’s a different place/routine.
Otherwise I’d throw her a flake of alfalfa first thing (can it sit outside her stall or paddock overnight so no one has to go to the feed room to get it?). That’ll help her tummy feel better if it is ulcers but at the very least it should be enough to distract her.
How incredibly frustrating.
How about a nice solid dose of trazodone to shut down this ugly behavior, so you can stall her, so you can scope her?
Are there any other notable behavioral changes in her that coincide with this feeding time stuff?
I actually didn’t think of this, she loves alfalfa hay a huge amount so (maybe?) this would work. We can try it. I’m not sure it’d be enough of a distraction but we can definitely give it a shot.
Spookiness, explosiveness, which is why we started looking at ulcers. Both those things have gone away with treatment and increase in work but the feeding issues have not. Horse is coming back into work after a few months off from leg injury. It was very windy and she spooked and accidentally cut her leg when turning away.
She doesn’t respond well to trazodone or ace unfortunately.
Ah, bummer. Yeah, hauling her into the clinic & letting them deal with the fasting before scoping sounds like the best bet. Have you tested for Lyme & EPM? Also worth considering.
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