Training Tip: Thoughts on Hand Grazing Horses

Question: When I finish a trail ride and get off my horse, while I’m loosening the girth, he’ll drop his head down and eat grass. Or, if I’m walking him to his turnout, he’ll stop every once and awhile and grab a mouthful of grass. I didn’t think much of it, but a fellow boarder told me that I was going to be sorry I was letting him do that because his snack attacks will get worse and he’ll even start doing it while I’m riding him. Is that true? – Ptruly1

Answer: I personally don’t like a horse eating grass when I’m working with him. Horses can only think of one thing at a time. If your horse is thinking about eating grass, he’s not thinking about what you’re asking him to do. Personally, any time I’m doing any sort of training or working with my horse, there’s a strict no-grass policy.

It’s not the fact that the horse having an odd munch of grass is that big a problem. The problem is that the more you let the horse do it, the more ingrained the habit becomes. Horses are professional cheats—give them one exception, and they’ll finagle their way to others. Have you ever seen horses become so pushy and disrespectful that they’ll lower their heads to the ground, walk off and drag their owners wherever they want to go? That’s the ultimate in disrespectfulness. So when I’m trying to teach my horse something or trying to accomplish a task, I want his attention on me.

In your situation, I would not let my horse eat grass when I was untacking him or let him stop and grab mouthfuls while I was leading him to his turnout. You’re just encouraging belligerent behavior.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with hand grazing your horse. That can be a great way to spend some downtime with a horse and build a bond, but you need to be the one who decides when the time is right, not him.

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