Slowing Down the Fast Eating Horse

Encourage aggressive horses to eat slowly.

Horses that eat fast and aggressively should be encouraged to eat more slowly. Horses that bolt their food have a tendency not to chew it before swallowing. There are several management tactics to use to slow aggressive eaters:

1. Feed in large shallow troughs.
2. Put bricks or softball-size rocks in the feed trough.
3. Feed extruded feeds.
4. Mix in chopped hay.
5. Mount a wire ring inside the feed trough.

Ashley Griffin, University of Kentucky