Hi fibre, low sugar diet with a fussy eater

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HashRouge

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My mare really doesn't seem to like the sort of soaked hi-fibre, low sugar feeds usually recommended on HHO. She has had Speedi-beet, Fast Fibre and Coolstance Copra, but doesn't like any of them and I'm not sure where to go next. I have tried adding mint, which seemed to make it worse, and unsweetened apple juice, as well as increasing the amount of linseed she has, but nothing seems to work, or at least not for long. I'm coming to the conclusion that it is something to do with the texture of soaked feeds that she doesn't like. So I'm looking for other suggestions please! She has an extremely expensive joint supplement which I really need her to eat, so I can't afford to keep up with these feeds which she really seems to dislike. It could, of course, be one of her supplements that she doesn't like, and the problem is that these feeds just don't disguise the taste well enough. But she only has supplements that she really needs to eat (including a very expensive joint supplement), so I need something more palatable. Two of the supplements that she has now, she used to eat no problem when I was just feeding her Happy Hoof - is there anything wrong with feeding her something like Happy Hoof or Spillers Senior Fibre? What about High Fibre cubes? I'm sure that they don't need to be soaked.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
 
Mine's like this & I've tried everything. He eats the diet I want over the winter(low starch,high fibre etc etc) but come summer no way! I need him to eat as he's a poor doer & needs supplements so I have to give in & use a really small amount of coarse mix to tempt him into eating what I want him to eat. He happily eats micro linseed in the winter but at the moment that put's him off but he doesn't mind the addition of some oil! Probably not what you wanted to hear but I've spent ridiculous amount of money on feed & different things trying to get him to eat & the hours I've wasted while he stares at feeds & refuses to eat... I use herby strong smelling coarse mix then it only takes a teeny amount to get him started. Also he won't eat much when on the yard in the summer so I feed him at the field with his friends nearby & that really helps as well. I also split into 2 feeds when I can as he gets bored really easily.
 
Unfortunately I can't even get away with cheapo coarse mix! He only seems to like the more expensive ones!
 
I have been dabbling with various feeds for the last year trying to find something my horse would eat on a consistent basis - she is the type that gets tired of the feed in just two or three days and from that moment on only eats maybe a handful of each meal.

Finally, I came across Rowen Barbary Forage n Fiber and boy, does she love it! For the first time, she'll eat the hard feed before going in for the hay, and there is none left (even when I add in her supplements). She's on the 5th bag already and is yet to refuse to eat, so I am hopeful this will work!
 
Ooh I really like the sound of the Rowen Barbary Forgae n Fiber, I might have to try a bag of that and see. Thanks for the suggestions guys! It's so difficult when they just aren't interested in their feed! My sister's gelding will wolf anything down, but mine just has a look in her bucket, heaves a sigh, and won't touch it!
 
Feel your pain,mine will even stand head in bucket,top lip resting on the food as if trying to get me to believe he's eating! Would be just easier & less time consuming if he just ate it!!!
 
With all the other feeds I tried, she would just go to her bucket, sniff it and promptly decide her straw bedding was way more appealing... Oh, and have we talked about shavings? There is nothing more delicious than shavings, apparently.
 
I know it's tedious, but may be less hassle / expense in the long run - have you considered syringing the supplements in? If you get an Easywormer it's quite easy to administer large-ish quantities if you need to.
 
Sympathies - seems there are many of us in the same position!! (Hadn't considered the syringing option, may investigate ;) )

I have found a degree of success by:
- splitting two feeds daily into 3
- realising that she prefers dry feeds with the exception of beet pulp, which she likes REALLY sloppy so...
- I use a smattering of blue pellet grass nuts or topspec antilam or SS simplycomplete (around 50g total per feed) to 'carry' her minerals, micronised linseed, salt, magnesium and a little chaff twice daily, fed dry - so far, clean bowl each time
- and one feed daily of a palmful of soaked Kwikbeet containing the remaining balance of her minerals and the dreaded spirulina with a tiny pinch of chaff on top.
Seems to work, and she looks fabulous!!

I have found that she rejects linseed that is damp at all, even stalky alfalfa that is at all damp. She could really do without any of the 'carriers' unless in full work but hey, you have to go with what you've got, some days!!

I also keep myself well out of the way when she is eating. She tends to cirumnavigate halfway through a feed between feed, water, hay and door. If she spots I am paying attention to her, I can see the brain process 'How can I train this human to bring me something sweet!!' and she will wait and wait and wait... if I feed and go (or feed and hide well), she will move between food sources but finish up what she is given. No flies on her, then!! Fussy - or just greedy?? Lol!
 
HashRouge said:
My mare really doesn't seem to like the sort of soaked hi-fibre, low sugar feeds usually recommended on HHO. She has had Speedi-beet, Fast Fibre and Coolstance Copra, but doesn't like any of them and I'm not sure where to go next. I have tried adding mint, which seemed to make it worse, and unsweetened apple juice, as well as increasing the amount of linseed she has, but nothing seems to work, or at least not for long. I'm coming to the conclusion that it is something to do with the texture of soaked feeds that she doesn't like. So I'm looking for other suggestions please! She has an extremely expensive joint supplement which I really need her to eat, so I can't afford to keep up with these feeds which she really seems to dislike. It could, of course, be one of her supplements that she doesn't like, and the problem is that these feeds just don't disguise the taste well enough. But she only has supplements that she really needs to eat (including a very expensive joint supplement), so I need something more palatable. Two of the supplements that she has now, she used to eat no problem when I was just feeding her Happy Hoof - is there anything wrong with feeding her something like Happy Hoof or Spillers Senior Fibre? What about High Fibre cubes? I'm sure that they don't need to be soaked.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

For Ben as a baby it wasn't the feed he hated but the texture... Adding a bit of chaff- something like hi fi, worked a treat, he would have fast fibre, perhaps a handful of hi fi lite and gobble it up... Ff on its own... Flipping no chance! It would remain uneaten all night!
 
HashRouge said:
Ooh I really like the sound of the Rowen Barbary Forgae n Fiber, I might have to try a bag of that and see. Thanks for the suggestions guys! It's so difficult when they just aren't interested in their feed! My sister's gelding will wolf anything down, but mine just has a look in her bucket, heaves a sigh, and won't touch it!
Click to expand...
Many horses aren't keep on r&b, give them a call they do samples... They will send you a sample out for you to try before you buy, many other feed companies will do this too. In fact the only company that I have found that wont (and I pretty much rang every company on this earth when my girl was ill) was simple systems.

May be worth giving pure feeds a call as their feeds are particularly suited to bf.
 
My cob isn't all that interested in soaked feeds - will eat it eventually but did the 'sigh' once he'd checked the bucket :rolleyes:

If he has either a sprinkle of hi-fi nuts, or graze on, he hoovers it up though.

I also had him on D&H Safe & Sound and we both loved it. I particularly liked it as it was a complete feed with reasonable quantities, and only stopped feeding it because I was giving magnesium for feet, and it worked out cheaper to feed pro hoof & speedibeet, rather than supplement the chaff feed. The S&S smells lovely, and holds the powdered supplements well with just a sprinkle of water. It does have a bit of molasses in, but still has low sugar and starch, and is generally not sticky (occasional bag was a bit sticky!).
 
I was trying to avoid Alfalfa with her BUT my YO kindly let me mix some of her Hi Fi Molasses Free in with the Coolstance Copra and pony gobbled the lot down. According to my YO I'm welcome to use as much of the Hi-Fi as I like, because her pony won't eat it all and she'll end up chucking it away, so I might just cut out the Coolstance and give her a few handfuls of the Hi Fi. It's worth a try anyway, and at least I won't have to buy a bag if she goes off it in a week's time!!
 
I had the same problem with my mare! She needed to be on a low sugar high fibre diet. After trying all the soaked feeds, and numerous chaffs, she absolutely loves the top spec top chop grass with the top spec high fibre nuts. I tried everything and this is they only feed she will eat, she likes the crunchiness of the nuts! As silly as that sounds. I wet her chaff a little but her supplements in, and then the nuts and she loves it. Top spec will also send a sample before you buy and their feed line is very helpful!
 
Hi HR

I have a very picky TB mare who is 22 :rolleyes:
Have you given Alfa a lite or Hi Fi good doer a try at all? There both low calorie and have added spearmint in them, they smell lovely and I have never seen my horse turn her nose up at either of them! She has that with added Hi Fi cubes, Alfa A mollases free and Hi Fi Mollases free are also meant to be very good for fussy feeders.

Hope this helps! :)
 
If you email feed companies they should send you some samples to try to see if she will eat them.

If you're looking for chaffs Mollichaff/Horsehage do hoofkind and alfalfa light, dengie do a hi fi range and healthy hooves, dodson and horrel do safe and sound, spillers do happy hoof, baileys do some chaffs, basically almost all the feed brands do chaffs aimed at laminitics and alfalfa/chaff mixes (like hi fi, alfalfa light) :)
 
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