Hive mind - the fussy git is driving me bonkers!

I mix Bute (which she hates) in with veg baby food (which she also hates), smear it over her mouth and then give her a bucket feed of chaff straight away... She licks it off her chops and happy days. Silly but it works!
 
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Taking note of all these options... Blue ate her Saracen Re-Leve fairly reliably for a year or so but, with the spring grass, I might as well throw the money straight onto the muck heap. We have barn pigeons with excellent vitamin E levels, but the bloody horse is going back to her stuffy pre-PSSM-diagnosis self.
 
So far so good - he ate the new stuff just fine this morning with bute in it. I'm not going to get excited though - as this is a long term pattern! If he's still eating it next week, then I'll celebrate!
His field buddy got told off for trying to help him eat this morning - so it's obviously pretty tasty!
 
Buzz is the same, loves a sample enough to get a full bag then hates it....the only success I have had (and that he is currently still eating!) is Spillers Ulca Fibre. He's on to his second bag which is very rare!
I also had a Mash sample to try but never got round to it as he enjoyed the UF so much :)
 
Brewers yeast was a massive fail! He sniffed it suspiciously, took a mouthful, spat it straight out, shot me a filthy look, and marched off to shove his friend off his dinner, which he then ate with great reliish, even though it was Veteran Vitality, which he does not approve of! His mate tucked into the poisoned comp mix with no issues, so everyone was happy - but I will not be making that mistake again!
 
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The old sugar beet cubes?? The big lad is a bit take it or leave it with hard feed… not a big fan of nuts etc so he gets oats, sugar beet and readi grass and he’s made for it!! Went from half finished feeds to licking the bowl. Can even give him supplements and linseed now!
 
Auslander said:
Brewers yeast was a massive fail! He sniffed it suspiciously, took a mouthful, spat it straight out, shot me a filthy look, and marched off to shove his friend off his dinner, which he then ate with great reliish, even though it was Veteran Vitality, which he does not approve of! His mate tucked into the poisoned comp mix with no issues, so everyone was happy - but I will not be making that mistake again!
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That's the solution then, make him think he's pinching someone else's breakfast 😂 every day 😁
 
A lady at my old yard used to use barley grass powder, mixed up with a bit of water to get her fussy lad to take meds. It always smelt absolutely delicious!
 
After being in tears over Blue's refusal to eat her hard feed and therefore her essential vitamin E, this morning I gave her some bog-standard, unmolassed chaff, with vitamin E sprinkled on top, and she licked the bowl clean. Horses! I doubt she'll eat it tomorrow, but at least I've got SOME vitamin E into her. I was on the verge of mixing it into a paste and syringing it in.
 
My very fussy Arab will eat his feed for a while then refuse to eat it since I have added oily herbs to the feed he has loved it, it's basically dried oregano, Rosemary, thyme and I add dried mint as well mix the whole lot up in a big tub and feed 60ml scoop daily.

Failing that I get prascend in my other one by dissolving the tablet in a tiny bit of water then add Dr Oatker peppermint essence, it's got no sugar and is so strong it disguises most things I have added it to the feed in the past to get them to eat stuff and it's worked, its so cheap and you only need a few drops.
 
Auslander said:
Alf is the king of love it, love it, love it, hate it, when it comes to feed. He has a bute in the morning, so he needs to eat something! It's not the bute, as he is exactly the same with his evening feed. Very enthusiastic about anything new, but within a week or two, he can't be bothered to eat it.
Recently, hes had Ease and Excel, Releve, Redmills Cool and Cooked, Ulsakind cubes, cheap pony nuts, stud cubes, local feedshops own brand coarse mix, local feed shops comp mix -all with and without speedibeet. Currently on Redmils performacare balancer, which he always eats, but it's not enough volume to secret the bute in.
Anything else that your fussy horses love? I don;t even think its that he doesn't like any of the above - he just gets bored of the same old!
I have added molasses tea, peppermint cordial and apple cider vinegar to see if I can tempt him, but he is the only creature in the world who is more stubborn than me!
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Veteran Vitality - guarantee that's a winner.
 
Pinkvboots said:
My very fussy Arab will eat his feed for a while then refuse to eat it since I have added oily herbs to the feed he has loved it, it's basically dried oregano, Rosemary, thyme and I add dried mint as well mix the whole lot up in a big tub and feed 60ml scoop daily.

Failing that I get prascend in my other one by dissolving the tablet in a tiny bit of water then add Dr Oatker peppermint essence, it's got no sugar and is so strong it disguises most things I have added it to the feed in the past to get them to eat stuff and it's worked, its so cheap and you only need a few drops.
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I put a handful of Italian herb blend in his dinner last night - with all the above in it (plus basil!) and he loved it!
 
I was thinking about this. If he’s serially fussy, have you tried having a bin each of, say, the 5 foods he likes the most and rotating daily, rather than keeping going with each until he goes off it?

It might even be possible that he's actually quite attuned to what he needs and ‘feels’ a tiny deficiency of X mineral/vitamin, so loves a particular feed until that need is satisfied. I might be crediting him with too much intelligence… who knows…
 
Auslander said:
I put a handful of Italian herb blend in his dinner last night - with all the above in it (plus basil!) and he loved it!
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Hopefully it will work for him! I buy all mine in bulk from wholefoods on line and I now keep some back for my cupboard and also buy all my herbs and spices there now.
 
Abacus said:
I was thinking about this. If he’s serially fussy, have you tried having a bin each of, say, the 5 foods he likes the most and rotating daily, rather than keeping going with each until he goes off it?

It might even be possible that he's actually quite attuned to what he needs and ‘feels’ a tiny deficiency of X mineral/vitamin, so loves a particular feed until that need is satisfied. I might be crediting him with too much intelligence… who knows…
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He's pretty smart!
I think he just has a refined palate, and wants to be fed like a person with plenty of variety! He's a very special old boy, and nothing is too much trouble where he is concerned, as he thoroughly deserves special treatment - so if I need to fanny around with his feed regime for the rest of his days - so be it!
 
webble said:
No help sorry but just wanted to offer support. Kiki won't eat most feeds even without supplements in I feel your pain
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He will eat Baileys competition mix, so at least I have that! It's a bit turbo charged for an old horse who goes for a walk round the block a few times a week, but ho hum!
 
Auslander said:
He will eat Baileys competition mix, so at least I have that! It's a bit turbo charged for an old horse who goes for a walk round the block a few times a week, but ho hum!
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The only thing mine will reliably eat at the moment is alfalfa, which then blows her brain. And even then, she'll only eat it if it's bone dry, at which point, all the supplements drop straight through and she doesn't get any.

She really hasn't read the Cob Manual.
 
Pippity said:
The only thing mine will reliably eat at the moment is alfalfa, which then blows her brain. And even then, she'll only eat it if it's bone dry, at which point, all the supplements drop straight through and she doesn't get any.
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She needs to come and stay here for a bit - my mare herd is very good at teaching incomers that you eat up or lose it!
 
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