Getting a horse to eat up . . .

PolarSkye

PolarSkye

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. . . not sure whether this belongs here (Care and Feeding) or in Hunting, but I have a question about encouraging horses to eat up after hunting.

Although he is drinking well and is (now - he wasn't Mon and Tue) scoffing hay and haylage, Kal goes off his hard feed for a few days after hunting. As he is not a particularly good do-er and drops condition after hunting anyway, he can't afford not to have those vital calories.

He currently gets:

- Alfa A Molasses free - one scoop
- ERS Pellets - one scoop
- Speedibeet - 1/4 scoop (dry weight)
- Blue Chip Original - one scoop
- Micronised Linseed - 1 mug

. . . split over two feeds.

In addition, he gets one of those massive black and red haynets stuffed full of good quality hay and haylage (about half and half) overnight, and hay in the field during the day.

I have bought some Bailey's No. 1 to see if I can get that into him to just top up the calories/conditioning feed (he can't have sugar), but the problem is actually getting him to eat!

When he went hunting two weeks ago it took him two or three days to want his food again . . . he went again on Sunday and still isn't that interested in his hard feed (ate half of his breakfast this morning) . . . what can I do?

P
 
I feed early then go back in the house that helps if its possible .
I feed the bad feeder his breakfast on the door it makes a difference to him.
And I have stopped his Alfafa during the day so the feeds are smaller which is working well
He's getting oats speedibeet and micronised linseed for breakfast it's not a large meal about half a kilo of oats 150 grammes of linseed and a couple of large mugs of speedibeet .
He's getting no hay only out ' best ' haylage .
He gets the same when he comes in .
And a larger feed at night he's not keen on his minerals he only gets those at night as he eats best then and he gets alfalfa then but not on a hunting night as he leaves the feed if it's in.
If he leaves feed I remove it pretty quickly .
If he goes off his feed I give literally a double handful per feed for twenty fours then back to normal, an old stud groom told me this one and it does work.
As long as they are eating good amounts of hay/ haylage it's not going to harm them.
 
I put hot water over micronised linseed, and leave for about 20 mins, til it turns into jelly, and just feed that to anything that is off its feed - and they tend to hoover it.
 
We have one just the same, which is really frustrating when you know they need to eat up to fuel the work they are doing. I've done various things like soaking his favourite horse treats and mixing them into the feed, adding finely diced carrots, apples etc. They worked a little bit, but the biggest difference is feeding him in the field, he nearly always clears up then. However, this might not suit your circumstances - ours are at home and have individual turnout so I can just leave the feed in the field with him.

How many seasons hunting has your horse done? I've noticed ours is getting better with experience, now in his fourth season and I notice he is tucking into his haynet as soon as he gets on the box after hunting now, whereas he was too wired to do that a couple of years ago!
 
My last horse used to go off his hard feed for a couple of days after hunting, and lost a lot of weight early in season (stress, I think) but put it back on once he settled. I would feed haylage only, not mixed with hay, and make sure it is really top quality haylage. I found mine like warm Speedibeet (ie, make it with boiling water then feed it as soon as it's cooled a little, but still warm) after hunting, mixed with a bit of chaff. You could try tempting him with dried mint (a good handful, not a sprinkle), or maybe grated carrot and apple mixed in. I've used cartons of apple juice in the past too, rather than damping down with water.
 
TGM said:
We have one just the same, which is really frustrating when you know they need to eat up to fuel the work they are doing. I've done various things like soaking his favourite horse treats and mixing them into the feed, adding finely diced carrots, apples etc. They worked a little bit, but the biggest difference is feeding him in the field, he nearly always clears up then. However, this might not suit your circumstances - ours are at home and have individual turnout so I can just leave the feed in the field with him.

How many seasons hunting has your horse done? I've noticed ours is getting better with experience, now in his fourth season and I notice he is tucking into his haynet as soon as he gets on the box after hunting now, whereas he was too wired to do that a couple of years ago!
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He hunted regularly with the girl I bought him from, but this is his first season with me - four years since he's been out, so I'm not surprised he's wired.

I can't feed him in the field - his little companion will hoover it up - caught them both with their noses in the field bowl at the same time yesterday ;).

Just got to get the calories down his neck!

P
 
chestnut cob said:
My last horse used to go off his hard feed for a couple of days after hunting, and lost a lot of weight early in season (stress, I think) but put it back on once he settled. I would feed haylage only, not mixed with hay, and make sure it is really top quality haylage. I found mine like warm Speedibeet (ie, make it with boiling water then feed it as soon as it's cooled a little, but still warm) after hunting, mixed with a bit of chaff. You could try tempting him with dried mint (a good handful, not a sprinkle), or maybe grated carrot and apple mixed in. I've used cartons of apple juice in the past too, rather than damping down with water.
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Some great advice here - thanks. Will just give him haylage after hunting (he can't resist it, and it's really good stuff). I already make his speedibeet up with hot water and there is mint in his chaff, but I could always add more and certainly grated carrot and apple might help. Ditto cartons of apple juice rather than water to damp down his feed.

The good news is that he worked yesterday - jumped in the school (was very good - sailed over 1.15m like it was nothing) - and ate up his dinner and this morning's breakfast. He has stopped staring into space in the field and went for a hack today (first time on his own since we moved yards) and (mostly) behaved himself.

Thanks everyone for some great tips . . . he isn't hunting again for a good couple of weeks or so, so hopefully I can get some much-needed calories into him between now and then and I've got some good ideas to tempt him to eat up next time :).

P
 
Ah, I am very familiar with the staring into space, vacant look!! Mine used to do that, like he was a little shell shocked by it all (he wasn't, he'd hunted all of his life).

Sorry if I missed this - do you feed any oil? Micronised linseed is great if you aren't giving it already. If you are, I'd just increase that as much as you can. My horse can't have more than a mugful otherwise he gets runny poo, but you can experiment to see how much is enough. My chaff had (has) mint in but I don't think they really have a lot in; you can buy bags of dried mint from people like Natural Horse Supplies and put a good amount in to give it a stronger taste.
 
chestnut cob said:
Ah, I am very familiar with the staring into space, vacant look!! Mine used to do that, like he was a little shell shocked by it all (he wasn't, he'd hunted all of his life).

Sorry if I missed this - do you feed any oil? Micronised linseed is great if you aren't giving it already. If you are, I'd just increase that as much as you can. My horse can't have more than a mugful otherwise he gets runny poo, but you can experiment to see how much is enough. My chaff had (has) mint in but I don't think they really have a lot in; you can buy bags of dried mint from people like Natural Horse Supplies and put a good amount in to give it a stronger taste.
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Yeah, it's like he's running through the day again . . . idiot pony.

Yes, I do feed oil . . . he gets micronised linseed and ERS Pellets and I have upped both . . . however he's not nuts about the linseed. I will certainly get some more mint . . . anything to make his feed palatable.

P
 
I would also second the suggestion of fenugreek, there will be a bit in the chaff, but not enough to have its full effect, my boy will pick at a feed (only at this time of year) but if i've put fenugreek in he wolfs it down...
 
Hedwards said:
I would also second the suggestion of fenugreek, there will be a bit in the chaff, but not enough to have its full effect, my boy will pick at a feed (only at this time of year) but if i've put fenugreek in he wolfs it down...
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Thanks for this . . . have some in the cupboard for making curry - will take it up the yard :).

P
 
Spot_On said:
Maybe go for something like Bailey's outshine with a some speed-beet.
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This, I'd add baileys outshine to his feed and then on the days after hunting when you know he's going to be off his feed, I'd actually hand feed his quota of baileys outshine like a treat, then anything he eats from his bowl is a bonus
 
Oh also - re Outshine - he already gets ERS Pellets which, on first glance, seem to be pretty much the same - high oil/fibre, non-heating, containing electrolytes, etc. Is there a massive difference?

P
 
I've always found grated carrot and apple seem to encourage them. Also agree with trying to feed as many small feeds per day as you can. With my fussy eater I give very small breakfast, just a small amount of full breakfast, then I exercise him and then give him the rest of his breakfast whilst he cools down before I turn him out. Then give him lunch in the field, only small again, then bigger supper when he comes in and if possible a late feed at 10pm. The late feed is obviously only possible if you live on the yard or if you can persuade someone who does to pop the feed in if you leave it outside the door.

One thing I've noticed is that they are far more inclined to eat if the yard is quiet which is very hard if you are on a big DIY yard so any big feeds should be given just before you leave at night when you hope its quiet.
 
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