You approach your horse’s stall or paddock, only to be greeted by flattened ears, flared nostrils and a swishing tail, even threats to charge, bite or kick you or other horses around him. This aggressive body language is clearly threatening harm to whoever comes into his space. If this scene sounds familiar, it’s time for a change.

Anyone who handles your horse should be able to safely enter his stall or paddock at any time without fear. Even when he is eating, or you are bringing him food or water, you should be able to go into his stall, and move him away from his meal without being threatened. Your horse should have passive body language and easily move out of your way. In this article, we will look at why some horses become aggressive about their food, and what you can do to improve a pushy horse’s table manners.

Aggression over food is a learned behaviour in domestic horses. In their natural setting in the wild, there is very little competition or aggression between feral horses because they live in social, family groups. Generally, aggression is only displayed when:

  • A mare keeps other horses away from her new foal
  • A youngster oversteps boundaries by barging into an older horse’s space
  • A new mare arrives in the herd
  • The herd becomes too large
  • A stallion defends his herd from a competitor

Wild horses rarely become aggressive about food, even if it is scarce. Since space is virtually unlimited, the herd just moves on to find more food or water. They graze for at least 16 hours each day and, depending on the availability of food and water, will walk many kilometres as they do so.

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The lives of domesticated horses are very different. They generally live in situations where space, food and water are limited resources. Their pasture mates are chosen for them, and groups often change. These living arrangements make their eating habits very different from their wild cousins. They may receive food only at specific times every day, quickly eating up their ration in an hour or two leaving several hours to stand around waiting for their next meal. This cycle creates anxiety and competition over food and aggressive behaviour becomes the conditioned response at feeding time.