>>> Do you know, I make it a practice not to bother horses when they are >>> eating. I allow that to be a time just for them and their food.
I think that's best too. Horses do a lot for us, but I think they deserve certain times to be left alone, and eating should be one of those times. If I have a horse with special feeding needs such that it takes him longer to eat, I'll separate him/her from the herd at feeding time (in a stall, private paddock, etc.) until he/she can finish undisturbed. I don't like my horses bullying each other TOO MUCH at meal time, but I don't like to interfere with them either. They have certain eating rituals just like we do, and I tend to leave them alone to be horses at meal time. Overall, I think we should leave them alone to eat, either in the herd with their buddies if they are just sharing hay, or totally separately, if everyone isn't getting the same rations. It's much easier if the horses have free access to pasture and/or hay, with little-to-no grain/pellets - there's no strict mealtime other than the first few minutes when the hay is just put out and is a novelty. Karen Thomas, NC ------------------------------------ IceHorses Community for Photos and Videos: http://kickapps.com/icehorses "The greatest enemy of the truth very often is not the lie- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer [] Lee Ziegler http://leeziegler.com [] Liz Graves http://lizgraves.com [] Lee's Book Easy Gaited Horses http://tinyurl.com/7vyjo [] IceHorses Map http://www.frappr.com/IceHorses Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
