horse not eating hay

[Dizzydancer]

My loan horse has suspected cushings (only really curly coat), he eats grass he eats his feed but he isnt eating his hay. he will maybe have one or two mouthfuls i would say there is maybe some quidding occurring. He did have his teeth checked about 3months ago but having dentist out on monday incase an infection or damaged tooth.
Any ideas what the reason could be? Obviously if there is no real problem it will have to be time for the decision to be made if he stops eating anything else.
Thanks for your help...up nice and early stupid clocks!!

 

[Shay]

Most likely reason is teeth. If he has suspected Cushings then I presume he is quite an old lad. Hay is far harder to chew than grass is - especially if you have the nice stalky stuff which is good for those prone to Lami.

You could try borrowing some of another livery's hay in case you have a duff batch he doesn't like the taste of. Or offer some hay replacer to see if he can manage that. Rather than rushing about buying bags of stuff ask around the yard and see who has what you can borrow a handful of to try.

As he has suspected cushings you need to be really careful not to overfeed or he will get lami. It might also be worth getting a formal diagnosis as there are treatments which can signfiicantly improve and prolong life for ponies with cushings.