Advice for feeding the fussiest horse I have ever owned!!!

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cyberhorse

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Looking for some feeding advice for a *really really* fussy eater. Firstly the good - he loves his haylage and gets through just under 2 full nets (the massive shires black and red ones). Now the bad - he is 17.1hh in full competition work and does not keep weight on easily. He is not that keen on grass and looses weight in summer as he spends more time running around like a hooligan than grazing, so there is on balance more calories burnt than eaten! In winter we only give him a trace clip and he is rugged up really well to ensure he wastes no calories keeping warm. He is regularly wormed and his vets are happy with his general health, even though they agree he is a bit underweight. The vet says not at all worryingly so, and that's probably just him. However it would be good if we could find something he'll eat to gain a bit. Hence I am looking for an ideas to add to his current feed. So you know where to start he is on the following bucket:

Calm and condition 1 1/2 scoops
Micronised linseed (full amount he is allowed for his weight)
Blue chip Pro

Most days he leaves a clean tidy bucket, occasionally he'll leave about half a scoop a day. I tried the C&C following advice on here and as he tucked in straight away (thank god! - at this point he was just picking at beet with the haylage) I kept him on it, but he won't quite eat enough of it to get to the right weight. He eats the same amount of haylage with or without a bucket feed. It is good stuff as most other horses on the yard, including my other, do have to be limited to avoid turning porky!

He won't eat any type of chop we have tried (including redigrass), he won't eat alf alfa or anything containing even the slightest amount. Oh, and if you are wondering exactly how far the fussiness goes - this is a horse that spits out apples & some carrots! I have looked at some of the traditional conditioning feeds and some of the more modern conditioning cubes at the feed store, but chatting to our vets we feel a lot of them have too many of the calories from sugar (which ideally we don't want for him). So is there anything really tasty out there we can try?
 
Unfortunately he just picks at cooked Barley, and does not eat enough of it - he was skinnier on that with the beet than he is now. I feed micronised linseed at the moment and he is on the maximum it says he can have on the bag. I have been told that if you go beyond that you can cause issue with vitamin E levels?
 
My super fussy boy has been on Keyflow - http://keyflowfeeds.com/ - feeds for the last year with success. I'd struggled for months and months to find something he would eat - wont touch anything that has to be soaked unless it's full of alfalfa and he's horribly allergic to alfalfa! Plus is barefoot and showed signs of ulcers. He is a 16.2 TB and also needed a feed to put weight on him but that would give him energy for his workload. I feed him Maestro Mix (http://keyflowfeeds.com/product/mark-todd-maestro/) - very, very low sugar as not molassed like a lot of mixes - with KeyPlus (http://keyflowfeeds.com/product/keyflow-key-plus/)which is a high calorie rice bran additive (pure calories!). He now licks his bucket clean, it keeps weight on, gives him go without fizz and I'm feeding less feed than ever before with the best results which makes it super value. If you contact them they will send you a load of samples so you can try before buying and are very helpful if you want advice. Good luck!
 
Mine's mega fussy,dried mint & fenugreek help , the fenugreek smells foul but it definitely boosts his appetite. He began this winter eating well but the gradually was eating less & less, I pepped his feed up with solution mash ,which is going down very well. I've also added in some oats as fed these on & off for a few years now & even though they look boring as hell to me & smell of nothing he absolutely adores them & who am I to argue!!
 
cyberhorse said:
Unfortunately he just picks at cooked Barley, and does not eat enough of it - he was skinnier on that with the beet than he is now. I feed micronised linseed at the moment and he is on the maximum it says he can have on the bag. I have been told that if you go beyond that you can cause issue with vitamin E levels?
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Soaked oats? I fed C+C didn't put weight on at all, changed to Fast fibre and that worked, don't know about micronised linseed, never fed it lol only used the boiled stuff
 
Oats?

CM gets very stressed sometimes and when this happens she often doesn't finish her hard feeds. The only thing that tempts her to eat up when she's like that is having some oats in her feed.
 
Thanks for the ideas will look up keyflow. He readily eats fast fibre (my other horse has that as he's porky on C&C) it is lower on the calorie scale according to D&H so he's be getting less from the amount he eats. With the oats would I be better with them soaked? Also what is the general feeling on feeding them to a horse that occasionally can be a bit sharp to start with. I know it is supposed to be an old wives tail but I still hear about people fed their horse oats and it went loopy. What amount would be suitable to start on when trialing him on them? Fenugreek unfortunately he does not like, mint may be a good idea as reliably likes mint flavours - do they sell this at your standard feed shops or is it an internet ordering thing? We already add a bit of ACV to his feeds if he is having a really fussy week as it makes him eat more. He is fed the bucket I describe twice daily which is the maximum frequency of feeding regime available on his livery yard unless a horse is actually ill.
 
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I've fed soaked whole oats but currently using bruised oats. My horse is sharp & also very feed sensitive, I've lost count of the feeds that have blown his mind! I just started off with tiny amount & built up,I know the signs if a feed is affecting him within a few days so was prepared to stop the oats but didn't have to as they give him plenty of spark but don't send him nuts! I used to order my mint off internet but then recently found a local feed shop bags up there own & it's a really good price so using theirs now.
 
Hi hun i hae a TB very fussy, came fron ireland and wouldnt eat feed, boiled barley she loved but it blew her brains!!! she loves her soaked alfa beet with a plash of corn oil which is good for shine and weight gain!! she hates any chaffs but does eat safe and sound, what i would do is email large companys ie spillers, baileys for advise and they will send you samples for your horse to try!!! good luck hunxx
 
Just out of curiosity - is it a scoop & a half of soaked C&C or dry weight? If I fed my horse the amount they suggest on the bag, he will be eating the same meal for days.

I feed my old horse who hunts once a week 3/4 dry scoop C&C & 3/4 scoop bruised oats with a cup of micronised linseed and a handful of molasses free chaff twice a day and he keeps the weight on brilliantly that way. He can be fussy but seems to really like this combination. Someone did question why I was feeding him C&C AND oats saying they contradicted each other but he's not on the C&C for its calming (or non calming) properties. Its just to keep the weight on him.
 
No wonder you are struggling my 15.3 TB eats about a 1 1/2 Bags of CC as week!!! She is on 4.5kg a day.

Don't work in scoops, or at least measure how much your scoop takes and feed accordingly.

I would say you need to up the amount as that about the right amount for a 15hh type!
 
applecart14 said:
Rowen Barbary do a lovely mash which is brilliant for fussy eaters and great for this time of year as it is full of fibre and will keep your horse warm and toasty and with a nice full belly. You can feed it warm by adding boiling water and allowing it to cool or just dampening as normal. They do an 'extra' mash but I found it to fattening for my horse.

http://www.rowenbarbary.co.uk/horse_feed_products/light_exercise/15
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Ive always liked the looks of these mashes as well as the slobber mash one, but they are all cereal packed :(
 
Add fenugreek. It's worked on every fussy eater I've had. I take three days to add the quantity to about a soup spoonful per day.
 
dianchi said:
No wonder you are struggling my 15.3 TB eats about a 1 1/2 Bags of CC as week!!! She is on 4.5kg a day.

Don't work in scoops, or at least measure how much your scoop takes and feed accordingly.

I would say you need to up the amount as that about the right amount for a 15hh type!
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1 stubbs scoop is 1.5kg dry weight, he therefore has 4.5kg daily. The amount we feed equates to being in the band for a 700kg horse in hard work and only 0.5kg off the maximum feeding rate in this band, this is according to the Allen and Page feeding instructions given to us by their nutritionist. To compare the banding a 500kg horse (like my 16.2 warmblood) in medium work should be fed 1.5 - 2.5kg. Once the dry weight of calm and condition is soaked 4.5kg daily really is two pretty bulky trugs of food!. If I use any more than 4.5kg he leaves it, and the amount he leaves gradually increases if you over face him to the point he barely touches it. What he currently eats I have found is the maximum I can get him to eat reliably, hence wanting something more calorie dense then I am not battling with the off putting bulk too. To be fair to the C&C it did help him put weight on as he was really skinny when we first got him and he has eaten it for over 2 years without going off it.

I have contacted keyflow for samples and I'll have a look at the others and get some more samples. I can try him on oats this week and see if he likes them (I take nothing for granted with him) and if he reacts at all. I feel pretty confident about the mint so that's on the list to source for his lordships approval this week too, unfortunately Caledonia he hates fenugreek one of the other liveries gave us some to try last year hoping it would work for us too.
 
Baileys outshine? This is full of calories from oil.

Have you looked at Pure Feeds. Both these companies will send out samples if asked.
 
With the mashes I think the way they have been cooked makes it more acceptable to horses and lessens the chance of it overcooking a horse -someone on here tried them for their traditionally Sparky easily overcooked horse and had great result s
 
cyberhorse said:
1 stubbs scoop is 1.5kg dry weight, he therefore has 4.5kg daily. The amount we feed equates to being in the band for a 700kg horse in hard work and only 0.5kg off the maximum feeding rate in this band, this is according to the Allen and Page feeding instructions given to us by their nutritionist. To compare the banding a 500kg horse (like my 16.2 warmblood) in medium work should be fed 1.5 - 2.5kg. Once the dry weight of calm and condition is soaked 4.5kg daily really is two pretty bulky trugs of food!. If I use any more than 4.5kg he leaves it, and the amount he leaves gradually increases if you over face him to the point he barely touches it. What he currently eats I have found is the maximum I can get him to eat reliably, hence wanting something more calorie dense then I am not battling with the off putting bulk too. To be fair to the C&C it did help him put weight on as he was really skinny when we first got him and he has eaten it for over 2 years without going off it.

I have contacted keyflow for samples and I'll have a look at the others and get some more samples. I can try him on oats this week and see if he likes them (I take nothing for granted with him) and if he reacts at all. I feel pretty confident about the mint so that's on the list to source for his lordships approval this week too, unfortunately Caledonia he hates fenugreek one of the other liveries gave us some to try last year hoping it would work for us too.
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Sorry I read it that he was only on one feed a day, and one persons scoop isn't the same as another. 1.5kg does still sound a bit light though, no chance at all you can get him to eat more?

I use ERS pellets to dress my CC just for a bit extra energy and more calories that I can feed with a different texture, and you can put them in play balls.
 
I think you may struggle with a fussy horse of that size and workload feeding only twice a day. We have a similar sized horse who hunts during the winter and he definitely needs that third feed to keep his weight up. The high oil supplements are good, in that they contain lots of calories without too much bulk - worth seeing if you can get samples of other types to try such as Equijewel. Alternatively, will he eat cubes? Not all high calorie cubes are high starch/sugar - you could look at TopSpec Cool Condition Cubes, Dodson & Horrell ERS Pellets or Saracen Releve as alternatives to Calm and Condition. A lot depends on whether he actually likes the soaked nature of the C&C, or whether the sheer volume of it (due to being soaked) is putting him off.
 
Sounds as fussy as mine!!!

Recommend winergy condition for weight gain without the fizz. Micronised linseed as you are already feeding. I've started mine on (soaked) rolled oats and he has positively bloomed!!!

He's very sensitive to feed also, and these haven't made him fizzy at all :)

Over a day, split over 3 feeds he is now on: 2.5 scoops winergy, 2 mugs of linseed, 2.5 dry scoops rolled oats. He is out on good grass every day, all day and otherwise has access to good quality haylage at all times.

He has a half scoop alfalfa free mollichaff calmer before riding too.
 
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Update on the fussy one. Tried the samples and the feeds I have managed to beg & borrow from liveries, so far they have all had the chew and spit out treatment, even hidden in his C&C. My other horse and others on the yard have been having a lovely time tidying up and I have to say and they got really overexcited with the keyflow (unfortunately Mr Fussy didn't!). I have oats arriving tomorrow and the ERS (hopefully the alf alfa is not too strong and obvious) so keeping my fingers crossed.

TGM said:
A lot depends on whether he actually likes the soaked nature of the C&C, or whether the sheer volume of it (due to being soaked) is putting him off.
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I think this really is the actual problem. He likes soaked feeds, but does not like too much volume - hence I'm in a catch 22. I am hoping if I can get him to eat oats or a really bland high calorie dry feed that this will mix into the C&C without changing the flavour or adding much bulk and he'll chomp away.

We have however had success with the dried mint even whickered for his bucket back when we took away the minty laced sample before making up into a full tea! With mint added we are hoping this will help disguise something new he may be a little more unsure about. Feeling more positive we'll get there with everyone's help, little wins and all that... Thanks so much everyone for suggestions so far!!!
 
Have you thought about Havens slobbermash? I believe PrincessSparkle has had some great results on it with her horse. I'm sure if you send her a PM she would be able to help.
 
wench said:
Have you thought about Havens slobbermash? I believe PrincessSparkle has had some great results on it with her horse. I'm sure if you send her a PM she would be able to help.
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Yes, it's been a godsend for CS. Has put a rocket up his butt though!
 
My fussy madam has speedibeet, mollichaff calmer, soaked whole oats and micronised linseed with fenugreek. It has taken a lot of work to find something that keeps weight on, that she will eat and is barefoot friendly.

Fwiw 2 nets would not be enough to keep mine going all day. Try adding another and see if he eats it.
 
I'll have a look at the ingredients in the slobbermash thanks. The nets in question are the massive shires black and red one - each is approximately equivalent to two normal sized horse nets. He does not eat all of the haylage he is given at the moment and we are on ad lib at the yard so he never goes without lots of haylage even when on livery. Hoping the oats go OK tonight as he'll be started on them if he eats tonights trial bucket. Big trial bag of the ERS has now arrived so we'll have a go with those too.
 
You could Baileys Topline cubes if he will eat them. I think they are fairly low in starch. Any maybe some oil, but start with very small amounts.
 
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