Snacks on Hacks

Hoti47 · Well Schooled

Snacks on Hacks

justice · Grand Prix

On a conditioning hack, the thought doesn't cross my horse's mind and the opportunity doesn't present itself. We are too busy being forward and smart about foot placement. Out for a pleasure hack, as long as they don't stop completely (on their own) and they move off easily and willingly when told, I don't care. They are NOT allowed to "halt and dive", ever. : )

My personal horses are not for sale, ever, and no-one rides them that would be put out by this approach. I acknowledge that there are many that hold "brunch rides" to be in bad form and it CAN generate some bad habits in some horses if not mindful.

Barbara F · Grand Prix

I used to not mind a little grab at leaves here and there, but I watched a friend's horse become obnoxious about grabbing for food, so now I say "No snacks on hacks", but lots of treats when we get back!!

Jackie Cochran · Advanced

My wonderful first horse and I worked out a system. On a trail ride he would "tell" me he wanted a snack, and I would loosen the reins and tell him "OK, time to eat." He would then chomp around until I got tired of standing around, then I would tell him "enough" and we would proceed onward.
This worked satisfactorily for decades.
Another thing to think on. Horses have the instincts so that they can successfully self-medicate--if they are given access to many types of plants and the freedom to choose. Often the only place they can find these healing plants are on trail rides. Many times, when I was broke and could not afford a vet or medications, I would lead my sligtly sick horse out into the woods or where there were plenty of weeds and he would medicate himself and get better (75-90% of the time.)
Colic always got the vet called if there was no improvement in 20 minutes from whatever I did (ie. from discovery), but then a colicking horse is often not interested in eating. Vets often praised me because I called them out early for colic, when it was treatable.
Since my wonderful first horse lived until 33 I think this system has merit.
Listen to your horse, he may be trying to tell you something.

Kathleen K · Well Schooled

I never allow this, but they occasionally get the better of me when I'm not paying full attention and grab a bite anyway.

The horses I ride are not my own though, so I try not to let any "bad habit" occur. Even if I might be able to handle a horse taking a few bites of grass, somebody else riding that horse might not be able to.

The mare I currently ride is too nervous on the trail to even think about pausing to nibble of the grass... but we're working on that.

Marlene · Advanced

Last summer I had to totally restrict my Arab from turn out to green pasture. So when we went out in the bush, naturally he was pretty eager to try grabbing snacks. I decided to use it as a reward system. He did not get to snack just because he wanted to and didn't get to choose where I would let him eat. But he knew at some point, if he was moving along nicely and behaving himself, I would pick a spot and let him go at it for a few minutes, then I would decide when we would move on. The trick is, I had to have a clear idea of what I would allow, what the rules were, and make him obey that. He's pretty smart, so if he thought he could get away with something he would have tried, but he knew this was how it was going to be. When we get home, I let him graze in hand for about two minutes on his own pasture, but then he's put back in his dry lot. At that point he spends the next 21 hours trying to crawl under the fence to get the little bit of green sprouts around his pen. I tried slightly longer turnouts but he is a voracious mower and was just making himself too fat and I was seriously worried about laminitis setting in, and the pasture is too rich in alfalfa, which made him psychotic. This way he looks forward to going out (we originally had a buddy/barn sour problem), he gets some variety of greens up in the hills (I aggree with Jackie's point, and he didn't get an overload of greens, and he learned he has to cooperate with me in order to get priveledges.

-- Edited by Marlene on Tuesday 22nd of February 2011 02:11:42 PM

-- Edited by Marlene on Tuesday 22nd of February 2011 02:12:36 PM

justice · Grand Prix

I also support Jackie's point!

dbliron · Advanced

This one's a hard one for me, as it's not something I've had to deal with for a very long time.

My horses live in pastures, and are fed free-choice hay besides, so they are never hungry, and don't even bother to consider what we come across on hacks as desirable.

However, when I was younger, and my horses boarded out, this was more of an issue. My idea of lovely hacks includes lots of walking on the buckle, small intervals of trot and canter where/when the going is safe, and short periods of grazing in clearings while I doze in the sun....it was not hard to teach them that these little grazing stops would be included, and they quickly learned to relax into the hack while we were moving, and to drop their heads and graze when invited to do so. I spend a lot of time schooling in an arena, so I view hacks as truly restful periods of relaxation, when my horses and I can leave schooling behind us, and enjoy the great outdoors.

Marlene: you might want to try a grazing muzzle. I've had great success with these, even with really determined ponies. They graze all day, but only take in about 25% of what they can eat without the muzzles. Now that my daughter's grown and we don't have ponies, I don't usually need the muzzles, as our horses are used to pasture and don't overindulge, but they were a life-saver earlier!

Marlene · Advanced

We did have a stint with the grazing muzzle, and he got the hang of it actually better than I thought he would, although the learning process really tested my resolved more than his. Seeing him pawing and pawing as if the greens would magically levitate through the muzzle for the first few days was difficult. I was afraid the neighbors were going to call animal control for my cruelty. At any rate it was going okay, and I always checked him frequently when he had the muzzle on, because the wheels are always turning with this guy. Then one day he managed to figure out how to nose it off somehow. Fortunately I discovered this within a relatively short time, but it kind of scared me too, he could have easily eaten enough in an hour to colic. So back to the drawing board. I think this year I might try putting the mare in a small pasture area to chew it down, then turn him out of the short stuff for a pretty limited time plus a bit of supervised muzzle grazing. i don't know. When he finally did get a mild case of laminits later in the summer, he had only two hours of grazing, broken up through the day, and had only been back on pasture for about three days. He was slimmer at that point and working pretty consistently,and I thought it might be safer, so I'm pretty nervous about experimenting this year. He does so well on just plain grass hay, I hesitate to mess up a diet that is working for him. And he's so calm and non psychotic when he gets zero alfalfa. These Arabs really are designed to live on air and sunshine, and they can get really kooky when they are too well fed.

-- Edited by Marlene on Thursday 24th of February 2011 06:59:21 PM

justice · Grand Prix

KathleenK, GREAT point about not being the owner, 'specially with the way things are today... litigation, abuse calls, poor economy, etc... Owners can have sunk a ton of hard earned cash into their horse(s) so that THEY can enjoy them safely and with minimal stress (and frequently minimal skill).. For one, it is notably generous of any owner to let a guest ride their horse (outside of the professional catchriding world, of course). It would be polite, proper and correct to NOT deviate from the OWNER's game plan in re the horse's behaviour parametres. I would not even consider allowing or doing some of the things that WE do with OUR horses to go on with others' horses, just as there are certain behaviours I will not allow or appreciate around mine. Sometimes it is a simple as a treat! Some hand feed, some don't. Some have allergies, some don't. Won't know til the OWNER says so. Purely their call if it is their horse!

RESPECT for others and THEIR efforts/desires. A new and ellusive concept : )

-- Edited by justice on Saturday 26th of February 2011 09:09:36 AM

Jackie Cochran · Advanced

I can't trail ride any more so I no longer act like I did with my first horse.
And I am riding other people's horses now, horses that will be ridden by 10 year old girls, so if I could trail ride I would not let them eat while bitted and saddled. It would not be fair to the other riders and would leave the horse puzzled and feeling abused.
This is somewhat a pity, because nothing seems to relax a horse out on the trail more that a few minutes of eating whatever looks interesting. It keep them interested and less focused on getting back to the stable as soon as possible.