This happens at a barn I know. If one of the horses is cutting up and kicking at feeding time they skip feeding that horse and feed it later as punishment. This make no since to me. The horse does not know it is not being fed because it kicked. The horse just is expressing its hunger, frustration or whatever by kicking - a natural response to a threat.
Has anyone else ever heard of a barn doing this?
This happens at a barn I know. If one of the horses is cutting up and kicking at feeding time they skip feeding that horse and feed it later as punishment. This make no since to me. The horse does not know it is not being fed because it kicked. The horse just is expressing its hunger, frustration or whatever by kicking - a natural response to a threat.
Has anyone else ever heard of a barn doing this?
Oh, yeah, there are way ignorant people out there. One I saw was trying to load a horse, unsuccessfully–hit hard with whip, etc, in the gravel road, no mats in trailer, only plywood (slippery, noisy). Horse pulled away and took off running back home. Horse was RUN in round pen for TWO HOURS to teach a lesson (in this heat!!!). Now said horse takes off in other direction. When he has loaded, owner unloads him by opening door and letting him run out and back up road to home. Well, horse was still tied one day and FLIPPED over when tie broke. Still won’t load.
“Come hup you hugly beast!” Surtees
stupid to me.
shouldn’t have horses.
Sounds like a potentially winning entry in the new contest. Try rewording (as if you were giving the advice to a groom perhaps?) and enter. There is even a prize!
~Kryswyn~
“Always look on the bright side of life, de doo, de doo de doo de doo”
My daughter’s horse once got a new barn mate who was so obnoxious at feeding time. As soon as the feed cart was heard, he would start squealing and snapping and kicking the wall, hard and repeatedly (guess who had hind leg problems on that side?). After a few days our mare also started squealing and kicking. My daughter made it a point to be there at feeding time and give a firm No! instantaneously with the bad behavior. She didn’t freak out and yell, just stood outside her stall. If the horse didn’t stop she took the can of feed and said to the person with the cart, go on by. As soon as her horse stood quietly even for 3 seconds she got her feed.
After 3 or 4 days, problem solved completely and her horse, with no kicking and snapping, just happy nickers, waited for her food. It was all done quietly and calmly, but if she didn’t quit the nonsense she wasn’t fed. The trick was to reward her the moment she was quiet. Even the kicky ones get quiet for a few seconds within several minutes. Reward them immediately and they catch on very quickly to the idea that as long as they are obnoxious no food is coming into the feed bucket. It was better for her legs and her manners and the stall walls to teach her this.
We’ve moved barns since then and one of her neighbors kicks for his food now, but she never does.
I have to say we never considered feeding her first. It just rewarded pig-like behavior. No thanks. Then of course in a boarding barn you have all these horse owners who allow this behavior and you have a bunch of women (I’ve only know women to do this, not the men) insisting that their own precious babies be fed first. No thanks, again. A few minutes of patient endeavor for a few days and the problem was taken care of. Sometimes I swear people love it when their horses are pigs.
OMG my horse would never get fed. She has a nasty, nasty pawing habit. 
If horsekeepers would just take the feeding routine with the religion it deserves there probably would not be such a fuss.
Feed am and pm at the same EXACT TIME everyday.
Feed the aisle(s) in the SAME ORDER everyday.
Feed the same EXACT AMOUNTS everyday.
Feed enough roughage that the horses DON’T get starving.
I stabled at one place where the feed lady would start down a couple of rows, then stand and talk to someone for no kiddin 45 MINUTES while the other 20 horses are going HELLO, OVER HERE, WERE HUNGRY!!! Apparently she couldn’t feed and walk AND talk at the same time.
“The older I get, the better I used to be.”
This is not only ineffective in teaching the horse not to kick, it is inviting colic. Horses need to be fed in a routine manner, this practice could cause stress and certainly is not encouraging routine. I’m sure their vet would have some choice words.
Cactuskate, I give a resounding ‘Amen’ to your points about feeding in the same order, feeding enough roughage, and not feeding several horses then stopping to yak and do other things with hungry horses waiting for food.
I respectfully differ on a couple points. Exact amounts every day? Not always. If our horse is not going to be worked because (for example) she’s thrown a shoe & the farrier can’t get there for a couple days or because my daughter is out of town, we cut her concentrates in half. Our vet also recommends this as helping to prevent colic.
Exact time every day? I’m not anal about it. Yes, strive for consistency but if they’re normally fed between 6 & 7, or even within a slightly larger window, fine, they don’t always have to be fed at 6 exactly every day.
If your horses travel a lot, acceptance of minor variations in feeding time is helpful. Although we strive for consistency, when away competing, due to competition schedules feed times can’t always be exactly what they are at home. She knows she’ll be fed and is relaxed about it (she does get plenty of hay). Sometimes you can pick out the horses who are fed at EXACTLY the same time every day. If their schedule gets off at a show or an event, they can become very stressed out. They’re a mess, kicking and whinnying for dinner, pacing around and around. Not good. Much less stressful on the horse if they’re not bound to a very narrowly specific feeding time. Just my .02.
Sorry sound stupid to me too. Haven’t they ever heard the phrase “Feeding time at the Zoo”?
How many stall boards do they replace every month?
From Allergy Valley USA
I have to agree with AnneFS. Exact time and exact amounts aren’t always the best thing.
If Dressage is a Symphony… Eventing is Rock & Roll!
My horse is an obnoxious pig in his stall. He kicks his door, and demands his food.
The barn workers will either feed him in order, or last.
When I was there I fed him first, witch spoiled, yet did not cause all the damage that is in his stall now. (My trainer’s daughter, who trained Pirate, also fed him first)
Rebecca and Pirateer The Pi, 9 yr old bay tb gelding.
“If you don’t fall now and again, its a sign you are playing it safe”
http://www.virtue.nu/pirateer/home.html
Well I guess what I meant regarding EXACT amounts was not some little 5lb flake of hay one day, and then a 15lb’er the next. Of course you would always take into consideration the level of work, etc.
My premise was also based on a Low, low level of equine care. Way out west here we have facilities that treat the horse stabling area like a cattle feedlot, drive down the middle of the aisle way throwing any ol’ size flake in the stalls. And god forbid the teenage son had too much fun the night before and didn’t feel like getting up until 10:00 or so…Didn’t last long there could ya tell? 
I do see your point about developing patience for feeding time by not always being on the minute. That makes sense. But I also remember reading a comment by Linda Hough when asked how she keeps her strip horses in such great condition. One of her statements was that they fed at exactly the same time everyday. I took that as a good sign. And granted some horses tolerate change better than others.
My bottom line anymore when I start to get frustrated at erratic feeding times is, I STOP, look around, all the horses look content, noone is frantic, there isn’t a skinny one on the place, so Kate, get over it 
“The older I get, the better I used to be.”
This is so incredibly stupid that it should rate an Honorable Mention in the Darwin Awards.
Isn’t there a prerequisite to own a barn - something like ‘must have IQ above 2’ ??? 
I agree with Kryswyn - reword it to sound like advice and enter it in the contest - 
BarbB
I agree with anne as well. I try to feed my horse, between 5 and 6. If i was to feed her at a certain time each day, then when that time came, she would start kicking. this way, she knows its feeding time when i come with the food. No fus no bother. Sometimes, it is impossible to feed at the same time, and you don’t have a cranky horse when it comes time to be fed, and they aren’t fed.
I can beat that for stupid and add dangerous. A mare at our barn tends to rub against the bars that separate her stall from the next horses. If the other horse gets fed first she rubs her teeth against the bar (nothing violent, just lightly yet annoying.) This only lasts until she is fed. Well, our charming barn manager decided to stop this by scotch taping thumb tacks with the points facing out along the bars(approx 20-25 tacs)I saw this while filling water buckets and called the mares owner over. Needless to say she was shocked . When approached the manager said she “Had no idea it could hurt the horse”.They were removed quickly so there was no incident but I can’t believe anyone could be that ignorant.
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