Encouraging a horse to eat haylage...

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kandm

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I'm used to horses going nuts about having haylage, and my sister's mare gobbles hers down in no time. However, I currently give my thoroughbred haylage to keep try and keep the weight on over the winter, however she really isn't fussed about eating it. She is out 24/7 but barely touches her haylage, any suggestions why? Or any suggestions on ways to encourage her to eat it? I will have to up her feed if she carries on ignoring it - odd creatures.
 
Is she out on much grass? It may just be you still have good grazing so she would rather eat that. Is she actually loosing weight? Does she eat it when stabled/tied up with a net?
 
Have you had her teeth checked? If the haylage is out (assuming it hasn't gone rancid in this vile weather!) and she is loosing weight rather than eat it then there is probably a reason. Teeth seem a good place to start!
 
I have the same problem with my TB. He doesn't like the coarser textured haylage and went 3 days earlier this year without eating any. He had only picked at it for a few weeks before that and was starting to drop weight plus I worried he'd get colic or ulcers not eating. I tried soaking it and really fluffing it up but I'm afraid nothing worked. I switched him on to hay and now he eats loads of it. Like you say they are odd but if you can get hold of some hay might be worth a go?
 
Thanks for all the replies guys, she's lost a little weight but nothing to be concerned about. Took her to the vets last week to have her teeth done, so that's all okay. I may try her on hay then.
 
I have a TB who is very 'meh' about food. He used to also only pick at Haylage when it was all he got....but he really needs the higher calories.
Now he gets a huge net of Haylage (hi-spec ryegrass) & also half a bale of hay in a large trug overnight. Having the choice has made him eat much more overall. Some nights he eats mostly Haylage, some nights mostly hay, occasionally about equal amounts of both but I can honestly say the overall amount of forage eaten has probably doubled!
 
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