Repeat after me: I am an herbivore
Posted by Bill on Oct 15 2006 at 01:33 pm | Tagged as: Horse Lifestyle
We like bringing treats to our horses and usually that means an apple or some carrots we buy in bulk. But one treat they’ve been craving is something I just refuse to give them…my fingers. Well actually there is a list: fingers, hands, arms, ears and sometimes feet/shoes. My horse, Moonshine, is very gentle and uses her tongue a lot so it seems like she’s kissing you. “Aw, how sweet…HEY stop that!” I’ve found that keeping my palm open towards her keeps her from being able to vacuum my fingers into her mouth but I keep thinking, horses are herbivores, right? I mean they don’t stalk and eat small animals, that I’ve observed. Come to think of it, I almost never notice any small animals in our pasture. Oh well, I suppose my fingers are so interesting because they just held an apple or carrot. But since when did apples and carrots wiggle and move around so much, huh? So if you end up with your own horse, watch those fingers! Those of you with horses already know this I’m sure.
And as a side note, carrots this time of year can be purchased from Costco for about $5 per 10 pound bag!
I would strongly encourage you to feed the treats in a bucket rather than from your hand. If horses get used to being fed by hand they get nippy and that is a bad habit you do not want.
I’ve enjoyed reading your site.
Ami
Thanks Ami, good point. As much as that sounds like great advice, it’s hard for me to do in practice. I kinda like how they lick my hand and gently nibble. Of course it would hurt if they actually bit me (I hear those large carrots snapping when they eat them - ouch!) though. We do need to be careful for kids that might want to touch them. Thank goodness horse teeth are pretty far back from their “lips”!
And if you continue to let them eat out of your hand, you might end up like my friend who had to have reconstructive surgery on her face after she continually fed her horses by hand! She would feed from the same hand, and one day, after many times, she used the same hand to rest her chin and the horse took off 1/2 of her face….beware and good luck and remember, they are always animals no matter how well you treat them!
I can believe that, given that Valentine did bite my ear pretty hard once. When we first got him, he was VERY nippy. He did not do it in an aggressive way, just as kind of a “herd communication” thing (biting/nipping each other is a big part of horse talk). He bit my ear, my arm (twice), even my rear end. I did not, I stress, did not hit him at any time. I used my voice and body language (waving to look bigger) to let him know that was NOT OKAY. He hasn’t nipped me in months. But we know what they can do, and never let our guard down.
Now, with that said, I agree with Willow and Ami. It is much, much better to feed treats out of a bucket. That will prevent injury and many possible behavior issues. So once again, do what we say, not what we do: keep those carrots out of your hands!
[…] Posted by Mikki on Nov 13 2006 at 09:39 pm | Tagged as: Horse Leadership Someone recently commented on Bill’s post about our horses trying to eat our fingers, and it occurred to me that I really ought to address the issue of horse bites. […]