How to Feed a Horse Carrots
Horses have always loved to eat carrots, and people have always loved to feed carrots to them. Any time food is offered to a horse from a person's hand, a few basic guidelines should be followed.
- Difficulty:
- Easy
Instructions
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1
Slice several carrots lengthwise, into "fingers." Carrots should never be fed in chunks because they can lodge in a horse's throat and cause suffocation.
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2
Insist that the horse displays good manners. He should not rush you or crowd you when he sees that you have carrots in your hand or pocket.
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3
Spread your hand out flat, palm up. Be careful not to let your fingertips roll up. It is best if you arch your palm slightly backward, with your fingertips bent toward the ground.
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4
Place one carrot finger in your palm.
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Put your hand a few feet away from the horse's mouth. The horse should extend his neck to get to your palm. Never let the horse overpower you with his head, shoulders and body when he eats the carrot.
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6
Let the horse finish the carrot. Don't put another carrot on the palm of your hand until he has chewed the first piece. This will encourage him to eat slowly. He'll be tempted to wolf down the first carrot if he thinks he can hurry on to the second piece.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Letting small children feed carrots to a horse is acceptable, but caution must be exercised. Let the child place her flattened hand, palm up, in your flattened hand. Tell the child that she must always keep her fingernails against your palm when she is feeding the horse. Lay the carrot on the child's palm, which is nestled into your palm, and invite the horse to eat.
Horses' jaws are powerful, and their teeth are enormous. In a split second, a horse can bite through a finger, bone and all. Don't feed carrots to strange, irritable or wild horses.
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Comments
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Nov 22, 2005
Hand-feeding treats can encourage a horse to become nippy. Instead of feeding out of a hand, you should use a small bucket. If a horse gets too bossy, he will demand treats and throw a fit if you didn't bring any.
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Nov 22, 2005
If the horse has been good after a show or a lesson or practice, you should reward him with a treat. But if the horse is greedy after seeing you with the treat, take the treat away. Then ask him to be nice by hitting him lightly commanding him to stop. If the horse is good after this, give him a treat out of your hand, and give him a pat. f the horse doesn't listen don't give him the treat, until he does as he was told.
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Nov 22, 2005
If you use a small bucket to feed your horse treats it can sometimes cause them to try and over crowd you when it comes to thier regular feeding time.
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Nov 22, 2005
Biting off chucks of the carrot and then spitting them out in your hand works just fine. If the carrot is too gross to bite, then why are you feeding it to your horse anyway? Here's some good advice about being careful hand-feeding of your horse; it depends on the horse, it depends on you and it depends on the relationship between you. I've had horses that I could and feed with impunity and others that would become pests. I generally don't hand feed stallions, they seem to have an oral fixation. On the other hand, the wonderful old trainer Jimmy Williams did some amazing things using sugar cubes that he kept in a special little pouch on his belt.
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Nov 22, 2005
As mentioned earlier, hand feeding can encourage a horse to become nippy, bossy and crowd your personal space. It can even make the horse become dangerous. Hand feeding is best avoided. To give your horse treats, like carrots, first make the horse stand politely arms length away from you with head down and ears forward. This is a sign of respect. Keep the food out of sight. When the horse stands, slowly bring the food out then throw the carrot (or any treat or food) down and let the horse approach. Don't allow the horse to be aggressive and pin his ears or try to move his hind end toward you. If he does this, shoe him off with a training whip (never striking, but warning) and take the food back. A horse does not know you are giving up a treat when you hand feed. He thinks he is taking it from you. As this continues he feels more and more in charge of you and can become very rude and pushy. He'll even throw a fit if you come to him with no treat. However, if he feels you are allowing him to eat the food you, remain in control and the horse has more respect for you. Sure, it is fun to hand feed, but it isn't worth it. It's much more fun having a well behaved horse that thinks a gentle pat is his best reward, not a carrot.
