Handling Horses When Eating

Kaylay wrote and said she "remembered reading something I wrote about a year ago about cleaning a horses feet while the horse was eating but she recently read an article from Monty Roberts who said leave your horses alone when they are eating, to do otherwise would only be detrimental for them and make them mad. He was pretty adament about it in his article."

Monty Roberts is top shelf in the world of horse trainers. His ability to communicate with horses and train others to do so is legendary. If you haven't seen Monty Roberts or read any of his books, then it would be an education to do so. His book "Shy Boy" is a great read.

I have read at least some of what Monty Roberts wrote about leaving horses alone to eat. I'm going to have to disagree with him somewhat. It's not that I think you should make it a point to handle horses, rub on them, clean their feet or otherwise mess with them while they are eating, but I think that your horses should be gentled enough that you should be able to do so, just like horses should not be pushy or crowding when you are feeding, or otherwise be feed aggressive.

I routinely throw feed and while anyone of my horse's are eating I have no problem picking up a foot if I need to, picking a sticker out of their mane, put a blanket on or off, asking them to move over so I can pick manure, or even just giving them a little rubbing on the withers.  I don't see my e horses having any problem with this,....no tail twitching, no flats ears, no other signs of discomfort or anxiety.  In fact, I have one horse who will often come off his feed to come over to the fence to visit.    

Many times I trailer someplace and let my horse eat water soaked hay while I am saddling him.  Again no signs of any issues here.        

Monty Roberts is one of the best horsemen in the world and when he gives advice people should listen,..... I just have never had a problem with handing my horses while they are eating.  I see no anxiety from my horses, nor have I seemed to have created another problem.  But every horse is going to be different, so each individual horse should be read before handling that horse while they are feeding.