Stop Grass Grabbing - An Unusual Solution for Your Horse's Challenge - prep for Spring!

compassionate training feed bag grass training Feb 28, 2024

🐴 Are you struggling with a horse who can't resist the lure of lush green grass, making walks or training sessions a constant battle of wills? You're not alone. (Now is the time to prep for Spring Green Grass.) Grass grabbing is a common behavior among horses, deeply ingrained in their natural instincts.

But fear not, fellow equestrians, because I'm here to share with you an unusual yet effective solution that can help transition your grass-grabbing equine companion into a willing partner who walks with you over the tastiest morsels.

Now, before we dive in, let me address the elephant in the room. Some may question the validity or fairness of this method, and that's understandable. As advocates of positive reinforcement and clicker training, we prioritize solutions that don't rely on force, punishment, or fear. And while this technique may seem unconventional, it aligns with our principles of fostering understanding and comfort in our horses.

So, what exactly is this unusual solution? It involves using a feed bag as an antecedent to set the horse up for success without the temptation of grazing. By temporarily redirecting their focus away from the grass and onto a hand-held target, we can help them break the behavior patterns associated with grass grabbing.

Here's how it works:

🌱Provide Access to Forage: Ensure your horse has access to forage outside of training sessions, allowing them to graze when appropriate for their health and well being when possible. This helps maintain their natural feeding behavior while reducing the temptation to grab grass during training.

🌱Start in Winter Months if possible: Begin this training during the winter when the grass is less tempting. This allows for an easier transition to practicing on areas with sparse grass or no grass at all.

🌱Introduce the Feed Bag: Use the feed bag as a temporary antecedent to distract the horse from grazing. As they learn to follow the hand-held target and receive treats from the handler in their bag, their focus shifts away from the grass.

🌱Fade the Target and Feed Bag: As the behavior becomes more reliable, gradually fade out the hand-held target and feed bag - and eventually the feeding except for intermittent reinforcement. The goal is to reinforce the desired behavior of walking with the handler without the need for constant redirection.

Remember, this method is not a permanent solution or a substitute for proper positive reinforcement training. It's simply a tool to help your horse overcome grass grabbing tendencies and focus on the task at hand.

By incorporating this unusual yet effective technique into your training regimen, you can help your horse become a happier, more attentive partner, ready to tackle any challenge that comes your way.

🐴🌱 Happy training, and may your grass-grabbing days be a thing of the past! 🌱🐴

More Detail:

First, you’ll want to acclimate your horse to wearing a feed bag of some type. Some of our Compassionate Horse Click (CHC) members love a type of grazing muzzle called Munch-N-Done (good for horses prone to laminitis too).

If you'd rather use a feed bag, I really like the Cashel brand feed bag, but I also don’t have a lot of experience with other brands.

In the video at the top of this newsletter, the horse is normal size and the feed bag is draft horse size. I think you’ll find it easier if you use the size feed bag/grazing muzzle that is appropriate for your horse. Otherwise, the horse may need to put its head on the ground to get to the food and this is not what we want them to practice. This is why the person in the video is putting her hand under the bag. But this larger bag was simply an experiment by the handler to make sure delivery was easy and that the horse could receive a large volume of food. Another nice feature of these bags is that you can use them for treat pouches and wear them cross body or over the shoulder and they're great for wet or damp food.

The idea is that by using the items to deliver your horses reinforcers as your walking across grass, you will teach the horse that it can go across grass and stay connected to you and receive valuable reinforcement. Cut grass is a great choice for this exercise, but other reinforcers that your horse considers equal to or superior to grass will also work since scissor cutting grass, is incredibly labor intensive – but we are crazy horse people after all!

As you train your horse without grazing you will gradually wean the horse off of having to wear the feed bag/grazing muzzle, BUT in the meantime and forever more, you have a tool that can be used in a strange context or circumstance when grass grabbing is likely to happen because of unavoidably stressful environments such as traveling to the vet. And you won’t have to pull on them, use a chain or be pulled around by them in these kinds of circumstances when they might be so over threshold or hungry due to fasting that their grass training isn’t as strong as it is at home. Also, if we have folks that use the Munch-N-Done under saddle on the trail too. Don’t worry, I don’t take any kick back for recommending any of these brands! Simply sharing what works for our CHC members.

Pre-requisites:

Horse has a strong reinforcement history with a clicker or other novel sound as a bridge or marker signal and understands that it predicts something yummy is coming.
Horse has a strong reinforcement history with a handheld target and follows it easily and reliably.
Horse has a confirmed and reliable response to head up and walk on cues.
Tip: you may find 'head down' a handy cue to have to facilitate practicing head up. That way you'll be prepared in case your horse drops its head and starts sniffing around on the hay/grass.

Overall Process:

You can use a halter or not, but if you choose to do so, I recommend putting the lead over the back, or somehow fastening it so it can’t be stepped on and so that you don’t have to hold it because it’s so easy to accidentally pull on the line without realizing it. If you do need to redirect the horse using the line for some reason, it will be within easy reach.
I recommend choosing a less appetizing area to begin with when possible and gradually increasing the temptation as the behavior becomes so strong that you're fairly certain your horse won’t grab any grass in the more delicious area.
Once the horse is comfortable wearing the bag, eating meals out of it and receiving reinforcers in the feed bag in a familiar environment, both standing still, walking around, and halting, you’re ready to proceed to a more tempting area.

Want more details or need help with your horse? You can join our community for group coaching and safe like-minded +R horse training and relationship building support, participate in our online course and/or receive one-on-one online coaching. Contact Melissa Spell Deal via FB messenger or [email protected]. Mention this article for a special offer.

Training Plan:

Practice head up and walk on with the horse following a target or at least carry one in case you need it in an area with nothing to eat on the ground using the feed bag to introduce the reinforcers at intervals appropriate to keep the horse engaged and happy.
Repeat this process with low value hay or sparse grass that the horse would like to eat, on the ground, using the feed bag to deliver reinforcement until you are both very comfortable with the process of walking and standing on hay, rewarding the horse for staying connected to you and for not seeking the hay, by bridging and feeding in the feed bag.
When this is going well: meaning the horse isn’t frustrated or confused and the horse isn’t trying to figure out how to get the hay/sparse grass or breaking its connection with you, choose another environment and repeat the exercise.
When the behaviors of walking on, head up, and halt on or over the hay/sparse grass are reliable in a second and/or 3^rd environment, move to an area with scant grass.
Repeat this process gradually moving to more challenging, e.g., grassier areas.
Once your horse can easily and reliably stay connected in a variety of environments including various distractions and the yummiest grass, go back to number one and begin training without the feed bag and progress through all the steps continuing to increase duration as appropriate without losing the horse’s attention and willingness to go with you while ignoring the grass.
If your horse does reach for grass, simply give a head up cue, reward handsomely and carry on watching closely for signs of impending or potential disengagement so you can reinforce before the connection is broken and your horse goes for grass.
Remember training isn’t linear and if you go too fast/raise the criteria before the behavior you want is reliable, it could cause a temporary setback and will also have created intermittent reinforcement if the horse grazes. So please be patient with yourself and the horse!

If you find yourself impatient, just imagine if someone asked you to walk across a field of million-dollar bills that were blowing into a river and didn’t want you to pick them up. Wouldn’t every fiber of your being want to do the thing that they asked you not to do? Your horse is having a similar experience… EVERY time you ask it to go across grass without grazing. So, remember to give yourself and your horse some GRACE!

>>>PS. This horse owner also prefers the feed bag to treat pouches or buckets and feeds right out of the bag when providing reinforcement!

🌿 Embrace Natural Behaviors: Grazing and Equine Well-being 🐎

At CHC, we understand the complexities of equine behavior and the importance of positive reinforcement in fostering a strong, trusting bond between horse and human. That's why we offer a range of resources and support to help you navigate these challenges with compassion and understanding.

Join our community for group coaching and safe, like-minded +R (positive reinforcement) horse training. Dive into our online courses to deepen your understanding of equine behavior and relationship building. Or receive personalized guidance through one-on-one online coaching sessions.

Contact Melissa Spell Deal via Facebook Messenger or [email protected] to learn more and mention this article for a special offer. Together, let's honor the natural behaviors of our beloved horses while cultivating a partnership built on trust, respect, and mutual understanding.

🐴Here's to happy, harmonious relationships with our equine friends! 🌟