Horse hardly eats any hay or haylage no matter how nice...!!

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Christmas Crumpet

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Is this strange - 4 year old will eat half a large haynet of hay or haylage but no more unless he's been hunting and is starving.

I thought it was our haylage which is more like hay so bought some nice haylage yesterday which he thought was very nice and kept having little bits of but I just fed him and he's still got half a haynet left.

My TB, however, will eat an extra large haynet with tiny holes every night and more if you gave it to him.

Do some horses just not eat that much when in? He is out 12 hours a day on good grass and gets fed twice a day so could just be he's eaten enough but I'm so used to horses that gobble every last bit up. I was worried it was our haylage but now I'm not so sure.

I know he's not going hungry but even so!!!
 
How long have you had him? I mean is this normal for him or a change? Yes, of course some horses eat more/differently to others you only have to look at us (different sizes) to know we are not all the same...

But get his teeth checked if you are worried to make sure he is comfortable eating.. Does he look OK? I mean it's it not broke than don't try and fix it (don't know the exact phrase but it's along those lines... lol)

Besides horses will choose better grazing over hay, so if he is eating for a good 12hrs a day he may not need that much when he comes in and just eats it as and when, if he has been out hunting all day he hasn't been able to eat as normal so he makes up for it then... (i.e hasn't had the grazing) so i wouldn't worry too much.xx
 
Had him a month now - routine doesn't seem to change! He just seems to pick at haynet once in a while and seems quite happy in his box. He does like being out a lot though hence the reason he's out for 12 hours. He has a very warm rug so gets turned out whatever the weather and is quite happy mooching about in his field watching the world go by.

Guess I'll stop worrying now then.
 
I wouldn't worry because come spring, and the grass reappearing, all ours go off their haylage and it is beautiful stuff. It's hard work eating long stem fibre and it sounds to me like he's a non-greedy type with plenty of alternative munchables which he prefers! If he is fine in all other respects, I'd just keep a weather eye on him for a change in the current situation.
 
I wouldnt worru, i have a 17 hand warmblood who even if he is in from 4pm until 08:30 if i am late will only eat 1 slice of hay all night. if you give him 2 slices he leaves it.
 
I had a mare, only 14 hh but she wouldn't touch hay or haylage. Maybe a few strands but that was all. She had a huge bucket of allsorts instead, chaff, readigrass, any dengie product, fibre nuts etc. I had to keep swapping it about as she would get bored of a certain product and stop eating it.

She was like it for years!
 
Some just aren't as greedy as others. I'm really lucky my Fallabela x Shetland is not that greedy (his teeth get done every 6 months so no probs!), he will go out, eat a bit of grass but never gorge himself, so despite his size he has always been out in the big field with the big boys!
 
I had a TBx mare that wasn't greedy. She ate as much as she wanted and then stopped, so I was able to feed her ad lib hay, but the consumption didn't alter much. She always looked OK and would do the same in the field. Eat, then snooze in the corner of the field.

Unlike present greedy guts who would eat a bale of hay a night if I let him.
 
The grass is very good this year - for example this time last year my big 17hh warmblood was having 6 to 7 good sized sections of hay from when he came in at 4. This year he is just eating one when he comes in and 3 small ones overnight - and he is leaving a few bits and bobs - he is being cut down to 2 sections overnight until he starts to "finish up" - you can usually get an idea with him on how fast he eats his "coming in hay" to how hungry he is. My old girl is only down to 1 and a half sections overnight and she was on 3 this time last year.
 
Try taking it out of the haynet- may horses really don't like them
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I used to have this problem with my Arab mare and it meant she dropped weight and just wouldn't put it back on. I cost me a fortune on concentrate feeds to just nurse her through the cold weather.

I started feeding from the ground (wasteful I know) just put a huge pile in the biggest tubtrug I could find and left her too it. Not as easy to see how much they eat but I could tell she was eating more as she's kept weight on. She's a completely different horse to look at in the winter now, before she was all ribs and hips and now she looks more like a fit race horse, yeah she's a bit thinner than I may want but it's no longer a battle. Plus it's a damn sight cheaper on the feed bills
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Try taking it out of the haynet- may horses really don't like them
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Ditto this..... all that pulling and twisting can make their muscles sore (or maybe highlighting a back/ teeth issue with a new horse?).
 
My coloured was like this, he wouldnt eat any more than absolutely maximum 3 slices a night, though was normally 2. My mare now would eat as much as you gave her...
 
Vet did say at vetting that dentist had done a fairly major job on his teeth which wasn't needed so that might explain a few things - he eats grass like its going out of fashion. Could be easier to eat because its softer. He does seem to prefer to eat off the floor so back to doing that. He just wasted a lot in his 10 x 10 ft stable. However, his new 14 x 14 ft stable will be ready tomorrow evening so he can have haylage all over the floor.

He's a mental horse - just exercised in gales and pissing rain and he was quite happy although leapt in air when a tree started cracking. Felt rather vulnerable underneath it!! Anyway left him in to dry off and he said he'd much rather go out in the rain and gales thanks very much and could I please hurry up. It was boring being warm and toasty in stable. Must be the bog Irish in him!!
 
if he likes eating off floor but you dont want it everywere invest in a haybar i looove mine no net filling or hay all over place and horse eating in natural position
 
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