Feeding Horses in Group Settings: Managing the Mob
- Topics: Article
When feeding horses at pasture or in large paddocks, it can often be a challenge to make sure each horse gets his share of the feed, while reducing waste and feed contamination. Management is the key to successfully feeding horses in a group setting, minimizing social stress and nutritional problems.
Pete Gibbs, PhD, Dipl. ACAN, professor and extension horse specialist at Texas A&M University, grew up on a farm in north Texas that fit young horses for yearling sales, and he has a lot of experience with group feeding. He emphasizes the importance of strategic location of feeders, identifying potential problems with overly aggressive (or very timid) individuals, and recommends that horse owners spend the time necessary to actually see how and where the horses choose to eat.
Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com. Start your free account today!Already have an account?
Share
![]()
Heather Smith Thomas ranches with her husband near Salmon, Idaho, raising cattle and a few horses. She has a B.A. in English and history from University of Puget Sound (1966). She has raised and trained horses for 50 years, and has been writing freelance articles and books nearly that long, publishing 20 books and more than 9,000 articles for horse and livestock publications. Some of her books include Understanding Equine Hoof Care, The Horse Conformation Handbook, Care and Management of Horses, Storey’s Guide to Raising Horses and Storey’s Guide to Training Horses. Besides having her own blog, www.heathersmiththomas.blogspot.com, she writes a biweekly blog at https://insidestorey.blogspot.com that comes out on Tuesdays.
Related ArticlesStay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.comSponsored ContentWeekly PollOur SitesResources
Seek the advice of a qualified veterinarian before proceeding with any diagnosis, treatment, or therapy.
Copyright ©2025 Equine Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without written permission of Equine Network, LLC is prohibited. THE HORSE, THE HORSE logo, THEHORSE.com and THEHORSE.com logo are trademarks of Equine Network, LLC.
Create a free account with TheHorse.com!"*" indicates required fields |