Hand Feeding Horses

Hand feeding a horse is a good way to build up a bond between you and a horse. The horse will associate you with food; this is especially good if it is your own horse. Horses will generally eat anything so it is important to know what they can and can’t eat. This guide outlines the best way to hand feed a horse

How to Hand Feed a Horse

 

•    If you are using hand feeding as a way to build up an extra bond between you and the horse then you could use regular horse feed. If you don’t own the horse, ask the owner before hand whether it is ok to hand feed the horse and what you should feed them.

•    If the horse is grazing, you could pull up some of the grass and hand feed the horse that. If it is your horse, you should still know what you can use as a treat. Regular horse feed such as grains or hay is fine. Fruits or vegetables make a good treat to hand feed a horse. Especially good treats are apples, carrots or corn.

•    When hand feeding a horse, use moderation. The chances are that the horse will eat as much as you give them and the horse’s diet should be in the back of your mind, even more so if it is not your horse. Feeding them the odd treat is probably fine but if they have grazed a lot in the pasture you won’t want to hand feed the horse lots of grain afterwards.

•    You need to consider your safety when hand feeding a horse. It is entirely possible that the horse could mistake your fingers for food. If you keep your palm flat, the horse will be able to identify the food and only eat that without biting you by accident.

•    Probably the most important part of hand feeding a horse is not to tease the animal. If you offer horse feed, don’t take it away again when the horse moves for it. Similarly, don’t hold your hand just out of reach of the horse. Not only is it unkind but horses are very large animals and if it reacts badly, you could get seriously injured or worse.