Feeding time for horses can be stressful for both the horses and their humans.
At Chewie’s last barn, the horses were fed their morning grain in the pasture, which could lead to squabbling and aggression. It also meant that sometimes the horses didn’t get the right type or amount of food, if they switched buckets.
At our new barn, I have to do all the feeding myself. However, this means I have full control over our feeding routine.
I have used the constructional approach as I set up a new feeding routine.
That is, I did not focus on behaviors I wanted to prevent or reduce. Instead, I have focused on the new behaviors and cues I wanted to create. My overall goal has been to design a relaxed, easy-to-implement feeding routine for Chewie, Liberty, and me.
Importantly, I also wanted a routine that would be simple and effortless for someone else to implement for times when I am traveling, such as last week when I was at the APDT conference.
Here’s how our current morning routine works.
Several weeks ago, I used round pen panels to create a square pen that is approximately 50 feet by 50 feet. One side of the square is the pasture fence.
I use this area for training, and I also use it to feed Chewie her breakfast. Liberty gets fed his breakfast in the main part of the pasture.
Chewie and Liberty know our routine! When they see me, they sort themselves out so that Chewie is inside the square pen and Liberty is still on the outside.
In the photo above, I had just arrived in the morning. It’s a little hard to see the fence between them, but Chewie has gone into the square pen, and Liberty is still outside the pen in the main part of the pasture.
This set up allows me to feed both of them from the other side of the fence. This arrangement is useful for someone who doesn’t know them well, as both equines are already separated from each other and from the person feeding.
It also helps them relax, as they both know where to go and what to do. And, they know that the other equine is not going to interfere with their breakfast.
Once they both have their food, I go in the pasture and shut the gate between them.
Then, I can do some chores, and we can do some training and the rest of our morning routine.
I’m happy to report that this feeding routine worked smoothly last week for my pet sitter when I was out of town!
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