I haven't been sticking to a regular playing schedule lately, just going out every night to feed and check for any problems. Well... I've also quit haltering regularly - just let them into their pens and leave them alone to munch... ummm... bad idea...
Tonight I had two horses at the gate, but it might as well have been four, or ten, the way they were milling around and tearing up the ground. Their ears were back, they were trading bites and the only thing on their minds was FOOD! And for some reason... I didn't take notice of it!! Warning Sign Number One.
Anyways, I opened the gate and Lady just about plowed me under in her rush to get at the feed... her ears were pinned and she obviously had no intention of stopping. Warning Sign Number Two.
Having left Lady to her own devices, I continued into the second pen to feed Tempest. The pony not only also tried to run me under, but when I didn't back down, she turned her rear end towards me and threatened to kick. Warning Sign Number Three.
Did I finally notice...? Yes, I did... And I also realized that I need to do something, set some bounderies and restate my position as alpha in my herd (of three).
So... what am I going to do? Well, I thought it over and came up with a few ideas...
- Assert leadership by having horses back up and stand still before food is brought to them
- Train horses to wait until given permission to eat
That's a starting point, I suppose... and will have to probably work and tweak until we end up with a suitable routine, but it can be done - feeding can be accomplished with respect and refinement, with everyone's dignity kept intact. Just like I've conquered the argument with Lady about holding up her front feet (gently insisting that she wait until I set her toe on the ground instead of yanking it out of my hand), so we can conquer this argument problem too!
-Kit (with Lady Hwin and Tempest)
Good luck on getting them to except you as alpha. One other idea you might want to consider if your schedual allows is to go out there half an hour or so, before feeding time and just work with them. Any time you get a horse to do as you ask you are assured that you are in charge. They won't listen otherwise really. Work on gaining mutual respect and it'll be ingrained in their minds hopefully that you are in charge when you go and get their feed. Plus then have them do those things that you suggested above like backing up and waiting till told to eat. Stuff like that. You might even want to try stopping them mid way and having them walk backwards for a while then rest a bit before letting them resume eating. Anything that helps your four legged pals remember just who they owe their allegence to will help. Good luck to you and your ponies! :)
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