anyone elses horses a bit depressed?

5horses2dogsandacat

5horses2dogsandacat

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 October 2011
Messages
429
Location
Generally on a hill.. when not blown off the side.
Visit site
They aren't ill, but they just don't seemed fused about their hay or drink much (I know its winter so they won't be drinking bucket loads) there's no coughs or colds other than tipsy having a bit of a dry cough.

They all love their breakfast and dinners still and look healthy, shiny coated, gum colours are fine and normal its just the hay and water they aren't bothered over and there is a slight 'depressed' air about them.


It just seems a little odd, Thinking of adding some vit supps see if it perks them up a touch, can anyone else recommend anything?
 
Mine is the same, just picks at a few nuts but not eating hay.

Because he has a bad history of impaction colic and more and is 19, I have a stash of bute and after 24 hours of him not eating he gets syringed with it (he wont eat it in his food). generally this puts him right just by making him more comfortable.

If yours are just being picky but eating hard feed, then vits and mins might help, I have also used an iron/vit/min liquid tonic before (I used visorbin but they dont make that exact one now but there are others).

But if really not eating at all I would be considering calling the vet as they might need to be kickstarted with bute or something else; horses need to be trickle eating and it's dangerous for them to stop for any length of time.
 
I wouldn't say that ours are depressed but they've certainly calmed down to a slow pace especially after all that wind we had when they became really stressed , neither of the biggies seam to have much go and just bimble around like sloths.
One thing i would say though , if they aren't eating the hay , then maybe it's not tasting too good , without sounding like a total nutcase , put a couple of strands in your own mouth and see if it tastes bitter. When hay (grass) gets fertilized , sometimes if it's not washed in enough i.e not enough rainfall , and lets face it everywhere was pretty dry for the first half of last year , then some of the residue from that fertilizer may still be on the hay - better still , get it analized , i'm sure there are companies out there that do this. Obviously if they aren't eating much dry fibre , then they wont drink much either.
Maybe , without throwing good money after bad , you could pick up a pre-packed bag of haylage , something like mark westaways horsehage , they do one for laminitics if you're worried about the calories , if they dig into that with renewed enthusiasm , then i think you'll know that the hay isn't nice.
 
Where I keep mine we've had two changes of forage recently and some of them are not impressed at all and not eating much of it. There's very poor winter grazing and are only out for about 5-6 hours per day so they are relying on what they have in their stables at night. I think the problem was we went from lovely moist proper haylage to quite dry fine stuff which seems highly scented. Mine doesn't go so much depressed but bored, and very grumpy if food is not up to muster! I also think once the birds start singing and the days stretch out they do sense Spring on its way so I do try and hack him out on the days I'm not working and at weekends and am supplementing the forage with a non-molassed chaff just to ensure he's getting some fibre going through him. I also have back up Horsehage of my own on hand to use.

Thanks for that info PI, that's interesting about the fertilizer residues.
 
Last edited:
Mines calmed himself right down lately. I've upped his feed as he's doing more work but I think he has just finally settled when riding . He is his usual self on the ground (eating everything, standing on feet, escaping from stable, bold as brass etc) so I don't think there's anything wrong
with him he just has a change in attitude.
Not that I'm complaining though! I can now do some decent transitions :D
 
The grass is growing so well here that mine seem to think its spring already and are feeling full of it, on Monday they had the sun on them all morning and just looked so happy, its similar here today really bright and mild.
I am just hoping winter does not come back with a really hard snap now. It just seems far too early to be feeling that winter, all the rain and the deep mud may be ending so early.
 
Mine are depressed as well. It's the constant muck. They wouldn't be happy in either. They eat and drink just fine. Always at the gate at bringing in time.

Now last winter when the place was covered in snow and frozen, they loved it! Always had to go and get them and they stayed content all day.

Terri
 
be positive said:
I am just hoping winter does not come back with a really hard snap now. It just seems far too early to be feeling that winter, all the rain and the deep mud may be ending so early.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean.
Ive taken rugs off a couple of the horses, and Im starting to feel like its nearly over, light at the end of the winter tunnel...but its only January after all, and Im hoping winter doesnt come back with a vengeance and bite me in the butt :o
 
Mine are fine, seem to drink more in winter if anything, they aren't turned out for as long so I put it down to that. Eating wise, my warmblood mare could eat for England and even hoovers the dirty scraps! :rolleyes:
 
Ours are the opposite. They live out 24/7 and it's been so mild down here they think spring has come. They eat for England anyway, given the chance, and two out of the three are overly plump. There are days when they don't even need a rug.

They all galloped up the field a minute ago, bucking and kicking, because a motorbike back-fired. Depression - nah.........
 
Yup, lots of very 'flat' horses on the yard. My amazing nutrition mate suggests blood liquid for times like this. Mine's OK for the work he's in, but some are getting ready for RAF Halton so need to be a bit more lively!
 
The three in my field (two are mine) all seem a bit down in the dumps. My anglo arab doesn't like winter anyway. As soon as the rugs come out he gets the hump and goes all grumpy. They all seem to stand about waiting for me to appear and put them some hay out. Can horses get SAD syndrome????
 
I know where you are coming from, they're just a little bit down. They are all perkier this week as it's not been raining or windy. In my experience it's this combination of weather that really gets them down.

Re your hay, is it good quality? If horses arn't eating it, could you give fast fibre as a partial/complete hay replacer. Very high in fibre and because you soak it you know they're getting the fluids too xx
 
Yeh hay is really good, I'm trying all different methods to entice them by soaking, leaving it dry, sprinkling it water to damp it. I'm talking to a friend about getting some haylage in so I can mix it and trick them a bit. But when I get hay off my dad for free i feel a little better about forking money out for haylage... thing we do for horses and they have a party in their beds and tread on our toes lol Xx
 
Fany gets it this time of yearm we've had her 3 winters and it is always the same, like yo said nothing specific just a bit down. She gets lots of cuddles and love and a few treats and if it gets really bad echinecea, which helps a lot.

FDC
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top