Thanks for all the suggestions in the comments on my last post about surprise food aggression. Separate hay stacks are the plan and I’m glad to see most of you seem to do that as well. One question though. Do you do as I do and drop the hay on the ground? I’ve heard we should try to keep it off of the dirt/mud/stone but does that mean I should buy four or five hay feeders (not round bale feeders but trough-style)? For now, it’s on the ground but I’m always looking for the better way.

Although that seems like this food aggression was an isolated incident, I always keep an eye on my position and as was noted in the comments, I am careful to not let myself get between two horses. I’m seen demeanor change in a flash. A common comment from those who have had horse accidents is “it happened so fast!” and we’d all be better for keeping that in mind.