Do you know why my horse isn't eating his food?

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myrtle1982

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Hi,
Slightly baffled as my horse doesn't seem to be gobbling down his food. I haven't owned him long so I have little to compare too. He's been eating 'at grass nuts' and chaff so the past two months and I've recently switched 'at grass' for course mix since my local store didn't have at grass left. I've never known him not to eat hurriedly before!
He is eating but doesn't seem as bothered, he's taking his time, playing a bit with the bucket and eating a bit more. The course mix does seem quite sticky to handle and he does make faces when he's eating it...sticks his toungue out etc.
He otherwise seems very well, he's drinking, pooing and eating grass normally. He's riding out well etc...
Does anyone have any ideas? Could it be possible that he just doesn't like course mix?
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks!
 
It sounds really as though he just doesn't like the taste of the new mix. Unless he his losing food out of the side of his mouth when he is eating it is probably not his teeth/mouth that are causing the problem, although actually my vet/dentist did say about our oldie that it is only a concern if they are quidding hay (balling it up in the mouth and losing it) and not to worry too much about losing mix.
Some horses do prefer either one or the other. We used to have a mare who just could not get on with nuts and would only eat mix, so it could just be that yours is the opposite, or it could be that the mollasses which is making it sticky is too much for him. Can you go back to feeding him nuts of some kind?
 
Don't want to frighten you, but if this is unusual for your horse, keep your eye on him.Can you speak with his previous owner? Had a pony who kind of "played" with the food and didn't really want to eat it, which was unusual for her. Seemed ok in herself. This went on couple of weeks, and in the end called vet who did a blood test and it showed she had a problem with her liver.After some antibiotic and supplement she was fine.She was an older pony, 27ish, but totally fit and in work. Vet couldn;t put a reason on why it had happened, but thank goodness called him when did.
 
My filly can do this too, when she's not particularly hungry. Yesterday I fed her outside her field at midday. It was really hot standing there, even in the shade, and I think she simply wasn't all that hungry at that point. She took ages picking at her small feed. Other days she's starving, and on others - when presumably she's stuffed herself full of grass prior to my arrival - she's not too bothered.

You've also changed your boy's feed from a cube to a mix, and he's obviously adjusting to the change. Most horses readily accept sweet mixes, but do still need to switched over gradually. Many mixes contain a variety of strong tasting individual ingredients which wont have been so evident in the taste of a cube feed.

If you haven't owned your horse for very long and haven't already had them checked, do arrange for your gelding's teeth to be checked. Hopefully they will be fine, but if there are any sharp edges in there, it's best to deal with them before winter when your horse will be eating more course forage.

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Hello everyone,
Thanks for your replies. He had his teeth done about 4 weeks ago, he is due to have his wolf teeth out on Monday as they are large but everything else was as it should be.
We're going to buy the old stuff elsewhere tonight so will see what difference this makes.
I'm going to ask the vet to give him the once over when he comes on Monday.
Hopefully its not a serious issue, he has done the same thing 3 nights in a row now, he pulls faces as he eats it too.
Fingers crossed its something normal and he's just a bit full or something! Fussy eater etc!
 
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