Find me a feed

If she will eat unlimited FB then I'd give that to her ad lib in a trug overnight (possibly in field too if out alone).

Then while she is eating releve give her small feeds of that. Keep the oats / grass nuts as back up later!
 
RachelFerd said:
Adding oil is probably not going to work, as it can put even fairly good eaters off their food - yours sounds a bit of a nightmare!

I would stick with the ReLeve, personally. It's a great feed, I have known horses get fully racing fit on ReLeve and look and feel a picture. Equally, have you tried adding a splash of mollasses to any of these feeds? I know it's not ideal in the long run, but if it worked to get her eating, you may find you could then gradually wean her off it. I have also had success adding neat ribena, or mixed vegetable juice to fussy horses feeds.

My horse would not touch grass nuts - he has an aversion to all soaked feeds other than mollassed sugar-beet (which he only had in the middle of winter as an extra top-up). He is actually happiest on plain cubes, we are now on the Saracen show improver pencils which he is now looking quite well on.
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It has me at my wits end - she just looks so awful :(

I thought the same re oil. Haven't tried mollasses as she's a 5yo TB and I quite like my life :eek: I haven't been able to add anything she disapproves of to fibre beet (which she adores) so I am unconvinced I could persuade her to eat something using additives - apple juice, dried mint, peppermint oil and spearmint have all failed. She won't eat the show pencils.
 
ihatework said:
If she will eat unlimited FB then I'd give that to her ad lib in a trug overnight (possibly in field too if out alone).

Then while she is eating releve give her small feeds of that. Keep the oats / grass nuts as back up later!
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I don't think I can feed it ad lib - she will literally keep eating it, I think she would ignore forage in preference for it. I suspect we'd get through a sack at a time! I can up it, although I have a suspicion that there is a sensible limit which I need to find, as she was on a lot more of it and became utterly unreasonable.....she's normally angelic. There is a possibility the unreasonable was saddle not feed, but it is something I need to consider.

She's in a group, so no way to feed her in the field. She's not going to be out 24/7 until either the grass grows or she's put on weight - she'll have to keep coming in for at least part of the time to get food and forage into her.

Honestly, what she needs is to be in a field of knee high grass, but who has one of those at the moment?!
 
It might also be that you are feeding the weed - is she still growing height wise? My father always said that it's hard to put weight on a horse that's growing up rather than out! Still stand by my suggestion of Guinness though ;)
 
kit279 said:
It might also be that you are feeding the weed - is she still growing height wise? My father always said that it's hard to put weight on a horse that's growing up rather than out! Still stand by my suggestion of Guinness though ;)
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Sorry, missed that one! I could try Guinness!

No, she's not going up as far as I can tell - and this isn't just growth IMO - she looks poor and should look a lot better considering what she's being fed. Vet says don't get too involved in whether it is something else until the grass has come through.

For the record, worming also up to date and she's well rugged!
 
we used to get taster bags from the equilibra rep when I worked at mole valley... and of all the feeds I have tried.... ;)

what was she eating before you had her or is she just in more work now?- ps I hope you're requesting samples rather than having a spare sack of everything on the list!
 
Boiled oats? Or boiled barley added to her beet?

Boiled oats have really picked bill up, looks much much better now. Highly platable and tasty!
Karron oil is very good as well. Could be worth adding pink powder to her feed to make sure that she is getting as much as she can from her feed as well :)
 
Id use it as well as the fibre beet! rather than one or the other, have you tried dried grass instead of chaff?
 
ester said:
we used to get taster bags from the equilibra rep when I worked at mole valley... and of all the feeds I have tried.... ;)

what was she eating before you had her or is she just in more work now?- ps I hope you're requesting samples rather than having a spare sack of everything on the list!
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I spent an afternoon ringing all the feed companies and getting samples sent after my rather expensive pure feeds/equijewel/linseed experiment!

She wasn't on anything much - she didn't look great when I bought her. I am seriously limiting her work because of this.
 
Ditto trying dried grass rather than chaff.

Sounds very similar to my mare who was a complete nightmare to get weight on and would keep moving the goal posts with what she liked, think I tried virtually every feed and possible combination under the sun with her.

Eventually I had her on D&H Just Grass, Castle Horse feeds Cool Cubes and flaked Barley and she would eat that happily and really put the weight on. I was wary about feeding Barley but it did wonders for her and I fed magnitude to keep her calcium/magnesium balance right.
 
I know I cr@p on about it a lot, but fenugreek powder?

Cheap as chips, you can buy in teeny pouches online to trial and has made a huge difference to Fig.
 
I genuinely don't think a splash of molasses would make the slightest difference in her behaviour. Tiger Oats are rocket fuel - now those could cause major explosions!

PS. 5yo TB is an old and sensible one in my world ;) ;)

But I do believe that a lot of 'behaviour' that we assume comes from food, is more often than not, unrelated. Years ago we thought that Ferd was explosive on alfalfa, but actually, it was an unrelated incident with riding technique, nothing to do with the alfalfa (which he is 100% fine on)
 
nikkimariet said:
I know I cr@p on about it a lot, but fenugreek powder?

Cheap as chips, you can buy in teeny pouches online to trial and has made a huge difference to Fig.
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Won't eat it. I did a forum search and tried everything which was thrown up as a possibility but was a bit of an oddity before asking this :(
 
RachelFerd said:
I genuinely don't think a splash of molasses would make the slightest difference in her behaviour. Tiger Oats are rocket fuel - now those could cause major explosions!

PS. 5yo TB is an old and sensible one in my world ;) ;)

But I do believe that a lot of 'behaviour' that we assume comes from food, is more often than not, unrelated. Years ago we thought that Ferd was explosive on alfalfa, but actually, it was an unrelated incident with riding technique, nothing to do with the alfalfa (which he is 100% fine on)
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I do think you're right actually, on both counts. That said, do you want to come and ride her whilst we find out?! ;)

It's more that the fibre beet is the thing she loves most in the world, and if adding even a small amount of something she rejects to it = her not eating it, I don't think disguising things will work long term?
 
MegaBeast said:
Ditto trying dried grass rather than chaff.

Sounds very similar to my mare who was a complete nightmare to get weight on and would keep moving the goal posts with what she liked, think I tried virtually every feed and possible combination under the sun with her.

Eventually I had her on D&H Just Grass, Castle Horse feeds Cool Cubes and flaked Barley and she would eat that happily and really put the weight on. I was wary about feeding Barley but it did wonders for her and I fed magnitude to keep her calcium/magnesium balance right.
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Dried grass could be worth a try!
 
If you can get enough Releve into her, it is a great feed (and much more nutrient rich than most others suggested on here). If she will eat this in combination with an increased ration of Fibre Beet you would think that she definitely *should* put condition on.

However, like me, you are probably just going to have to play a little bit of a waiting game for the grass to come through - I know my lad will look so much better as soon as he has some good green stuff in his system. No troubles getting him to eat that!

Also have you tried feeding her with one of the mangers that hook over the door? If they are the sort of horse that likes to keep an eye on the yard, they are sometimes happier to eat if they can look out at the same time. Mine has to have all feed on or next to the door for him to clear it all up properly.
 
I feel your pain!
Used to go through this with Moon, until I found a farm where she has proper grass year round. Before that, my best success was with. Rolled barley which she seemed to eat quite well
 
vic07 said:
Some blue chip?

Or really good quality Haylage?
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She's on a balancer - it's comparable to blue chip. She will only eat limited quantities of haylage. I wouldn't mind buying it in, but forage is included in our livery and I don't think I'd get through bales fast enough.

RachelFerd said:
If you can get enough Releve into her, it is a great feed (and much more nutrient rich than most others suggested on here). If she will eat this in combination with an increased ration of Fibre Beet you would think that she definitely *should* put condition on.

However, like me, you are probably just going to have to play a little bit of a waiting game for the grass to come through - I know my lad will look so much better as soon as he has some good green stuff in his system. No troubles getting him to eat that!

Also have you tried feeding her with one of the mangers that hook over the door? If they are the sort of horse that likes to keep an eye on the yard, they are sometimes happier to eat if they can look out at the same time. Mine has to have all feed on or next to the door for him to clear it all up properly.
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Ha - tried the manger over the door thing as I thought the same - knocked it across the yard. Repeatedly! At least when she knocks over the skip she'll hoover fibre beet off the floor! I agree, I think she needs grass and lots of it. If only it were that simple, the fields look so dreadful :(

TheMule said:
I feel your pain!
Used to go through this with Moon, until I found a farm where she has proper grass year round. Before that, my best success was with. Rolled barley which she seemed to eat quite well
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I think grass is exactly what she needs, but it's just not something I have access to sadly. I will add rolled barley to the list. She reminds me of Moon actually!

Damn you HHOers, I was hoping someone would have come up with something obscure I hadn't tried/thought of! I guess I will try ReLeve and see how we go.
 
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Have you mixed all of the other feeds in with FB? What about seperate bowls? (I know, it's a massive faff!) I have in the dim recesses of my brain some study with race horses where they found they ate up better if they were fed small amounts of seperate feeds rather than one big bucket mixed up.

What about feeding in a fixed manger or a tub with an enormous rock or slate or something in it, so she can't tip it?
 
TarrSteps said:
Have you mixed all of the other feeds in with FB? What about seperate bowls? (I know, it's a massive faff!) I have in the dim recesses of my brain some study with race horses where they found they ate up better if they were fed small amounts of seperate feeds rather than one big bucket mixed up.

What about feeding in a fixed manger or a tub with an enormous rock or slate or something in it, so she can't tip it?
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I have done both all mixed together, and all separate in one bowl and in different bowls. She hates the door manger, but likes the skip - she only knocks the skip over if something surprises her so it's accidental I think! It is very deliberate when she has something in it she doesn't like though, and then she stamps in the food very emphatically.
 
If she likes the texture of fibre beet could you soak pencils in a similar fashion so its a gruel type mix so she cant distinguish between the two different types of feed ?
 
SpottedCat said:
Won't eat it. I did a forum search and tried everything which was thrown up as a possibility but was a bit of an oddity before asking this :(
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Christ alive, something fussier than Fig!!!!!

Everything else I'd suggest is already on here, but do hope you reach a long term solution :(
 
I add dried mint or mint cordial to my boys feeds if hes being fussy, soon gets him munching.

I also end up taking the route of tough, you cant be that hungry if your not eating it. Took this stance a few years ago with him and he went a full week with just haylege, soon started eating what was in front of him.
 
Mine is fussy, eating is just not on her list of things to do. Incredibly boring but hand feeding works, shove it under their nose and they seem to auto pilot eat it - but it reminds me of a spoilt brat being fed hand peeled grapes!

I also thought mine was well rugged but I put an extra one on her the other day and she put a lot of weight back on. I think she has also got better about eating now she is at M's as there is a bit of competition and the rest of them get excited about it.

Just need the grass, but not too much:o
 
Black Beastie said:
I add dried mint or mint cordial to my boys feeds if hes being fussy, soon gets him munching.

I also end up taking the route of tough, you cant be that hungry if your not eating it. Took this stance a few years ago with him and he went a full week with just haylege, soon started eating what was in front of him.
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There's no way I can take the tough love approach - the RSPCA will get called. Mint doesn't work.

dieseldog said:
Mine is fussy, eating is just not on her list of things to do. Incredibly boring but hand feeding works, shove it under their nose and they seem to auto pilot eat it - but it reminds me of a spoilt brat being fed hand peeled grapes!

I also thought mine was well rugged but I put an extra one on her the other day and she put a lot of weight back on. I think she has also got better about eating now she is at M's as there is a bit of competition and the rest of them get excited about it.

Just need the grass, but not too much:o
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Hand feeding doesn't work, I tried it! She's in a 450g HW rug with a neck....I've never owned a HW rug before, let alone one this thick! I have the competition angle covered - she's out with cobs ;)
 
SpottedCat said:
There's no way I can take the tough love approach - the RSPCA will get called. Mint doesn't work.



Hand feeding doesn't work, I tried it! She's in a 450g HW rug with a neck....I've never owned a HW rug before, let alone one this thick! I have the competition angle covered - she's out with cobs ;)
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Why? Doesnt she have access to hay? My boy ws murder to keep weight on as well and I was hanging feeds every 4 weeks at one point and giving away minimum half bags of feed until my purse just went NO and it was getting silly. They will eat if hungry is my view now and I leave the feed in the stable.
 
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