Feeding question

[Hoover]

My gelding, dumb as he is, when he is fed, will take a few bite of his grain, and then take his nose and blows his grain out of his bin all over his stall. Finish eating what is left in his bin and then eat what is on his stall floor. I have tried to wet his food and he still does this. Today I am putting a one pound salt block in food bin to see if he still does it. I am worried he is ingesting the sawdust with his food he is eating of the floor and he will eventually colic. He has done this since I have gotten him. He is the only gelding in the herd and a TB. Now I just bought another TB on friday and I noticed she rocks her food bin when she eats, but not throwing her food on the floor. I just think she is nervous being in a new place. Once I start to talk to her she calms down. Him, on the other hand, he doesnt care, I can stand next to him, pet him while he is eating and I have ended up with food all over me. He isnt food aggressive just eating and blows and goes back to eating almost like he is laughing when he does it. Any ideas on how to stop it?

 

[SoMDGirl42]

My gelding, dumb as he is, when he is fed, will take a few bite of his grain, and then take his nose and blows his grain out of his bin all over his stall. Finish eating what is left in his bin and then eat what is on his stall floor. I have tried to wet his food and he still does this. Today I am putting a one pound salt block in food bin to see if he still does it. I am worried he is ingesting the sawdust with his food he is eating of the floor and he will eventually colic. He has done this since I have gotten him. He is the only gelding in the herd and a TB. Now I just bought another TB on friday and I noticed she rocks her food bin when she eats, but not throwing her food on the floor. I just think she is nervous being in a new place. Once I start to talk to her she calms down. Him, on the other hand, he doesnt care, I can stand next to him, pet him while he is eating and I have ended up with food all over me. He isnt food aggressive just eating and blows and goes back to eating almost like he is laughing when he does it. Any ideas on how to stop it?

Smaller portions at a time? Give a bite or two at a time and gradually increase portion size until he's not blowing it all out after the first bite.

 

[Pasofever]

Is it a dusty feed or heavy and corse? If I have one that spills feed (usually looks around and drops from their mouth) I feed in a water tub...would take some space up in a stall but you can try it. All mine that eat outside eat in a water tub.

 

[clevalley]

My gelding, dumb as he is, when he is fed, will take a few bite of his grain, and then take his nose and blows his grain out of his bin all over his stall. Finish eating what is left in his bin and then eat what is on his stall floor. I have tried to wet his food and he still does this. Today I am putting a one pound salt block in food bin to see if he still does it. I am worried he is ingesting the sawdust with his food he is eating of the floor and he will eventually colic. He has done this since I have gotten him. He is the only gelding in the herd and a TB. Now I just bought another TB on friday and I noticed she rocks her food bin when she eats, but not throwing her food on the floor. I just think she is nervous being in a new place. Once I start to talk to her she calms down. Him, on the other hand, he doesnt care, I can stand next to him, pet him while he is eating and I have ended up with food all over me. He isnt food aggressive just eating and blows and goes back to eating almost like he is laughing when he does it. Any ideas on how to stop it?

Ahem... to set the record straight; she is MY TB, and I bought her with MY allowance.

Your TB is nutz.

 

[Pasofever]

Ahem... to set the record straight; she is MY TB, and I bought her with MY allowance.

Your TB is nutz.

TBs are the pits you can keep them..I had a few and they were all nuts....the last was good to ride etc but pawed the whole time she ate..would wear her right hoof to a nub...I say sell them both lol and buy a QH or something with some brains... lol

 

[clevalley]

TBs are the pits you can keep them..I had a few and they were all nuts....the last was good to ride etc but pawed the whole time she ate..would wear her right hoof to a nub...I say sell them both lol and buy a QH or something with some brains... lol

I have never been on a ride before, and went out (with a group) on a 3 hour trail ride after we got her. She was fine and everyone commented on how well she was as a trail horse. Bringing her home from where we got her, she kicked the ever living snot out of the rear door of the trailer - but when she was in there with Hoover's TB the other day she did not do it... ...so we are chalking it up to anxiety. I need to do groundwork with her so she can respect me and break some of that anxiety - so she is work in progress, but that is part of the game, right?

Hoover's TB is great - he is a trip. Does really good in a show environment, but needs to slow it down as a trail horse - he wants to jump EVERYTHING he goes over, but that is the show horse training in him... I want to say he made it to a level 3 dressage before he got injured and healed - she got him and is converting him over to Western, and she is doing a wonderful job in doing so...

 

[Pasofever]

Yeah work them good..the more fit they get the longer they can act stupid....lol...get them some horsie prozac or just get yourself some to deal with them lol

 

[devinej]

my messy eaters do much better when i feed the in a nose bag feeder. elam carries them

 

[bkokoruda]

There is nothing wrong with TBs -- I have several of them. That being said, as long as the horse is eating, I wouldn't worry about how he eats the food. I have one guy dumps his all on the ground and eats it there -- rain or shine. It makes me nuts, but its not my food and as long as he is eating and maintaining his weight who cares -- let them eat the way they want. JMO.

 

[Pasofever]

Perhaps he does not like the bin ( is it new, does it have an odor?)
Or he likes to "play" with his food.
Is the bin too high up for him?
What was his eating behavior like before you got him?

Reminds me of grazing behavior of a horse in pasture......

Good luck!

is there anything you dont think you know about? Cheese and rice dont you have anything else to do??

 

[Pasofever]

All that and its the best advice you could give her...better try again...Arab person dear lord that expains alot...

 

[Pasofever]

Hoover: Check out this situation and the Vets answer...sound like you situation?

Hello Dr. Mike,
I have a 20 month old TWH filly. She will sling her bucket out wide left or right to get as much food into her mouth and in process spills a lot of it. Sometimes she will dump the whole bucket on ground and sifts through the dirt to eat. I worry about colic and give her oil each night with her food. I have put large rocks in her bucket and even bricks. Does slow her down but once she can sling bucket to dump food and brick she is happy. She has been doing this for a long time so I don't know if its a habit or if I should start feeding her 3 small meals a day.
Jan E.


Jan,
Great question. First, get her teeth floated by your veterinarian. Second, built a feed trough about 2 ft wide and 3 ft long. Put her hay in the trough first and then add her grain on top of it. Make sure the sides of the trough are about 2 ft high. Never add rocks or bricks as they will surely cause teeth damage. The mare will have to search around the hay to find the grain, thus slowing her down. Let me know how it works.
Thank You,
Dr. Lowder

Now you are doing better...see anything I said in that? lol

 

[Hoover]

OMG I got you both beat in the pissing constest - My uncle has owned horses all his life, my great uncle is one of the the original owners and Trainers of the Meadows Race Track in PA. I took riding lessons most of my young life at Merrymount and have forgotten everything I learned. This is my first TB. I had an Ap years ago, I used to board him at Pappy's who owned Pimlico. Now I am 48 and just like to trail ride not show or dressage. I have put over 200 pounds on him, gotten his feet back to barefoot, and he now has manners to where he is no longer embarrassing to be in public. Just since May of this year. I dont beat him, I dont raise my voice to him, I just convince him he is wrong and I am right like most women do with men! I was just worried he was inhaling sawdust and was concerned with colic. I didnt want to start an argument. Just wanted information from some seasoned peeps.

 

[fredsaid2]

OMG I got you both beat in the pissing constest - My uncle has owned horses all his life, my great uncle is one of the the original owners and Trainers of the Meadows Race Track in PA. I took riding lessons most of my young life at Merrymount and have forgotten everything I learned. This is my first TB. I had an Ap years ago, I used to board him at Pappy's who owned Pimlico. Now I am 48 and just like to trail ride not show or dressage. I have put over 200 pounds on him, gotten his feet back to barefoot, and he now has manners to where he is no longer embarrassing to be in public. Just since May of this year. I dont beat him, I dont raise my voice to him, I just convince him he is wrong and I am right like most women do with men! I was just worried he was inhaling sawdust and was concerned with colic. I didnt want to start an argument. Just wanted information from some seasoned peeps.

What does your family advise? You have a TB, they've worked with TBs, they likely have good suggestions to pass on.

 

[Hoover]

What does your family advise? You have a TB, they've worked with TBs, they likely have good suggestions to pass on.

They're dead.

 

[spellbound]

I have ALL kinds of feeding issues with my 20 yr old TB. One of his antics is taking the food with his muzzle and pushing it up the side of the feed bucket to sling it all over the stall. I addressed that issue pretty well by buying the largest feed tub I could find with a rim around the top. The tub is wider than (and about the same depth as) a 5 gallon bucket and the rim around the top keeps any spillage from coming out.

I have used feed bags in the past but they can be a pain when the horse doesn't eat all their feed right away or wants to drink water with the feed bag still on (and feed still in it).

 

[Hoover]

Thanks for the information. I put a salt block in his feed bin. It didnt look like he threw his food around last night. But we got there late. I will watch the booger tonight.

 

[Hoover]

We raised his bowl and now are wetting his food a little. This is helping him not to throw it. Thanks everyone for the advice. It was so hard putting weight on him (300 pounds) when I got him I just dont want to loose any since winter is coming and he wont be able to graze as much.

 

[Pasofever]

We raised his bowl and now are wetting his food a little. This is helping him not to throw it. Thanks everyone for the advice. It was so hard putting weight on him (300 pounds) when I got him I just dont want to loose any since winter is coming and he wont be able to graze as much.

wet food works too in a large water trough...good luck

 

[ArkRescue]

is there anything you dont think you know about? Cheese and rice dont you have anything else to do??

I think Lance has a GF LOL Bzzz or was that a gnat?

I try hard to NOT be there while my mare eats, that way she's not turning to LOOK at me while she has a mouth full of grain. If her head is over the bucket, she gets a chance to get the grain back into her mouth (that which falls out - messy eater) without it being covered by dirt, or worse, manure.