Horses and Vices

[Coot]

Hmmm...what do you do with a horse that is developing an aggressive vice? Well, you nip it in the bud, as going toe to toe with 1200 lbs. of pissed off horse is not in your best interest. On advice of a vet, I started feeding him Nutrena Senior (http://www.nutrenaworld.com/screens/ProductDetails_Equine.aspx?ProductID=83) at 1/3 recommended ration along with 5 flakes of orchard grass hay a day, over the winter. The Nutrena feed is heavily coated with molasses and it appears he likes it a little too well. I've noticed him getting excited over the last few weeks when I get his grain out, but nothing big. Last night when I went to feed him, he got outright aggressive when I went to get his grains. Ears flat back, rearing up and kicking the stall wall. So he didn't get any grain last night. He tried the same thing this morning, so once again, no grain, just hay.

It looks like today, if the snow lets up, I'll be heading over to the feed store and pick some Safe Choice (http://www.nutrenaworld.com/Screens/BrandListing.aspx?BrandID=89), which is what I was feeding him before. He eats it just fine, it is nutritionally balanced and doesn't have all that molasses. I'll just feed him a bit more hay to keep him heated up and maybe add a little alfalfa.

[joseftu]

Theologically, one could argue that animals, having no souls, are not capable of vice. They have no moral responsibility (sort of like Republicans. ;)).

Hope your equine friend calms down a bit! :)

[Elspeth]

He is getting a sugar high. When I gamed (barrel racing and the like from rodeo) I would feed them grain coated in molasses. This would get them very hyper which helped their speed.

In the off season with would go to the straight grain without the molasses. Removing the molasses should work.

[Coot]

That's what I was figuring too, Els. Get the sugar out of his diet and he should calm down.

Joe, horses are prone to developing a whole host of OCD behaviors, usually out of boredom, stress and even chronic pain. Collectively, in the equine vernacular, they are commonly referred to as vices. Out of curiousity, is there a theological perspective on animals having a sense of humor? This horse sure seems to have one. He enjoys stealing your hat and running off with it, sneaking up behind you and trying to launch you into the water trough or a wheelbarrow full of straw by getting his muzzle down between your legs and pushing up. He also has a fascination with belt loops and was trying to pick up the ferrier by his the other day.

[joseftu]

Of course a horse can have a sense of humor! Don't you remember Mr. Ed? ;)

[Dewitt60]

Just MHO but bagged feed is crap. Waaaayyy to much money for grains that elevators sold as salvage. Then they covered it in molasass so the poor critter would eat it. Cracked corn, oats and supplement should smell good to you. You're probably at a disadvantage because there's no country elevator with a grinder with fresh corn.

You can keep a horse in flesh on two flakes of good (see below) hay a day and an ear of corn with a mineral block or lick. That came from my Dad and Grandpa that farmed with them. That's in the Winter. If you have a block or liquid lick I'd pull him back to oats and hay with maybe a little supplement or cracked corn and see if he straightens up. If he does then find yourself a good oldfashioned feed mill and have them mix something up. I'll ask my feed guru what he's grinding for Winter cover.

The orchard grass thing kind of bothers me. Was it waterway grass? I've had the best results with timothy with a blend of alfalfa and various clovers. The majority is timothy. There's not a lot of gumption in orchard grass unless something else was baled with it. We're frickin' dying for hay over here right now. Auctions are going nuts for good alfalfa. I bought a semi load of 50 lb bales of good alfalfa for $7 a bale.:banghead: I'm just using that to mix with the crap I baled up in a pinch for the horses and the cows that are calving. Wet Spring and dry June fried the hay crop. Best supply is Kansas and farther but the trucking kills you. We're feeding cornstalks and straw. Pumping the crap out of the ground feed to the cows.

[Coot]

Out here, you'd be hard pressed to find anybody planting Timothy. There's some around, but it is mighty pricey. There is also one grower about 30 miles from here who is growing Bermuda grass and baling it up, strictly for horses. Beyond that, it's orchard or alfalfa and mixes of the two up to 50%. I found a 90/10 mix of orchard and alfalfa for $135/ton and bought two tons of it. I can't go any higher in alfalfa than that as I also have alpaca I need to feed it to and they can't tolerate much more alfalfa than that. This particular horse is a big guy, 16.5 hands and all muscle (thoroughbred). He's out in the pasture everyday, running with the cars that go by, with the dogs along the fence line etc. Given that, I'm trying to keep the fat content in his diet upwards of 12-15% just to keep him heated up a bit. Hence, my thinking about upping the amount of alfalfa in his diet and taking him off the sugary stuff.

[Dewitt60]

That's wierd because orchard is a real water hardy grass. We use it in high moisture situations because it can stand wet feet. I figured in Idaho there wouldn't be that much but I really don't know your climate that well. I do know that in the Northwest you can get some good deals on Timothy that's been cut for seed. Not as good as timothy cut for hay but pretty good stuff. I've got a friend that works for the Farm Bureau outside of in Washington state. I'll give him a buzz. They don't let them burn the fields anymore so they bale it and ship the stems to Japan. You've got a nice horse it sounds like and a bit high spirited. Maybe dumping the sugar is the answer.