my mustang

Question
hi again, well my mustang....he is selfish about his food. he wont let my other horse eat. i've been tying him up in his spot where he eats. well we are getting stalls later on but how can i get him to let my other horse eat too??? and sometimes he puts his hindquarters facing the other horses trough.(oh and the 2 troughs are like 4 ft. away from each other because they are connected.)

oh and about the trails again im not young, its just that when we take him out of the gate he starts acting crazy. not bucking or anything...just acting foolish and wanting to run. yeah i've been asking to take out my other horse because she is fine about going out of the gate and he acts like he wants to go back with her. when we go back to the gate he just acts normal again. so should i take her out with him???

Answer
Meghan,

First off, it's not a good idea to feed horses like cattle from a trough. You will have the problem you are having with the dominant horse gobbling up it's food and running over to eat everyone elses.  Tying is the only solution when you don't have stalls.  I only have run-in sheds and all mine have their assigned eating spots with a tie there and they get tied.  Everyone from my 6 mos. old filly to my 23 yr. old pony.  Since I keep ponies and horses together the horses get a lot more to eat than the ponies and it's the only way they can get theirs.  Just keep tying him up until you have stalls.  If he won't share hay make several piles of it.  I always put out more piles than I have horses so that there is no problem with one not getting any, even the baby.  

It would be far better to take him out with the mare if that's who he's buddied up with.  I would never try to take a green horse out on the trails alone at first.  I always have at least one companion along to show the newbie the ropes about things like puddles and scary stuff on the trails.  So definately take him out with her.  I generally go out with another horse at least a half dozen times then we go out ourselves, alone, on the same trails we've been riding with company.  Depending upon how brave your Mustang is you'll know when he's ready to solo.  He'll learn a lot from being ridden with other horses.  Try to make sure that they are well behaved so they can set good examples.  He'll be happy to trail along behind or beside her and you can change places with who is leading, again, when you feel he's ready.  It's a big, scary world outside the home paddocks and they need the company.  Plus, like I tell people, I have someone to pick up the pieces, catch a loose horse, or call 911 if anything happens!   :)!

I love riding green horses and watching them learn.  Each one is different and they learn at different rates so you have to work with them as individuals.  Please, wear a helmet when you ride him on the trails.  A lot can happen out there.  The new helmets are comfortable, not burdensome to wear, and can save your life.  I've hit the ground many times over the years and never wore a helmet until I had to.  I had a couple of wrecks after that and didn't get concussions although 1 helmet was destroyed.  I've become a firm believer in them.  At my age I don't bounce well anymore and cannot afford to be laid up if I can help it.  I know, s__t happens, but you can do some things to try to avoid worse case scenarios.  I know, I'm preaching but I've seen some really bad accidents and have come to appreciate helmets.  

So, try taking him for a nice, easy, relatively short trail ride with the mare and see how he does.  I think he'll be much better.

Let me know.

Lyn