This is a learned behavior. The horse knows when feeding time is, and it becomes anxious. As remedies, you might try the following. First, make sure that the horse is getting plenty of exercise and is not "stall sour." Second, make trips to the stall barn area outside of normal feeding time so that the horse does not associate your presence with feeding time only. Maybe clean stalls, groom, etc. outside of normal times. Finally, you may want to adjust your feeding times. If you feed 30 minutes earlier than normal, you might vary the schedule enough so that the horse does not exhibit this behavior. If feeding earlier is not possible, try 30 minutes later. The key is to break up the routine that the horse has become accustomed to. If this does not work, you might try tying him up when it is feeding time until he quits kicking or pawing. This will take repetition, and you must be sure not to feed him until he quits the undesirable behavior. You want to make sure that you are not rewarding him for bad behavior!
FAQ #27971
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At feeding time, one of our horses has the tendency to kick the stall door until I either scold him or feed him. Any ideas to stop this action, and why would he do this?
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