He's not eating - arghhh!!!

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Bozzy

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I changed Forrest to the Simple Systems feed about 6 weeks ago, I weaned him from his old feed (hifi and hgh fibre nuts) over a week or so and had a couple of 'Is this it?' disapproving looks but he happily gobbled it up. This was great as he hardly eats any hay, the normal is 1-2 slices (small bale) a night so feeding massive feeds meant I knew he was getting plenty of good feed.

I moved yards a fortnight ago and although he's settling ok, he just won't eat his feeds, breakfast he hardly touches and it usually goes straight on the much heap, he manages to get through most o his much smaller dinners so knowhere near the quantity he was eating. Plus he's only eating about a slice of hay a night.

He's a 16.3 TB who drops weight easily, I moved him to SS in an attempt to remove all sugars from his diet, maybe calm him down a bit and put some weight/condition! He's turned out from 6:30am to 5pm but on rubbish quality grass.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Anyone else have a size 0 wannabe horse He dropped a fair bit of weight this time last years and I don't want the same thing to happen again.
 
theres been alot of people posting lately about the ss feeds, think alot of horses start off well with it then stop eating! have you tried your horse on alfa oil, superb for putting on weight and helps horses stay in great condition, id highly recommend it! if you go on the dengie website and either phone or email them they're really good at helping sort out diets for you!
 
I had great success with my old TB on Alfa A Oil but I gave it to Forrest this time last year when he dropped off a bit and he went into a very crazy stage (I couldn't stay on him for more than 5 minutes!) Don't really fancy trying it again! The same happened with haylage. I was hoping Alfa-A oil might have been ok as it contains no molasses.

If he ate his hay I might not be as worried! He's just really fussy with that, he won't eat anything slightly fine, has to be very course for him to eat a lot and this years batch is quite fine.

I'm thinking I may have to change feed but don't know where to go, I need a non-biased feed advisor! I can't have anything that may cause the slightest bit of fizz but good for condition. I think I've tried pretty much everything in the past but it's always good to ask again!
 
Baileys were really good when my horse suddenly lost weight baileys no 1 is a great non heating weight gain. I phoned and spoke to emma - she was very good and not pushy to the baileys sales pich. She sent me a weigh tape to monitor his weight and a recomended plan and a load of vouchers.
 
What about Allen and Page Calm and Condition? I've found this really good for putting on weight. And what about feeding haylage? I know many people think it's fizz making, but I've never found it so.

Or you could try splitting the meals into more smaller ones.

And could you give him something to eat out in the field? Difficult I know if he's in with others. Just personally think that 6.30 - 5pm is a long time for a skinny type to be out on really rubbish winter grass. Mine (average doers) are out from 8.30 - 5.30, but I give them extra haylage out in the field.
 
My horse has done exactly the same - moved yards, stopped eating. She's a 26 yr old TB who drops weight very easily (but retired, so at least I don't have to worry about being decked
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She's gradually eating a bit more (now up to 3 small sections a night!). Will yours eat hay in the field?

If he's not eating his hard feed, you could try adding dried mint (NAF do one, very cheap). That's tempting my girl to eat her dinner at least - although like you, breakfast is on the muck heap.

Baileys No 1 or No 4 have worked well for me in the past, without causing any extra energy (fed No 1 to a retired fizz monster who was on box rest!).
 
I haven't tried Calm & Condition so could be worth a try - I'll look into that, thanks.

I tried him on haylage last year and it sent him wild! I've put hay out and his breakfast in his field (he's out alone) yet he doesn't touch either. There's plenty of grass, it's just not great quality. Thankfully he's not underweight (yet!), I'm just concious of the fact he may drop weight so want to sort something now before he does - they just love to stress us out
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I was interested to read your post re feed. I have had to remove sugar from my horse's diet for a different reason to your excess energy one - it makes his glands swell. I looked for feeds that had no sugar and very little cereal, as the sugar content in cereal is as bad as molasses etc.

So after much searching he gets Bailey's Working Horse & Pony Cubs, Golden Chaff (which is lightly molassed but seems ok), and LoCal Balancer. This is mixed with 180ml Carron Oil (cold pressed linseed & calcium). I try to focus on a hi oil hi fibre diet. He even gets sugar free polo mints !!

Just to warn, I can't give him so much as a sniff of haylage, seems to be full of sugar.
 
Did he used to eat all of his old food?? Did you swap because he was fizzy on it. All im saying is if he was ok on the old food i would swap back. Bit like if its not broke dont try to fix it.
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What was the haylage like that you had him on?? quite wet or fairly dry?? I have all my highly strung beasties on haylage but it's quite dry & i don't have a problem.

I also fed SS. I still use Ruffstuff which i love but i noticed that the first year my horses did fab on it. But the 2nd year my TB lost a lot of weight no matter how much i fed of SS so i had to take him off it. He's now on Spillers Conditioning Fibre & doing great again. I also still feed SS Instant Linseed which is great for helping condition do you have any??

Good luck, the other thing you could try is some apple juice over his feed if he likes it.
 
Thanks very much everyone
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I had originally changed to see if removing sugars etc from his diet would chill him out a bit and partly he dropped condition. I read good things about SS so thought I'd give it a go.

Turns out it hasn't changed him at all, he's still as crazy as ever
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So moving back to 'normal' feed shouldn't be too much of a problem, I just need something that will help with muscle building and condition (he was in and out of work on last feed) as I'm bringing him back into work but without sending him any loopier!!

Haylage was the horsehage high fibre one, I haven't dared try any others!
 
Have you tried him on normal alfa a - or hifi - and sugar beet? That is all I used to feed my TB mare, along with Codlivine supplement - and she went from being a bit of a poor doer in winter to looking really well this last winter.
I have never used Alfa A oil before so I can't comment on that - but have always used normal alfa a, and never had a problem.
 
I wonder if your horse is like mine- cannot have anything with sugar, no Alfa A oil or haylage - both send him hyper? You could try Calm and Condition, as stated, or I quite like Spillers Conditioning cubes, you could try Alpha A, it may be that the oil is too much. I use Hi Fi Lite but my boy isn't underweight.Maybe try NAF pink powder for a short-term balancer? Lastly even Readigrass for a quick solution to his lack of hay consumption?
 
He's already on pink powder but I don't think that's made much difference generally.

I've tried Alfa-A and I do think he was more hyper on that so would probably stick to Hifi. Before he was on Hifi, Spillers high fibre nuts and speedibeet and was ok'ish behaviour wise! I may just stick to that and try a better nut/cube, maybe A&P or Baileys.

This was him at the beginning of the month, he lacks muscle as he's been in and out of work with his back and sacroilliac problems but I don't think he looks too bad weight wise?

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he's so pretty! i wouldnt have said he looks bad weight wise! iv been warned by a friend today that some a & p products cause fizzyness even though a&p say they dont so id tread carefully with them, lots of people have very good things to say about baileys!!
 
Thanks! I've only really heard good things about Bailey's as well, it's just the extra price that's put me off in the past. I sent them an email regarding feed earlier so I'll probably go down that route
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Plus it's easy to get hold of as my yard stocks it which is a bonus!
 
My old TB x mare went totally off her food when we moved, which was a great worry as she was 32 at the time. She was really dull & got thin & I'd just about faced up to the fact that maybe her time was up when all of a sudden she perked up again.

Maybe your boy is just feeling a bit insecure atm? It took Jenny about 2 or 3 months to stop sulking & come off the hunger strike, and now she's 35 & back to her greedy self. So don't despair, & good luck! Maybe try him on stuff he really likes just for now, & worry about getting bucked off once he's eating again?
 
My pony has just gone off her food - I think its because the spring grass is starting to come through so she's getting a taste of it during the day then not wanting anything else.
 
When I bought my tb he was only 4 and weighed 330 seriously underweight.I used d and h build up and it didnt send him mad or bad plus kwik beet.He is a loon on haylage unless it is very dry but ok on alpha with oil.Once he reached a good weight 510 I took him off build up and put him on pasture mix.Just another alternative for you.Sugar beet seems to really encouarge them to eat but my horse is a pig anyway.
 
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