BAEN Message Board

can you "train" one horse to come at feeding time?

Posted by SadieKisses on 12/28/2011, 2:20 pm
174.253.233.244

I've tried feeding Sadie at the same time every day. But, I have to hike a mile in the hills to find her at least 3 days a week. I can't do it anymore. But I think she doesn't come because she sticks with the herd (of 5) and she's the only one getting fed so the rest don't come. But she needs her supplements. Any suggestions?
And the only water is at the entrance, yet they still hang out as far back in the hills as they can! I've only gone a few times when they've been at the water!
"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out."

not sure if it'll help

Posted by rustyrider on 12/28/2011, 2:59 pm, in reply to "can you "train" one horse to come at feeding time?"

im tired of walking a mile to bring the horses down at feeding time, too. My husband made me a nice, rustic "dinner triangle" for Christmas. I hung it at the barn, and I'm ringing it at every feeding time. I'm hoping that they'll learn that the ringing means food and when they hear it - they'll come down.
Not the same situation as you though, cuz I need 3 (of the 4) horses to come in - not just one, like you need.

I guess I'm lucky

Posted by equestqh on 12/28/2011, 4:36 pm, in reply to "not sure if it'll help"
216.31.250.82

Mine go to their individual paddocks at dinner time and wait for me. Those I let into the barn at night are waiting at the gate. I just open it and they into their appropriate stalls.
No, I am not smarter than a 5th grader, but occasionally I am smarter than a 1st grader.
Elk Grove, Sac County, CA (formerly of Palo Alto & EPA & yes, my horses had a better address than me-Woodside)

Mine too

Posted by TBJMPR2 on 12/29/2011, 10:21 am, in reply to "not sure if it'll help"

Moms hereThey chase my car up the driveway in their pasture. The minute my car or truck hits the gravel heads fly up and they are looking. They have always come galloping to the gate as soon as I got there, no matter how big the pasture is. They all come when I whistle too.

This was on Dec 4th and they were grazing down the hill and when they realized it was me this is what they did. I'd only been gone 4 hours.

If riding were all blue ribbons and bright lights, I would have quit long ago. ~ George Morris

she used to :(

Posted by SadieKisses on 12/29/2011, 10:55 am, in reply to "Mine too"
174.253.231.154

But now they hang out where they can't see/hear me coming!
"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out."

hey - TBJUMPER2

Posted by KDPRookard on 12/29/2011, 12:29 pm, in reply to "Mine too"
144.160.130.16

you're buckskin paint has almost identical markings as my gelding! white body and face, caramel chest/shield and flanks! Yours is much lighter, more palomino-ish... but same face...soooooo cute. Moonster also comes to the gate when he hears me coming. Knows the sound of my car!
1 husband, 2 cats, new house, no horse... for now.
K.D., Newman, CA

Luna

Posted by TBJMPR2 on 12/29/2011, 1:58 pm, in reply to "hey - TBJUMPER2"
209.78.56.72

Her sire was a perlino so she got his blue eyes. When she is clean she is nice and shiny.
If riding were all blue ribbons and bright lights, I would have quit long ago. ~ George Morris

My gelding Tanner

Posted by MissDoc on 12/29/2011, 8:16 pm, in reply to "Mine too"
69.230.111.250

would run to the fence when I whistled...granted he was never very far away on an acre
Go for Longs Walks. Indulge in Hot Baths. Question your assumptions.
Be kind to yourself. Live for the Moment. Loosen up. Scream.
Curse the world. Count Your Blessings.
Just Let Go.
Just Be.

smartie...lol

Posted by SadieKisses on 12/30/2011, 8:32 am, in reply to "My gelding Tanner"
174.253.247.190

I thought "oh, they will love the space". Yep...they do. Me? Not so much! LOL
"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out."

Depends

Posted by Gail Ivey on 12/28/2011, 4:59 pm, in reply to "can you "train" one horse to come at feeding time?"
66.245.17.146

When you go out to get her, does she come to you as soon as she sees you, or does she wait for you to get all the way up to her? If she comes to you as soon as she sees you, then all you have to do is make your presence known when you get there. Make noise. The triangle idea is good. I used to do the "two finger ear blaster" whistle. Honk your car horn. Anything that lets her know you're there. The car horn would be the least effective, because you can't take that with you, so the time lapse between hearing the horn and her seeing you might be too long for her to associate you with the horn. But, if you can make your presence known to her just before she sees you, she will learn to associate that sound with you being there and will come to the sound.
However, if she's not that enthusiastic and generally waits for you to get all the way up to her, you may not have a lot of success, because she doesn't have enough interest in the food you're offering to pull her away from her little herd.
You'll just have to experiment with some kind of sound that she can hear before she sees you. Calling is often only moderately effective, and your voice might wear out if you rely on it, so I suggest another kind of noise. Try a whistle of some kind. Any "non-organic" type of noise would work.
"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for." -
Socrates

she comes when she sees me

Posted by SadieKisses on 12/28/2011, 7:14 pm, in reply to "Depends"
174.253.233.244

But that's after I've walked a mile! Maybe I will try a loud whistle. She's usually down in the valley after the first hill, so I don't think she hears me when I call. I would take it as good exercise...if I wasn't 8 months pregnant with SPD and sciatic issues! LOL.
Luckily she was at the top of the first hill today so she came as soon as she saw/heard me

"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out."

Good

Posted by Gail Ivey on 12/28/2011, 7:22 pm, in reply to "she comes when she sees me"
66.245.17.146

Take a whistle with you and start blowing it before she can see you. After a while, she will come when she hears the whistle blowing.
"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for." -
Socrates

Re: she comes when she sees me

Posted by Jazz on 12/28/2011, 10:03 pm, in reply to "she comes when she sees me"

Have you tried honking the truck horn? Perhaps if you honk the truck horn each time you come out she will start to recognized the sound. Just curious, is she out at the gravel pit at Lone Tree? If she is I may be able to help you get supplements into her. I'm out there at least 4 days a week. If that's where she is you can drive around almost all the way to the backside of that pasture.

Re: she comes when she sees me

Posted by SadieKisses on 12/28/2011, 10:57 pm, in reply to "Re: she comes when she sees me"
174.253.233.244

Haha...yes! We can't drive in at the gate, and did try the road on the other side. They are usually at the back fence from the road (looking straight back). They haven't been on the gravel pit "side". The issue only really started when the two yearlings were put in there...they all wander farther! They used to hang out by the water! So, you know that's quite a hike!
"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out."

continued...

Posted by SadieKisses on 12/28/2011, 10:59 pm, in reply to "Re: she comes when she sees me"
174.253.233.244

Posting from my phone o it's being weird
Anyway, it's only 5mins from my house. I have to take her out because my paint (the tri) is a WITCH and wont let her eat if I try and feed her inside :/
"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out."

Posted by SadieKisses on 12/30/2011, 4:51 pm, in reply to "continued..."

Nm
"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out."

Can you give something to the intire herd?

Posted by ScoobyDoo on 12/28/2011, 9:18 pm, in reply to "can you "train" one horse to come at feeding time?"
76.236.31.137

We boarded on an 80 acre pasture once. All the horses came up in the am for grain. They did that so boarders could catch up your horse each, am if you wanted to ride that day.
Can you drive out to the herd?
"I got nuthin." ~Me

Re: Can you give something to the intire herd?

Posted by SadieKisses on 12/28/2011, 11:01 pm, in reply to "Can you give something to the intire herd?"
174.253.233.244

I don't even know who owns the other horses. And most parts are too steep to drive. I wish we still had the quad! LOL
"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out."

Re: Can you give something to the intire herd?

Posted by jcdill on 12/29/2011, 8:59 am, in reply to "Re: Can you give something to the intire herd?"
174.253.250.29

I would ask the barn/pasture manager if it's OK to feed all the horses something like carrots or beet pulp, so that you can train them all to come to the gate as a group, when they hear you arrive. At most barns this would be OK, but your barn manager should advise you. Just feed a tiny bit of beet pulp (e.g. 1 handful) or 1-2 carrots per horse. Once they learn to listen for the triangle and then all come to the gate you won't have to go tromping off to catch your mare!

Caution - don't feed them inside the field, feed over the fence. They need to learn that when you are inside the field they do NOT get fed, so they don't crowd around you and fight over who gets to be closest to you when you are inside the field, which can lead to you getting run over or bit or kicked if one tries to challenge another and you accidentally end up between them. When you feed over the fence don't reward bad behavior - e.g. if one horse tries to drive another off, yell at it (use a crop if necessary) to drive IT away from you, it gets fed last (not first) so that they all learn to line up politely to get their treat. If you enforce manners as the Boss Mare of all of them, they will respect your authority and not squabble over the treats.
JC Dill Photography
San Jose & San Francisco
Horse Portraits, Horse Show Photography
www.jcdill.com

well, they were all at the gate today!

Posted by SadieKisses on 12/29/2011, 4:49 pm, in reply to "can you "train" one horse to come at feeding time?"
174.253.231.154

Fingers crossed it's not just a coincidence I posted! And thank goodness, 'cause I can't walk today, lol!
"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out."

DAY 2

Posted by SadieKisses on 12/30/2011, 6:53 pm, in reply to "well, they were all at the gate today!"
174.254.231.117

No whistle yet, but I clucked and called Sadie and she appeared over the hill after 5 mins. It helps that I'm feeding my paint too (even though she's fat)...but she's the herd boss so she gets em coming!

"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out."

Re: can you "train" one horse to come at feeding time?

Posted by Copper n Zara on 12/29/2011, 5:54 pm, in reply to "can you "train" one horse to come at feeding time?"
99.67.20.58

We had the horses in the pasture and trained them to come to an emergency whistle that was very loud. We'd blow it everytime we came to see them and had treats waiting. They did learn to come down when they heard the whistle and to this day, even though not in pasture, they will still look if they hear the whistle.

yes its possible

Posted by LittlePaint on 12/30/2011, 2:21 pm, in reply to "can you "train" one horse to come at feeding time?"
216.227.109.117

I had my pinto trained to... Started in a smaller turnout, and would make a certain whistle, then would feed him a treat, but leave him out...he soon learned the whistle meant some thing good was going to be available.. this soon was transferred to the 40 acre field. As long as he could hear that whistle, he would come along... It just depends really on Sadie's willingness.... I don't know if my other would...He tends to run away, not wanting to be brought in...sigh...

Tara
Tara

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