ARGHH!! Ideas for a super fussy eater!!!

fruity

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So have had my new horse a few weeks now (15 hand ish, ISH) all was going well until a week in she hurt her back legs on a fence,all fine now,still applying cream to wound sites and legs will be ok,dressings are off now. She was a little bit quiet and took a while to settle in as she had come straight from the breeder (she's 2,3 end of june) the thing i'm finding hard is getting her to eat a decent amount of hard feed,at her vetting the vet mentioned her teeth needed doing but were not horrific and i've now booked that in for 2 weeks time as wanted to settle her in and also give a bit of a gap as she really did get stressed out with me faffing with her back legs and didn't want to over load her with too much. She recently had the farrier which i was worried about as her legs were a little sore still but she was a very good girl so that's one thing sorted.

Anyway blabbing now,so when i get the horses in,they all have their feed and whilst the others get stuck in,she will just have a few mouthfuls and then just look around,generally into space! and i'm now concerned as she has lost quite a bit of weight. She is ribby and her hip bones are more prominant. I've tried so many things but nothing seems to wet her appetite,i have discovered she isn't keen on wet feed,she prefers dry which isn't ideal as now paranoid as she would then be prone to choke. She will after about an hour decide to eat but it either takes ages or she leaves half of it.

She has D&H youndstock mix,build up mix with Linseed mixed in,i've tried sugar beet,chaff,balancer,soya oil,nuts......everything, i think what triggered it was i had to give her bute and abx when she hurt her leg and now she seems suspicous of any hard feed,she will eat hay all day happily but she def needs more than just that,any ideas?

She's seems well in herself and as i work at a vets i will def take things further if she gets worse but for now she seems very content and happy with her herd members it's just at feed time that's a headache for me. My friend who keeps hers at mine sais she just seems very picky and delicate which she is in many ways so maybe i'm being paranoid but the feed i'm giving her most horses would take your arm off for so can't understand why she's so fussy,maybe it's because i'm used to welsh d's that are piggy's!

I did ring her breeder and she said she always would eat anything and was a right foodie which has confused me,i think she is one of those quiet stressy types that goes into herself as she is always no trouble and very well mannered. So would appreciate thoughts/ideas? Many Thanks
 

BlackRider

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Have you tried just basic horse and pony nuts? Or even grass nuts (although these should be slightly soaked?
 

fruity

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Yep tried normal horse and pony cubes,conditioning cubes etc. tried damp,wet,dry......and still she won't eat them. Today a bit better,she ate 3/4 of her feed which is the most in one go so hoping she's starting to like her food! I also dampened it slightly just to coat it.
 

celia

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Have you tried mixing in some chopped apple/carrot? Often once they start rootling around for the tasty bits they decide to eat the rest as well! Adding dried mint helps tempt some horses too so may be worth a go?
 

be positive

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Often when you get one that is picky the temptation is to try everything you can to get them eating, I find the best thing is to just give one type of feed, whichever they seem to prefer and stick to that with no additives until they are really eating up.

I would just give her one of the mixes possibly with a few carrots or apples, there is no reason to soak it they are unlikely to choke especially if rather slow eaters anyway, try and get her onto the recommended ration and on that with plenty of hay and good grass she should soon pick up her weight.

Its early days and she has had a traumatic time give her time to settle and stop worrying so much about it, she will sense that you are stressed and be more anxious herself.
 

CBFan

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Was she fed bucket feed before you had her? If so what? if not... she may simply not really know what it is and whether it is safe to eat, made worse when it was 'contaminated' with bute and antibiotics.

She has lost weight due to the stress of moving and once she has settled, I'm sure she will put it on. dont panic. just make sure the obvious teeth and worms are ticked off the list then feed hay, hay and more hay.

Start her with a small amount of something that she will eat, preferably a plain chaff and maybe add some mint (you can buy it for about a fiver a tub in your local feed store) to make it more pallatable. As already suggested, you could also grate or finely chop carrot or apple (if she knows what they are!) to make it more appealing to her. Don't give her choices, you're just pandering to her... she needs to learn to eat what she's given... and she will. :)
 

turkana

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I recently had to give antibiotics to a horse that was already off her food, adding medicine to it made her even worse.
I got round it by grating carrot into her food, adding sugar & mixing her medicine into black treacle & getting her to lick it off my hands.
I also found that mixing the medicine into neat sugar beat & then mixing the sugar beet into the food after it had been absorbed into the beet helped to disguise the taste.
I know people who have added mint cordial to food to get a reluctant horse to eat but I've never tried it.
 

wellsat

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You've only had her a few weeks and you've tried an awful of lot of different things there. My picky eater doesn't like change but will gradually accept what I choose to feed him over the space of a good few weeks if i keep feeding it. If your horse has eaten her feed by morning I wouldn't panic overly.
 

Brownmare

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I'd agree with not swapping and changing too much, and as she settles in and feels more at home she will probably fat better but if you are in need of something else to try both the fussy eaters on my yard adore cider apple vinegar.
 

rossiroo

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If you are worried about her weight and she is happily eating hay, why not try her with hayledge ? My new horse looked a bit poor when I got her, tried suppliments with hard feed but she left most of it, but she was happy to eat hayledge. So I stopped suppliments and just gave a small amount of pasture mix which she ate up. They can take a while to settle to new feed/routine.Good luck
 

claribella

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Moving can be really traumatic for a horse and then she's had that accident too. My girl was awlful when she came to me. It was the height of winter and she stopped eating due to the stress of the move. I was like you and tried everything but she didn't eat and lost tonnes of weight. The only thing she woulld eat is hay in small amounts. I know it's hard but I would just do what someone else said and stick to a hard feed and feed haylage and also let her have lots of time out eating the lovely spring grass. I am pretty sure that once she feels secure and settled and in less pain with her legs, she will settle down and start eating again. In the mean time try not to stress too much. I know it's not ideal but once she does start eating you can use feeds to build her up again. I know prevention is better than cure but in this case You can lead a horse to food but you can't make it eat.
 

Littlelegs

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I'd agree with not too much swopping & changing. I'd try the apples & carrots as mentioned but if that fails try molasses or black treacle in the feed. Agree they are both not a permanent solution, but if it gets her excited about feed again you can slowly wean her off them once she's eating. And try smaller feeds, some horses are just a bit overfaced by huge feeds & get into the habit of picking out the best bits.
 

fruity

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Hi all,yep i was a bit in panic mode i reckon! We have a break through now,i got a bit tough and just started giving her a small feed of her mix,sugar beet and linseed and she ate it all up after me leaving it with her for a few hours for 2 days running,she soon got the idea,she's having 3 a day and she's now scoffing! She's a lot more settled this week too and i'm so much happier,she is such a lovely girl,she hated cidar vinegar and won't eat carrots! fussy or what! i have however got some of those dried apple treats and she does pick at them,she is 3/4 tb so maybe just a but if a princess! thanks for all your ideas,we're getting there :)
 

Toast

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Ive found my Appy to be a bit of a ponce sometimes if his feed gets changed, he likes a variety in his tea and wont eat it if its just chaff or just mix ect but if i leave it long enough he'll eat it coz there's nothing else on offer! I've found he does particularly like herby flavours and dislikes it if its been left wet over night (like if i soak a morning feed the night before) Its just a matter of finding a balance and sticking with it!!!
 
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