Feed suggestions and should i be worried?

Emilieu

Emilieu

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Hello all you lovely helpful people.

I'm looking for suggestions for what to feed my very fussy TB gelding.

He is currently on one blue scoop of Speedibeet, a large scoop of Apple Chaff, the recommended amount of Colivine supplement and a scoop of mint (to try and tempt him). He gets ad lib haylege and is out for about 6 - 7 hours per day at the moment, stabled at night. He is in light work, hacking and gentle schooling 4 times a week. He is eleven and I have owned him since April last year.

A bit of background. His previous owner fed him speedibeet, chaff, pegasus mix and nuts. I cut out the nuts and mix after summer because i didn't think he was doing enough work to merit it (plus i wasn't keen on them) and added the supplement. When i first got him i had his teeth done and they found nine diastemas that needed work done. They started work on them last Sept and he had them checked in January and further widening done of two of them. The others were fine and vet was pleased with his teeth. After the work he needed Danilon for 10 days - he is a fussy eater but i got him to take them in his dinner by adding mint and syrup to his feed.

For the last two or three days he has not eaten his feeds - he picks out the carrots then throws the chaff and speedibeet on the floor. He is still eating haylege and drinking fine, if he has to stay in for the day he is more likely to eat his dinner. The vet is coming out on Friday so i will ask her to double check him just in case but if he just being fussy does anyone have any ideas for what feed might tempt him?

Sorry for the essay - kettle chips for reading it and thank you in advance for any suggestions :)
 
What is his weight like and is it stable?

If he's reasonable to only slightly light I wouldn't bother trying to shove any feed down him if he's happy with the ad lib haylage. When you say ad lib do you know how much he's actually getting through?
 
Thank you D O'D. He has lost a bit of weight over the winter - i would still say that he is a reasonable weight but then he has been eating his food until now so i wouldn't want him to lose anymore - you can just see his ribs. He gets three large haynets full which, even if he is stabled for 24 hours, he doesn't quite finish, if he is out all day then he will have only eaten half of each net. I'm not weighing the nets however, i will start tomorrow so i have a better idea of how much he is eating.
 
Just a thought...my boy is leaving bits of his brekky and he isnt fussy in anyway. Then my brain kicked into gear - I have to add water to his feed - Allen and Page Ride and relax. As I dont put morning feeds in I add the small amount of water the night before. Its freezing and he is leaving! Added this morning and he wolfed it....if you are feeding speedibeet, might be a similar problem. Worth soaking the beet before feeding (if you dont already) so its fresh.

If this is a load of tosh:D I can thoroughly recommend Allen and Page Fast Fibre which would suit a horse in light work. My boy is light to med at the mo and eventing at novice (when we get going) and I compete him on ride and relax. He gets HiFi as well. He's Anglo and looks super. Granted we dont have any teeth probs.
 
What you're feeding him (and we need to know weight of a blue scoop of speedibeet - I have two blue scoops and one contains approximately twice as much as the other) isn't going to be making any vast difference to his weight. If you want him to eat something then cut out the chaff and just feed the supplements in the speedibeet. Don't give him the carrots until he's eaten the rest, otherwise it's like someone hiding your favourite sweets in a pile of mash when you're a child. You're going to pick out the sweeties! The chaff of course is going to do very little for his weight, it's just there to add bulk but he's got ad lib haylage so that's not really a big problem for him and you.
 
Smiffyimp i had exactly this thought when i tried to tempt him to eat by offering it by hand - it was freezing cold! I do soak it just before feeding in the evening but the water i am adding is very cold so i though it might be putting him off. So last night i made his dinner with nice toasty hot water. It smelled delicious. He still threw it on the floor :o :confused:

I've heard wonderful things about fast fibre, def might be an idea to give that a go. I'm always so reluctant to make changes in case it upsets his tum but no point in constantly giving him meals that end up on the muck heap!

Thank you
 
Dee O'Dorant said:
What you're feeding him (and we need to know weight of a blue scoop of speedibeet - I have two blue scoops and one contains approximately twice as much as the other) isn't going to be making any vast difference to his weight. If you want him to eat something then cut out the chaff and just feed the supplements in the speedibeet. Don't give him the carrots until he's eaten the rest, otherwise it's like someone hiding your favourite sweets in a pile of mash when you're a child. You're going to pick out the sweeties! The chaff of course is going to do very little for his weight, it's just there to add bulk but he's got ad lib haylage so that's not really a big problem for him and you.
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:D:D I don't know why i put blue scoop! What a muppet. I meant small scoop cos i have a big round one and a small square one - which is blue so that's why blue was in my head but obviously colour will have no influence at all on the amount that is in it. I will get weighing tonight then.
I think it is the chaff he dislikes, I have tried a few different types but somehow it has never occured to me that he actually doesn't need it. He's a big guy so i think i kind of feel that he should have a big dinner!
 
Just a thought, but it might be worth having the vet out to check his mouth again and also take a blood sample just in case he's got a low-grade bug going on.

Re the teeth: I assume she used a dental gag last time? That gives a good view into the mouth. My mare had ulcers in her mouth that were taking an age to heal on their own. They were tucked up right at the back and could only be seen using a strong torch and a by getting a really decent view into the mouth. She'd been doing the same as your boy - picking at her hard feed, reluctant to eat up, dropping bits on the floor, leaving most of her feed in the bowl but was still happily scoffing through mountains of hay. Mine had had her wolf teeth out a couple of months before and been rasped then but that vet hadn't spotted or mentioned any ulcers.

Meanwhile, as long as your boy is eating a decent amount of hay/haylage (as in, ad-lib and at least 8Kg per night) he should be fine without hard feed for the time being. Also, make sure he's keeping warm so isn't wasting energy that way. Although, I'm sure you already are :)

Best of luck. Let us know what the vet says on Friday.

PS: Re trying alternative feeds. Until he's hungry I wouldn't bother switching and trying new things. IME you'll just spend a fortune and end up with numerous half used bags of feed to give away!!! If he's stopped eating what he was eating before, he's more than likely simply not wanting to eat it, rather than not liking it. Most horses are hungry in winter and a lot less fussy than in summer.

Edited to add: If he's a big boy then 10kg+ hay per day, but it sounds like he'd getting plenty from what you've said about the giant nets he gets :)
 
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Hi Spyda,

Ulcers are definately a thought. They took him into the surgery to do his teeth and he was sedated and gagged poor boy (wouldn't play ball despite sedation in his stable) the vet went in with a headtorch and gave him a proper check - however they did use the spinny cutting tool (technical name) which my vet mentioned can sometimes burn the sides of their mouth. I will ask her to have a wee look on Friday in case there is something going on back there.

He's been tucked up nice and warm in his stable rug with a medium weight turnout on top, although i did change him into his heavyweight this morning just in case he was chilly as his ears were a teensy bit cold when i brought him last night. :eek:

As for trying new things i definately see what you mean. A good chance i could be throwing good money after bad trying to tempt him with new things since it took him six months to try his first polo mint!

Thanks for all the advice everyone. He's my first horse and i'm still trying to get my head around this feeding caper.
 
Does he like the Codlivine? And the Apple chaff? Mine doesn't much like either. I bought the Apple chaff in the thought that it'd tempt her to eat. It didn't. Mine much prefers Spiller's Happy Hoof or good old HiFi Original. (Wierdo that she is! LOL)

I'd definitely wait until the vet's been out on Friday, but if everthing's given the clear and there's no obvious reason why he's turning up his nose, maybe you could consider gradually switching over to something like D&H Leisure Mix? (http://www.gjwtitmuss.co.uk/dh-leis..._medium=pricecomp&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping) And try offering that on it's own, with nothing else added. As a mix it'll be pretty appetising (to most horses at least :rolleyes:) and as it's intended to be fed in low quantities (but still provide the necessary vits and mins needed) there's a better than average chance he'll eat the required amount to meet his nutritional requirements. There are also 'Balancers' out there you could try but these are normally in pelleted form and although you only need feed about 500 - 600g max per day, they aren't always the most appetising. Still, maybe worth a thought. If you Google the feed manufacturers many are quite willing to send you out samples to try if you contact them.
 
Funnily enough I put my TB on Cherry Chaff and he didn't much like it, he ate it because he's a greedy bugger but he much prefers plain old HiFi too!

I second leisure mix as well. I had my old horse on this, he was an aged Anglo Arab prone to being light and he was also a picky eater. He loved the leisure mix. He had it with Hifi and pink powder.

Agree wait until you know he's feeling OK before changing :).
 
Spyda said:
Does he like the Codlivine? And the Apple chaff? Mine doesn't much like either. I bought the Apple chaff in the thought that it'd tempt her to eat. It didn't. .
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Ha ha, i bought the apple chaff with the same hope in mind when i knew he was going to need the danilon in his feeds. He liked mollichaff then i tried him on Hi-fi and he wasn't keen at all so went back to mollichaff. I thought the apple chaff would be like the mollichaff but better since it had apple and smelled delicious... but what do i know silly old human that i am :rolleyes: we'll scrap the apple chaff then and stick with the molli. He didn't seem to object to the codlivine too much since he has been on it a while but i left it out of tonight's tea in case it was the culprit. I'm not mad on the smell of it myself.

He drives me mad. I bought him an uncle jimmy's hanging ball for christmas which the very kind and patient lady in the feed shop assured me she had never known a horse to turn down... its currently hanging in his stable beside the untouched salt lick being used as an ear scratcher as far as i can tell :mad:

Pending vet approval on Friday I will try to get hold of a few samples then so can get an idea of what tempts him. Roll on summer when his diet consists of grass :D
 
Emilieu said:
He drives me mad. I bought him an uncle jimmy's hanging ball for christmas which the very kind and patient lady in the feed shop assured me she had never known a horse to turn down... its currently hanging in his stable beside the untouched salt lick being used as an ear scratcher as far as i can tell :mad:
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Tee hee.... maybe he's a secret brother to mine! She's exactly the same, fussy ungrateful moo that she is. :D
 
Just a quick update :)
Vet says his mouth should not be bothering him and is weight is ok, but like me she wouldn't want him to lose anymore. She told me to out him on a balance as the hayledge is a bit rich for him and to add calm and condition to his feed. Lady in feed shop was very helpful (as she always is). Introduced a small amount of the two last night and he WOLFED it down, to the extent he licked the bucket totally clean then licked the floor where he had dropped some (messy eater due to the diastemas) thank goodness cos the balancer was not cheap, I might have cried if he threw it on the floor! I weighed his haynets so he's def getting enough haylege as well. Thanks for all the advice :) x
 
Emilieu said:
:D:D I don't know why i put blue scoop! What a muppet. I meant small scoop cos i have a big round one and a small square one - which is blue so that's why blue was in my head but obviously colour will have no influence at all on the amount that is in it. I will get weighing tonight then.
I think it is the chaff he dislikes, I have tried a few different types but somehow it has never occured to me that he actually doesn't need it. He's a big guy so i think i kind of feel that he should have a big dinner!
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I'm not convinced that all the flavouring in applechaff is 100% natural, perhaps this is what he dislikes. I'd give him dried grass, either /Readi-grass or Graze-on, as a chaff mixed in with his Speedibeet. I prefer to add chaff to soaked feeds, as I've seen horses choke on purely soaked feeds. the grass will have a feed value that straw chaffs don't.
 
To be frank I think a lot of these flavoured feeds are a complete waste of money.

If this was my horse I'd just feed him haylage and a balancer, perhaps some unmolassed sugar beet and thats about it.

As far as fussy eaters go, a lot of horses get to be sugar junkies because of the added sugar feeds contain in an effort to make them palatable, then when you give them decent feed they initially refuse it. Abit like junk food kids being offered a salad.

I notice you mentioned hay nets, we feed off the floor, the reason being, if the haynets are strung up about head height, the jaws become unaligned and this causes problems with uneven wear on the teeth. Basically you want their head down.
 
Yes the lady in the feed shop said much the same about the chaff. Don't want to change everything overnight so once I have introduced the feeds recommended by the vet I will phase in a different chaff. She also said i could take out speedibeet with the calm and condition, we have a bag to finish and they will soon(ish) go out 24/7 so will keep going until it is finished. Regarding the nets, I have in my head a plan to think about this next winter. He mostly pulls it out and drops it on the floor to be eaten from there anyway but somehow I'm just not comfortable with just putting it on the floor for him. Was thinking of researching haybars over the summer. That's interesting about the teeth pale rider - I didn't know that.
 
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