This message is from: Joe Glick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I can relate to the Fire and Ice issue. I once put a Fjord mare in a pasture with a Standardbred/Haflinger cross mare. They were both dominant mares and I was curious to see which one would back down. The pasture was large enough and didn't have any tight corners where they could get cornered. It took a few days but the Fjord mare came out the winner, and they got along fine after that.
I keep most of my horses in open pastures/paddocks. My solution to individual feeding is hanging a bucket on their head. I buy 8 quart buckets like those sold by Country Supply for $2.59, remove the handle and attach a 1" wide nylon strap with snaps on both ends and a buckle for length adjustment. Fasten the snaps to the ring where the handle was attached. Each horse can be fed separately. Wait to remove the buckets till they have all finished eating so they don't pest the ones still eating. Feeding horses is part of my training routine. If I'm feeding four horses in one paddock I always follow the same sequence when putting the buckets on. Each horse must wait their turn and then take a step backwards before I put the bucket on their head, otherwise I might get flattened by four hungry horses. When they are finished eating they walk to the gate to have the bucket removed. That takes a little time for some horses to learn, because they would rather have you come after them to retrieve the bucket. The strap should be short enough that the bucket stays on their head but long enough that they have to set it on the ground to get a bite. If you forget to remove the buckets (who would do that? :) ) they will learn how to remove them, so I don't like to do that to often. What happens then is the first one to finish can then pest the ones still eating. Joe Glick Glick Family Farm [EMAIL PROTECTED] The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
