Dealing with Horse Food Aggression

I came across a great news article written this week called Dealing with Horse Food Aggression. Food aggression is when a horse becomes aggressive and displays bad and dangerous behaviour at feed times. Sometimes horse owners find it hard to manage due to fear of getting hurt so the bad behaviour is not addressed, and it continues, and horses are even sold on because of this trait. One horse may have many homes and at each home they can experience different experiences and expectations of them. This can be confusing and affect them in many ways.

One of the most important dealings with horses is to give them consistent routine. If they know they will be fed morning and night and not feel threatened, they gain confidence and develop trust. One of the signs before they become aggressive is that a horse will have its ears back. This is a signal that means the horse is upset, angry or wants to be dominant.

National Champion SC She's Pretty Grand Eating in a Stable to Avoid Other Horses Stealing Her Food

Horses’ stomachs are only between 5 and 15 litres in size depending on the size of the horse, so they do not hold much, and horses need to eat constantly all day long. If a horse has been locked up without feed or starved in a paddock without pasture, then a horse can develop food aggression. Thoroughbreds (racehorse breed) have a lot of feeding issues due to cruel practices by racehorse trainers in starving them, then giving them a huge amount of grain before a race so they gallop faster. The digestive system of a horse is not designed for this and many racehorses develop stomach ulcers and require expensive feeds, supplements and treatments. They develop food aggression as they associate feed time with pain. After these horses finish racing, they are sold to people for use at pony club, showjumping, dressage etc. and their new owners must address these concerns.

Out of hundreds of horses I have owned in my life only four horses have come to me with food aggression traits, ranging from mild to severe. Two of which were aggressive, one was really addicted to food, and one who had mild aggression due to being the top of the pecking order in the paddock, and who also loved food. As an Equine Nutrition Consultant and a horse trainer, I was able to stop the behaviour and deal with the nutrition deficits in each horse.

Horses have a paddock pecking order and it is common for horses when fed out in the open paddock to steal other horses’ feed. If you have no other choice than to feed them altogether, ensure you throw out many small piles of hay, so when one horse chases another away from a pile, they can move onto the next one, and so on. This will ensure all horses get something to eat and it will stop the aggressive horses from gaining weight while the others drop weight from not getting enough feed.

Reasons for horses developing food aggression are covered in this article along with training tips. Horses are not born aggressive around food; it is a learned behaviour from circumstances

they have been exposed to. It will take a lot of patience and time, but you will be rewarded with a safer environment when feeding your horses and that is important if you have children around or when you attend competitions.

Horses shouldn’t be stressed at feed time and nor should you, so if you don’t feel confident in addressing the problem, then get in touch with a trainer that can help you.