Fussy Eater.....advice please

Halfpass

Halfpass

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Have had my new horse nearly 2 months now and she is looking great although is not carrying a great deal of weight. Not too thin but certainly not carrying any extra.
When I got her she was on one of the winergy feeds. I finished off the sac she came with ( she would gobble down the whole lot ) and changed onto fibre nuts, hifi and an all round supplement. Her condition remaind lovely until a week or two ago when she dropped off slightly so I started adding some speedi beat.
Since I change from the wingery she has started leaving the end of her feeds its the bit that goes all mushy at the bottom that she doesn't seem to eat. I don't mind this but the trouble is she takes so long to eat it that there is more mush left than what she eats!!!
I hate giving food dry after having a horse with choke - it was really horrible to watch so now all my horses get very wet food.
The other very annoying thing is that when I feed her before I turn her out she will not eat it. I can't feed her in the field as the sheep chase her off her food. I have tried feeding her and leaving her for an hour but she just stands at the door waiting to go out.
I obviously don't want her to loose any more condition so need some ideas to make her food seem far more tempting!!!
 
I'd drop the HiFi for a start - it is both low calorie and rather boring and coarse to eat and I suspect is the reason why she is leaving the end of her feeds! Swap it for a higher calorie, finer chaff, such as Spiller's Conditioning Fibre or Alfa A Oil.

If you need more condition on her, swap the high fibre nuts for Spiller's Slow Release Cubes which are low in starch, but higher in calories than high fibre cubes/nuts. If you feed them at the recommended rate you won't need a supplement as well.

Will she eat any of her breakfast at all? Did she eat breakfast if it was Winergy? Some horses just aren't interested in food if they are anticipating being turned out. The change of chaff could be enough to make it tempting enough for her to eat some, but I would reduce the morning feed in size and give minimal chaff with it. If you are feeding cubes, if you soak them overnight in a small amount of water you end up with a firm mash which minimises choke, but is not at all sloppy.

If you can't get her to eat any breakfast at all, even with a change of feed, then you can either give two feeds in the evening (perhaps there is someone at the yard who can pop a late night feed in). Alternatively, you can look at oil-rich feeds such as Outshine, Equijewel, micronised linseed etc., which pack a lot of calories into a small portion, so you might be able to get away with one feed a day.

Obviously you need to ensure she has adlib hay or haylage overnight if you want to stop her dropping condition too.
 
I have a new fussy skinny one, with her I have swapped nuts for mix (she wouldnt eat nuts at all) I have cut out pretty much all the chaff as it makes her even slower to eat and she gets plenly of hay and haylage so sort out her fibre. I have added some oll and linseed to help with the weight and she gets a bit of mollased sugar beet, but isnt that keen on that so I add some apple juice to it as tastier than water. My friend took a food processor down to stables and whizzed up carrots to a mush and mixed that through ( I havent resorted to that just yet!!) Mine also gets more smaller feeds, like 4 or 5 per day, but she is very trim (just of the racetrack)

I feel like Nigella Lawson when I make her feeds!!!
 
My fussy old mare has spells of leaving her food, so i get about 3 leaves of fresh mint ( the kind you buy at supermarkets) and cut up fine with scissors into her feed.... and surprise she eats it all. I have now planted the mint in a tub at the stables so i always have a supply when needed. great for weaning foals too.
Teresa
 
When i was giving Roger bute i tried a couple of things including mint jelly mixed through and apple sauce which he loved.
But when i make his speedibeet with boiling water i mix a spoon of black treacle in, he loves it and licks his bucket clean.
 
my big lad sounds similar to your mare - he just gets bored of eating and has a small appetite (is totally non motivated by food e.g. wont even eat carrots if he is excited or worried about something!) When he dropped off last winter I had to find a feed which packed as many calories into the least volume and mysolution was speedibeet, topspec comp and outshine with a handful of Happy Hoof (or other 'tasty' chaff eg the carrot or apple mix one. He didnt like eating feed with lots of chaff or too much sugabeet. That and haylage ad lib put his weight back on. I stopped the Outshine in summer but would use aagin if needed.

Have also heard cheap apple juice helps but some horses just arent big eaters so need small volumes.
 
Have you checked her teeth - if you've introduced Alfa A or similar maybe she's struggling to eat it?

Did you change her feed really gradually? Last year mine dropped a lot of weight quickly. I was a bit worried about it so I took advice and changed his diet quite quickly to get the extra calories into him asap. He did the same as your mare and i think it was because I had changed too quickly. so i had to reintroduce the old feed then very gradually change him to the new diet. It worked and he now loves his new diet and has not dropped condition since. So I would maybe go back to what she was on and gradually phase accross. Or just leave her on wingery if she's happy with it?
 
Thanks for all your tips will try them out and see what happens.
Have tried different chaff no chaff feeding earlier before turnout (she is out at night so had a lunchtime feed) and she still won't eat!!
She had her teeth done in April but will get them checked again.
Feed change over was very gradual over a few weeks and she had been eating the new feed fine until a week or 2 ago!!
Will go back to winergy if I need to put but have you seen the price of it? I have no local supplier to also end up paying postage costs!!!
 
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