also horse trouble

Here's my idea.  First, get him out of the stall.  too close quarters.  Is he T'bred or S'bred?  Anyway, I'm sure he's a good size.  Did you get him through New Vocations?  Sorry... easily distracted.... possible ADD.... []
 
Start feeding him in a round pen or even a small paddock/pasture.  If you board and someone else feeds then just do a session whenever you can, arranging to be the one to feed on that day.  So put his behind in the enclosure of your choice.  Get a training stick with rope or a lunge whip or a 2x4... or anything that will serve as a substitute back leg with which to kick the tar out of him as an alpha mare would do in a herd. 
 
Get him in there and groom him... love on him... whatever, and of course he's the perfect gentleman.  I'd start with hay personally cuz mine don't get so emotional about hay.  So take a trip to get hay, bring some in with you.  Have your spot all picked out and sling that stuff down, get your stick and wear him out when he's being disrespectful to you.  THE KEY IS, getting him to back up. (whoever backs up first is the loser)  I'd used "back" and swat his chest with the stick - light at first to see if he's going to respond.  If he doesn't just keep increasing pressure on him, make yourself big (puff up) and lean in towards him.  If you do this really fast he'll think  you're going to kill him and will move away (probably with a surprised look on his face) As soon as he backs up, let him stand there (if he will) and think a moment.  Discontinue all pressure as soon as he gives you any sign of compliance but get ready to put the pressure back on.   If his back end comes toward you get a good hard whack at it until he moves it away from you.  please be careful but it doesn't sound like he's going to really try to kick you.  If he's a Stb you'll probably only have to do this once - they're so smart.  Food aggression is dangerous.  I wonder why he picked that up.  My Zag puts his ears back but nothing he does seems to be directed at me.  He's never been alpha in the herd here with me and I think it's a defense mechanism since he's fed in a herd situation.
I hope we get to hear more about your boy!  I have 3 former harness racers from ASAP in Wisconsin!   At his age, tardin, he should know how to behave.  I bet you'll get him out of that easy.  2 months is not very long in the scheme of things.  One of mine acted like he wanted to kill me for the first 2 months.  Now he's a kitten. (at 17.2 he was a bit intimidating!)
 
Forgot to say:  If he bucks, throws a fit, etc... stay very calm and just move him.  Say "no problem, boy, ya wanna move, then move" and make him keep moving and he'll say "HEY!  I didn't sign on for THIS!" but you keep him moving with pressure from the stick - take this time to use your arm to point his direction so he learns when your arm sticks out "this way" he's supposed to move that way.  So he runs until he wants to quit and then you make him run a little bit more.  You're in charge.  Keep him off the hay until he gives you a clear sign of progress and stop on a good note.  It might be a very small sign but you let him know that's good enough for that session.   GOOD LUCK!!

I agree with everything hunterseat says.

Some people will claim, OK , LOTS of people, that you should never feed horses by hand in the first place. It can be dangerous and about this time last year, my wife spent a week in the hospital due to an injury related to feeding horses by hand. She swore she would never feed a horse by hand ever again, SHE LIED. Point is, be on your guard!

Our boss horse turns into a serpent at feeding time, especially if he is in the barn. What do we do, stand at his feeding corner is stress it out so more and laugh at him. Maybe not smart and sensitive to his feelings, but hey, we get to laugh. I will also go in the stall while he is eating and groom him. He doesn't like it at first but then gets in the mode of, "I am king, you are my servant, GROOM ME." When I go in, I first tap the hind quarter to get his rear end away from me as he is a kicker when eating. When I finish one side, I tap his chest, he backs up so I can get around and do the other side. I would never walk behind him when he is eating as I would become a implanted in the stall wall. Now when he is given treats, he is fine. He only acts like this when he is eating his feed. My personal thought is that in his youth he was in a very competitive environment at feeding time and became very defensive. He is also the boss and he isn't going to let anyone push him away from his feed. He doesn't hasn't figured out that we give it to him and really don't want it. He is very patient when reaching thru to dump his feed, but once your arm is out of the way, his serpent switch is turned on. Once he finishes, it goes off and he sticks his head out and his eyes say, "love me."

I use to call my horse, a mare, a "Feeding Terrorists"

All horses are different and I think of lot of it is a result of their environments over the years. All our other horses are not like this and I will go in and clean stalls while they are eating, but I would not do that with the boss horse. I will even clean my "Feeding Terrorist's" stall, she only terrorized other horses, not people. The only terror she brings to people is her SPEED!   People are scared to ride her because they know what she is capable of speed wise, and she doesn't like to be 2nd!

 Sky is a t'bred. a retired race horse. and if I can figure out how  to get his pix on the site I'll put him on.
  He is very large a  little over 16. And true he only acts this way when I feed hay  by hand!If his hay is down he is fine I'll go into the stall half way to clean. Very cold in the pocono's. The other side of the stall can be opened for him to go out in a small area.  I cross tie him when I groom him' But I will try to groom him in his stall. He Has never in the time I've had him turned to kick me. When I went to see him before I got him. There where around 25 other horses. No stalls just a big area to eat. So he must have had to fight for his food. Thanks for the help' Will let u know how we make out.
diane
 

Hi,

My approach is different to hunter's. I would start out with a stall door or fence between me & the horse, to minimise danger to myself and the need for force. I would use that food as a tool in my training. Horses learn by association, to do what works for them & quit doing what doesn't work. He's learned that being 'rude' obviously works. You just have to change the rules & teach him that being 'polite' is what works to get him rewards.

As it's been an effective positive reinforcement(reward) and he has inadvertently got this reward for his 'rude' behaviour in the past, you will first have to ensure you never, ever reward him for rudeness again. Simply doing that will cause the behaviour to eventually fade away. But given his previous reinforcement, old habits will die hard & his behaviour is likely to get worse(he'll try harder to make it work) before it goes away.

If in conjunction with the above 'fading out' of the bad behaviour, you also ensure to reinforce him for anything 'Good', the behaviour change will be much quicker & more solid. Especially if what you reward is in contrast to a 'Bad' behaviour(eg. say 'Good!' and reward him whenever he puts his head down & ears forward, looks away or takes a step back from you.) He will quickly learn that these behaviours now 'work', so he'll repeat them. The more you can reinforce him for the Right behaviour, the more solid & better it will get.

I do believe in using as much force as may be necessary in training, just find that it's generally preferable to avoid confrontation when/where possible. Firstly, while a lead mare would likely chase off & kick if necessary at a horse who came at her food impolitely, I don't believe the horse sees a human as a 'lead mare' or necessarily perceives our behaviour in the manner we intend it. Therefore our 'alpha' behaviour can sometimes cause/increase fear & mistrust & reactivity in a horse. Also, especially as this horse has been behaving like this with you already, far from you being seen as his leader, it seem that he sees you as his 'subordinate' and may have a rather 'alpha' personality anyway. Confronting a horse in this situation can cause him to get more aggressive & forceful himself, as he rises to what he may perceive as a challenge to his dominance or 'rude' behaviour by his subordinate. I'd rather not even suggest I'm open to challenges.

Thanks wundahoss' Id rather have Sky trust me then fear me. I have an outside gate Between us and will start right away today.
 
Every day is a good day' ears back or not.
 
And where is everyone with coffee and chat?

One of my friend has a really too much trouble from his horse, he has spots on his tongue on his left side and right. i dont no what it is and it doesnt seem to bother him but it looks qutie sore. it looks like a circle with a black outside and a pinky middle. do you no what it is ?.
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Earl Nunes