hahhaha, well, in my honest opinion....he is enjoying his dinner. Have you ever watched little kids at an ice cream parlor? They can't seem to sit still, their little feet go ninty to nothing while they are sitting there eating their ice cream. So, this was my first comment and I hope that it was a good one!
Regards,
Penny

Hi Penny
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Yes, that's a great comment :-) Thank you very much.
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We did wonder that too :-) especially since he was so starved and wasted away when we got him. Actually having food must make him feel pretty happy.
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Kind regards,
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Gen

I have had two horses hat had the same habit., both quite dominant. I think that Penny is right, he is just enjoying and this gesture is a kind of warning not to touch his food. He doesn’t do it in your present, because he accepts you. If there would be another horse, he probably would chase it away.

Kind regards

Just one more detail I noticed. The eyes look introverted while eating, they are very concentrated on their food, so I think that this physical behavior is a kind of prevention, because their mind is with the food. This is just an idea, but observe your horse and let me know, if you share my idea.

Rigards
Billybaji

My horse always paws when eating - his teeth ans worm count are okay - My friend has 3 horses one if which does the same thing. Both horses are quite possessive of their food and dominant... I never thought it was anything to worry about...

I've been taught that horses paw the ground when eating as a "remnant reflex" from their natural behavior out in the wild.
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Out in the field or forest they have to dig through snow, or debris, or soil, to get to the palatable food - or water for that matter.
It's also a sign of impatience - in the eating situation possibly that they can't get the food into their mouths fast enough and - as has been said already - a sign of warning other horses to stay away. (Which could be why they gulp it down in order to eat up before they are chased away.)
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In a behavioral pattern of evolution, my guess would be that hunger (either from lack of food, or from smelling food they can't get to) caused impatience, which caused pawing, which caused revealing food or water, which became a way of survival and therefor a strong trait in horses that remains even today when many of them never have to look for food. (Plus, of course, guarding it.)

This can be a Dangers Problem with Horses From Bad Situations. It is a "Good Thing" that he does not do it when you are near him. I would be concerned if he was in the same pen as your Pregnant Mares at Feeding Time. It will take time for him to realize that enough food will always be served.

We let our guy have his Private Stash (Low Grade Grass Hay)in his Barn/Stall. This allows him not to worry. He eats Relaxed and Slowly Now and Doesn't worry what we did with his poo pile(considered emergency food in a starving environment). I must stress that we got our guy in November so we had all winter for him to find out that it was O.K. to not eat it all. Since it was winter he was burning off the extra calories he was eating. Warm Weather is NOT a good time for extra food, wait until winter.

Hi Gen,
Since you mentioned his being rescued from a starving situation, I guess he "defends" his food from any intrude, you provide it, so you're a safe place to be. If you want to help him overcome it, maybe you could isolate him at feedingtime, still being able to see the others. Trust and routine seem to be a great help for such a horse.
You're doing a great job!
Miriam

my daughters pony does the same thing , he loves his food , but you can't let another horse any where near him or his food as he will defend it and attack the intruder ( he is old and grumpy about food) he gets feed very day but even if another horse looks at it across a fence he will put his ears back and run at the fence to say it's mine. so be careful with other horses around this horse while he's eating and i don't think they will grow out of it locksley hasn't

Hi everyone,
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Thank you so much for your comments. Its funny, my husband and I thought he was enjoying his food to start with, but all these people were telling us this and that so we treated him for every possibility and it worried us a bit because he is still doing it.
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All of our horses are fed separately so that we know they are all getting what they need. So that's good :-)
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I will look closely at his eyes tonight when we feed him to see what they look like.
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Hopefully he will come to realise that he will get the food he needs and perhaps stop the pawing; but if he doesn't stop pawing, at least the behaviour may not have a serious underlying condition other than the fact that he was starved almost to death once and now has to trust that food will keep coming to him.
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I don't know how he would react to another horse coming near him while he is eating because we feed them all on their own. But will keep in mind that he could get defensive in this scenario.
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Thank you all again for your great posts.
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Kind regards,
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Gen

Hi Gen
To add to the comments, you might want to get a hay bag (has openings in the front so the horse has to pull the hay to eat it) that hangs on the wall of fence which will slow down his eating which makes the food last longer. Horses a grazing animals so maybe if he felt like he was grazing and there always was hay for him the agitation (if that is what it is) will go away in time.

I had a mare that I would feed hay cubes and pellets at 6am and she would get her dinner at 4pm and there usually where 1 or 2 cubes still in her feed bucket. Hay cubes take a little longer for the horse to eat and I liked them because the nutrition was consistent unlike baled hay.

Cheers!

Hi Gen,
Try to remove yourself with tiny steps from the scenario, starting where he stops pawing.
Next time you place yourself there and go away a little more, each feedingsession you'll be able to increase the distance and his comfortzone. He'll still be able to see you, but feels safe even if you're not "protecting" him anymore.
Good progress,
Miriam

Hi Gen. Always trust you instinct, I work with so many different horse trainers that I found no one person has the same advice as the next when some imbalances with your horses.

Best Wishes

Crystal

Hello again,
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The hay cubes are a good idea, Dennis, I think I will give them a go as they will also be good for my mares. I don't have hay bags, but I can see the sense in using them to slow things down. My friend makes them so I will get one for him.
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I never thought about the possibility that he could think of me as a "protector" of his space while he is eating. I will try stepping away from him over the next week or so to see if it makes any difference as you suggest Miriam. Doing this makes sense.
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I looked closely at his face and ears last night when he was eating. And his eyes were mostly closed and when they were open they weren't focussed on anything. His ears were relaxed and facing to the side. But when he heard movement, like my husband walking past his ears flicked back and his eyes opened and he looked toward the movement. This was a very quick response - like a flash. It took a couple of times for me to pick it up because it was done in seconds.
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When he realised that there was no threat (for want of a better word) he closed his eyes again and relaxed his ears again and continued eating. While I was standing there near him, he was not pawing, but would look toward a movement. But when I walked away, he started pawing again, so I will take more notice tonight of how far away I can be before he starts and then we can work on the process as Mirriam suggests.
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I think slowing down his eating and allowing his comfort zone to increase will definately work.
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Crystal, you are right. Everyone has a different take on almost everything and it can get overwhelming sometimes - especially when you are trying to do the best by your horse. And as it turns out, our first instinct on this situation may have actually been right after all!
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Thank you very much everyone for your posts. I will let you know how we go.
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Kind regards,
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Gen

Can't resist adding a comment too - what a huge response you have had to this one, Gen. My QH does this too when eating from a ground trough - I have never thought much of it as he seems happy and content and just paws a bit but not roughly. He also stops if I am close. He is the boss horse too so I guess that has something to do with it. If he has a trough on a rail he doesn't paw so that is something to think about. However I have heard that it is better for horses to be fed off the ground fo their digestion etc - more natural!. So impressed with all the great comments I just had to add one too!!

Hi Maggie
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Yes, the response has been awsome :-) I love the forum for this kind of thing. I get so much out of reading everyone's posts on all the different topics.
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The pawing seems to be a fairly common thing. I would never have know that if it weren't for the forum. After watching his face and ears last night, I am convinced that he is happy and just protecting his food.
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We feed our horses from the ground for the reasons you state in your post, but I do have a feeder that hangs on the fence. When we use it, its not high so I will give that a go and see what happens too. You just never know ;-)
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Thank you Maggie and everyone for your time :-)
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Kind regards,
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Gen