Horse has appetite, eating hay normally but unable to eat chaff...

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tobysg

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I gave my horse a handful of happy hoof in order to catch her in the field, in my hand, and she tried to eat it but couldn't, it went everywhere but down her oesophagus.

I thought it may just be her being overly keen on it and didn't worry about it.

Took her rug off and she's put on some weight (she was a perfect weight, now a bit tubby) where she has been moved to a field with grazing, so she's obviously eating.

I rode her and she was perfectly fine.

Got back in, decided I'd try and give her some of her chaff (happy hoof) and see if the previous incident was a one off.
She was very keen as bucket was given to her, went to go and eat it, but just couldn't. She was struggling and just couldn't seem to swallow it even though she really wanted it.

So I took it off her and made it very sloppy, and she was the same and ,in the end, she gave up eating it.

I decided to try some hay, she ate it with absolutely no problems, in a short space of time!

I've decided to keep her in and keep an eye on her, I've given her a pile of hay and left the happy hoof in there but she hasn't touched it.

Any ideas?
 
tobysg said:
. She was struggling and just couldn't seem to swallow it even though she really wanted it.

So I took it off her and made it very sloppy, and she was the same and in the end, she gave up eating it.
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Just read this bit, sorry- are her teeth ok? our old horses couldn't eat chaff it would just ball up in their mouths where they'd suck it and spit it out!!
 
She has fresh water in her stable, plenty of it, but didn't show any interest. I did attempt to open her mouth and it seemed normal from what I can tell but I am no vet.

I did wonder about teeth, she is 9 years old so age is not a contributing factor, she is due to have them done in January. hmm.

Thanks for replying!
 
Has she eaten it before? Could it be that she just doesn't like it?
I put a supplement in my boys chaff and he didn't like it, he tried to eat the chaff but due to the taste just sort of flapped his mouth around and it ended up being spat everywhere. Nothing wrong with him, he was just being fussy!
 
Yes, she's been having it for the last three years and loved it.

She only gets it on special occasions, or when I know I am not going to catch her though, so she hasn't had it for a month (ish).

She is never fussy though, she's an equine dustbin and normally eats anything and everything!
 
I would ask the dentist or vet, whomever you use, to come and look at her mouth before January. She may have sharp teeth, or another dental problem. For the sake of doing it 2 months early, I'd have them look at her.
 
SPring Feather- I just drove up there and thought the same thing as I was driving. The food may of been a bit mank, I've had the bag for a while. I couldn't find any other food to try with her, as there's only two other liveries at my yard.
I'll have a look tomorrow.
I've given her ad lib hay and A LOT of water for the night so will see tomorrow, I'm on a night shift at 4 so can't check on her later :(
 
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