I'm a relative novice and bought my first horse a little under 3 mos ago after taking riding lessons for a year.  My dominant mare is boarded where I take lessons, and has had a 60-day tune-up.  I'll take up this question with my trainer, but how do you keep your horse from eating grass while you're under saddle in a grassy place?

We did a nice trail ride a couple weeks ago, this wasn't a problem at all.  Outside in the pasture is another thing entirely, though.  She'll just stop and start munching.  I can't figure out if the best thing to do is kick/encourage her to go forward or what.  Pulling the reins sure doesn't help!

Thanks,

Mary

That is a dangerous habit. My old trainer had a horse that did that while cantering. The horse just stopped to eat grass and the 15 yr old flew off. She wasn't seriously hurt, thank goodness. I would say to encourage her to move forward.  I am not a trainer so I can't be sure that it's the only way to fix the problem. Good Luck.  

I expect you WILL hear from some people who believe your horse grabbing a snack while riding is a sign of disrespect. I'm not one who believes that. It may be undesired behavior but it's not connected to respect. In fact, it's actually a demonstration of how safe and calm your horse feels with a rider aboard. The other part of this situation is that you're riding the horse in her pasture. Technically speaking, that's HER space; where she's allowed to graze and do other horsey things relatively unrestricted. Riding her there can give her mixed messages about what she can and cannot do. As you pointed out, grazing was not a problem on the trail ride. If riding in the pasture is your only option, it'll take a few rides with lots of correction for her to figure out she's not allowed to eat with someone on her back.

But what IS disconcerting is your inability to get control of the horse's head when you ask for it. That IS a respect issue. I wouldn't kick her. With her head down that low it wouldn't take much for her to round her back and send you sprawling. At the grazing angle, pulling back on the reins sets up all your upper body force going directly against her neck muscles and spine. You'll lose that battle just about every time. Instead, slide one hand as far down the rein as it will go and double her to the left or right. Once you've got her bent, THEN add some leg and drive her in a few tight circles as a reprimand.

Whether you ride trails, pastures, or arenas your horse should always be attentive and responsive to your cues. But also try to see things from your horse's perspective when diagnosing difficulties. ~FH

FH has some good points for riding. I just want to mention it's going to be harder to keep her from eating if you are riding in tall grass, if it's just at mouth level, it's really hard to keep them from eating it.

Another thing I'd like to mention is make sure your horse is getting enough turn out. If she is always stall bound, the grass may just be too tempting. Mine get 24-turnout to quell the desire to munch.Also, I wouldn't recommend "hand grazing" her until you have more experience. Hand grazing is where you hold the lead rope and let your horse graze.It can be a good bonding point, and I do it with my horses, but they know when I say "enough" that snack time is over. I don't let them drag me around to eat, either. I decide when/where they get to hand graze. Some horses just get to where they associate you with grazing and that's all the expect to do, which is why I suggest waiting until you have more control under saddle first.

 I NEVER let my horse eat with a bit in it's mouth. I feel this helps them know when they can't eat. They are allowed to drink with a bit, esp on the trail, just not eat. If I decide I'm in a nice spot for grazing after riding a long ways, I'll take the bridle off, loose the cinch and use the halter to hold them as a nice reward for leaving the barn. Once I say that's enough, I put the bridle back on..

There are places I ride where it is unacceptable to snack.  There are places where I allow it.  Down in the riverbed, the trails are narrow and the food abundant, my rule is, if the horse continues at the pace I tell her, and does not turn her face more than a few degrees in either direction to eat, I won't argue.  But if she stops, turns or otherwise tells me that she is going to do this regardless, she gets reminded.  First time, a little nudge, second time, tell her (I kick her side) and lastly, I take her head back -- with one rein.  If you are in a power struggle with two reins, you will lose.  One rein has more power.  Last resort, I will loop the reins around the saddle horn to prevent her and save my hands (at a stop of course.)

BUT:  the Biblical answer is:

“You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain." )(Dt 25:4)  What that means is, if the animal is working hard for you, you give leeway.  If it is just a "I wanna", and you know not a hunger issue, then take control.

One last point:  There are some plants on the trail that are not good for the horses to eat.  Fiddlers Neck, here in CA is being sown by fire retardants during wildfire season and makes the horses sick, even can make them die.  Oleander is ubiquitous in So. Cal. Horses raised in controlled environments might not have the instinct to avoid the poisons. It is up to the rider to be aware and to take control

Mary, I'm wondering why you're riding her in the pasture.  Since she's not giving you a problem with her happy snacking on the trail, I'd say avoid riding in an area where she knows it's her right to eat there.  She sounds like a lovely horse.  Why create problems?

As for making an eating-under-saddle rule, I tend to play it by ear.  Two of my horses are fine with it.  I can stop along the way and let them graze for a minute while I enjoy the view, and they'll pick their heads right up when I ask, and off we go. 

The third, however, is a pig.  I didn't know that until I made the mistake.  He's a relatively new horse, and I knew he was very experienced at trail/mounted orienteering.  I've been working him in the ring with only occasional outings while I got him back into shape.  I just assumed he had good manners.  It only took one stop at the foot of the driveway for a few minutes of grazing under saddle as a treat to make him a pain in the butt in the grassy fields. He doesn't fight me hard, but it's annoying to constantly be bumping him in the mouth to keep him from stopping to gnosh on some wild oats.  I'm not afraid of getting yanked out of the saddle--I'm way tougher than he is  LOL--but the battle takes the fun out of the trail.  We'll get past it quickly, but I'm sorry I allowed the habit to start. 

I've never had trouble with a horse I allowed to graze IF I dismounted first so s/he was clear on when grazing was an okay thing.