Horses Stopping to Eat

Alicia sent me a message on her 12 year old Quarterhorse mare stopping to eat: "Thanks for your information on feeding horses. I have a type of feeding problem with my 12 year old quarterhorse mare who when I have her in hand will stop abruptly to eat grass. It takes me fotrever to get her to quit eating. She also does this when I ride her. It is a drag to ride her with her stopping all the time to eat, but as least when I am riding I can squeeze her and yell at her which usually gets her moving again. My questions are why does she do this and how to I get her to stop?"

Your horse stopping to eat is a obnoxious habit whether it is while you are leading it on the ground or riding. While it is disrepectful you can't fault the horse until you make him aware that this behavior is unacceptable.

Sounds to me like you have found out how hard it is to pull your horse's head up from grazing with the lead line.  If it looks like my tongue in cheek photo at top then you are going about it wrong.  You won't win a pulling war with a horse.  It is easier to pull their head to the side and move their feet - their front end or back end over....or if you bump on the lead rope.  But if you do nothing else then you haven't solved the problem. You have just stopped them from eating after they started,...you haven't got her to understand stopping to eat is unacceptable.

The right thing is having respectful behavior with you, on the ground or in the saddle. So the wrong thing, stopping to eat, has to be difficult. So I think you need to lead her so she has a chance to stop and graze so you can specifically to train her not to stop and eat. Put a halter on her and lead her, anticipating andbeing being prepared for her to start an attempt to stop and eat. As she stops and trys to drop her head, you can re-direct her, with energy, to back up or move her front end or back end around. Then stop give her a pause - it is this pause or rest that helps them figure things out, then contine leading her again and be prepared to repeat.  

This is much like I do if a horse won't stand for mounting or begins to walk off as you get your seat as this,  is unacceptable behavior as well.  My horse Junior often grabs at weeds when we are moving.  I used to not worry about this too much especially at a walk, but lately I have been checking him from doing it because he needs to be with me all the time - not just when he chooses,.....a horse can get out of position going after an occasional nibble or worse yet, the problem could get bigger and develop into a problem of where the horse stops on his own to grab a bite.  Trail or lesson horses with new riders tend to learn this habit (and many other bad habits).  The trick is to get it solved now before it becomes harder to solve.