What can I use to weigh down horse’s feed bucket?

[Moonstone721]

My horse loves to play with his feed bucket. If the bucket is too small, he just dumps it over. I’ve tried several ways of hanging various styles of buckets, and he still found a way to fling it around and make a huge mess, despite my thinking that it was pretty secure.

I’ve switched him to a 40 gallon stock tank, which works better, but he’ll still find a way to dump it out if he really wants to. Is there anything I can put in there to weigh it down so it just stays put? My husband suggested cinder blocks, but I wasn’t sure if those would be a safety issue. I was thinking one or two of those giant salt mineral blocks, and then my horse would just have to eat his grain around those.

The facility I board at does not allow anything to be installed or altered into the stalls themselves, so I have to get creative without being able to use any nuts/bolts/permanent solutions. (I’ve tried jolly balls/lick-it’s/other toys, horse is really only interested in playing with buckets. Lol)

[candyappy]

A feed bag?

[Moonstone721]

My horse gets rice bran powder and supplements mixed with water, so his feed turns into a watery paste. A feed bag could work, but I’d worry it could get a bit messy.

[MsM]

My horse developed a hobby of playing with his corner feeder. And destroying it! Toys were ignored. After he wrecked the second one, we used a shallow black rubber feed pan. That worked okay except that he would kick it around the stall and end up peeing in it. Since his stall is matted, we eliminated containers totally. His bedding is swept back and the grain is poured onto the matted floor. Works fine!
Oddly, he doesnt play with his water buckets in the stall. The big water tank in the paddock? Another toy! Big rocks in the bottom have kept it mostly upright…

[TMares]

Get a stall mat or piece of one and bolt the bucket to the mat. he’ll stand on it to it.

[polkadotedpony]

I’d say a few big heavy mineral licks on the bottom or feeding him on the bare floor like suggested above.

[SaddleUp158]

We use a tire with a feed bucket that fits in tightly to the center. Horse can paw at it all they want but we haven’t had one flip it over yet. Also easier to clean than a feeder that is mounted to a wall or fence.

[demidq]

Some nice big rocks! That will slow him down as well. If he is getting a rice bran slurry, I wouldn’t use mineral blocks as he might get much more salt than he should.

[DinkyDonk]

Feed pans designed fit into an old tire–they have a wide smooth lip/edge that horses can’t get their teeth on to pull it out of the tire. Valley Vet carries one made by High Country Plastics (the one I have), and TSC carries one made by Tuff Stuff Products that is similar.

[HungarianHippo]

I have a mouthy mare who likes to toss stuff around and tip things over. Ignores any “official” toys, of course. I’ve come up with a toy that s free and works well: I take an empty grain bag, toss a couple handfuls of grain in it, and then toss a black rubber feed pan in too . The pan adds weight, and forces her to work around it, to get at the grain.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹This mare will spend an hour or more, picking up the bag and shaking it all around,shoving her nose into it trying to push around that feed pan to get at the grain that’s in there. She’ll get just a nibble or two with each attempt, so she’s rewarded for the activity but doesn’t get to gorge.
Try giving her something like that an hour before feeding time, She can get her playful jollies and then when her real grain is delivered maybe she’ll be more inclined to just eat it rather than play?

[B_and_B]

The heavy black, flexible rubber feed tubs bolted to a stall mat might work, pain to clean, but they don’t seem to figure out that they are standing on what they are trying to move.
One thought, is he flipping it when eating? If so, can you reduce the amount of water in the food? That just came to my mind, because mine will flip his bucket (massive black flexible rubber feed tub, biggest I could find) if there is too much water in it. He doesn’t mind up to about a quarter inch of slurry, but more water than that causes him to flip it. Took me awhile to figure that out.

[2DogsFarm]

OMG!
Are all bucket/pan flippers related to Sheridan Whiteside?
(obscure movie reference for us of “a certain age”)

My Walker will eat the grain in the center of his pan, then grab the lip & shake it to move grain on the sides to center.
He also picks it up when empty to show me the pitiful emptyness 🙄
If his stall door is ajar, the empty pan gets tossed into the aisle.
Plainly saying:
“Refill, peasant!” 😑
I had pans going on 10yrs of use when I got him.
I have since replaced them. Twice. In 5yrs.

OP:
When I showed, hay was put down first, grain dumped on top of that. No haynet or feedpan.
Piggy horses got half their hay ration first, then the rest, then grain - so grain was not bolted.

[xeroxchick]

I used to have a mare that would do this. Solved the problem by getting a feed bag. Kinda a hassle but worked.

[dani0303]

My horses eat out of rubber pans on the ground that are inside of old tires. They can’t flip them even if they paw at the tire