What Can I Do About My Horses Rushing the Gate?

An equine behavior expert and veterinarian offers tips on handling horses that crowd and rush the gate at mealtime.
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What Can I Do About My Horses Rushing the Gate?
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Q. I recently started using slow feeding haynets for my horses, which has added a few extra steps to my routine. I now have to enter my horses’ paddock with the full nets to hang them. Unfortunately, my horses figured out my hands are full and started rushing through the gate before I can get it latched. What suggestions do you have for stopping them?

A. I can really sympathize with you—this is an aggravating and dangerous situation. I wonder: Did they do anything like this before at feeding time, even prior to using the slow-feed haynets? Are they extra hungry now? I came across a little report showing that not only did horses eat more slowly from small-opening haynets, but they also ate less overall. Well, regardless, they’ve learned this strategy, and you have a couple possible approaches: avoidance, punishment, and retraining.

The simplest yet perhaps least-satisfying is simply avoid the situation

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Prior to attending veterinary school, Dr. Nancy Diehl completed a master’s degree in animal science while studying stallion sexual behavior. Later, she completed a residency in large animal internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center and worked in equine practices in Missouri and Pennsylvania. Diehl also spent six years on faculty at Penn State, where she taught equine science and behavior courses and advised graduate students completing equine behavior research. Additionally, Diehl has co-authored scientific papers on stallion behavior, early intensive handling of foals, and feral horse contraception. Currently she is a practicing veterinarian in central Pennsylvania.

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