Feed advice for very fussy horse?

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KikiDee

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I have the worlds fussiest horse, he doesn't even like treats. His refined palate extends to grass, hay, Baileys Fibre Nuggets and the odd carrot. Most other things are spat out in disgust :rolleyes:

The problem I have is that he gets a super duper high-specification daily joint supplement which I may as well remortgage my house to pay for, and I need him to eat it. It's quite a lot of powder (1 1/2 scoops in each feed) so I need something substantial enough to hide it in. And he is on full livery so while they will soak mashes, make feeds etc., I can't expect them to do anything too elaborate like soaking the fibre nuggets to the perfect consistency and temperature to his liking, adding some grated carrot and blessing the bucket with a "please eat your bl**dy feed" prayer....

He's also a good doer so doesn't need any unnecessary calories, oh and he naturally has the temperament of a toddler on a sugar-rush so I avoid anything with oats, barley or micronised peas or anything high in sugar and starch. He loved TopSpec feeds but they sent him completely loopy. 🙃

Currently on Spillers Lite & Lean Balancer with Spillers Speedy Mash which was a success for a few weeks but he's now started leaving it again. :rolleyes:

Things I have tried:
- Pretty much every chaff or chop on the market
- Fast Fibre
- Speedibeet
- Grass Nuts
- Spillers senior mash
- Spillers speedy mash

What can I give him that is extra tasty that I can just chuck 1/2 scoop in a bucket with his joint supplement and a splash of water? I'm not bothered if it's not necessarily the healthiest of feeds as he gets so little, but do need to avoid anything that will have him climbing off the ceiling for my last remaining thread of sanity.
 
Would your lad eat a cool mix of some sort or would that send him through the roof and climbing the walls? I've not known a horse to refuse mix - it's usually a horse version of McDonalds x

If the above won't work, would he be more inclined to eat his feed if some apple juice was added into it? Not ideal but could help? x
 
I use A&P veteran lite. My horse thinks It Is Amazing. It's got enough flavour that it is currently hiding bute and antibiotics very well. I don't feed much, 2-3 100ml scoops and 2xwater, but I up the quantities a bit if I am hiding something particularly disgusting.
 
My fussy delight is currently (fingers crossed I’m not jinxing it) eating Saracen re-leve mix. Even with medication in it! I’ve also started using devils relief by Naf which also smells sweet and is apparently tasty when added to the mix. He’s actually starting to clear his bowl which he isn’t usually bothered about.
 
Oh yes that reminds me, you can get a sample of fussy feeder from feed mark for £5.50 which has herbs that are meant to be tempting. Mine didn’t like them but might be worth a try?!
 
I've used a handful of saracen recovery mash or their condition improver cubes for my fussy pony before with success.
He's settled and happy on a feed of pelleted balancer, small amount of warm veteran vitality, handful of the condition improver cubes and the honeychop super senior chaff.
 
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