Horse not eating?

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gemjar82

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I went up this morning to find that my stabled horse had not eaten his tea or his brekkie or his tub of dried grass he gets and had pulled most of his haylage out of his net and put it onto the floor. He seemed otherwise ok and his temperature was normal so i popped him out he had a roll then ran off. What can make them suddenly go off their food? He competed both days at the weekend then following a rest day had a jumping lesson last night. Could that have anything to do with it? I called my vet this morning but am still waiting for them to call back and am worried about my boy.
 
I wouldnt worry too much, my friends hunters always leave their dinner and brekkie the day after a hunt, and sometimes the day after that too. Depending on how hard they hunted the day before. They are still stressed/wired after all the excitement the day before. But they always come round and start stuffing their faces again!!
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I would see how he goes today and maybe call the vet if he still hasnt eaten by the morning? Try not to worry too much.
 
Some times a lot of hard exercise can send them off there food, which is why some race horses suffer from this.

You may been to give your horse boost with one of the following Equine America Vitamin B-12 Solution or Oral B Complex Paste or other similar one, which if you do have the vet, they may feel your horse will benefit from one as they stimulate appetite.

Has your horse ever suffered from gastric ulcers in the past? have you checked to make sure there are no small swellings in the throat, even so much as a kick or a bad knock (bruising) may put them off from eating for a day or so, but if he's picking at the grass then that is a good sign. The vet my do a blood test if your horse is seriously under the weather but if he's pretty perky, temperature is ok then I wouldn't panic. Is there any new horses in his field or on the yard that may be acting as a distraction from his food?
 
I wouldn't worry too much at the moment (particularly if he's now eating grass). My stressage horse goes off her hay / haylage / readi grass at the same time of year every year - as soon as the new grass starts poking through - I swear to god she literally hears it growing
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As soon as the grass is on it's way then she will be less keen to eat up hard feed too.

Only other thing I would say is that if he's still not eating check his temp etc again in case it's a very mild case of colic.
 
Thanks you all for your replies. I went up last night to find him munching on some grass and looking fine. On further investigation i have found his mouth bruised and red presumably from the NS bit i tries the night before for my lesson. I am having major issues trying to find a bit for him he is very strong and on the forehand in all 3 phases. I hacked him yesterday in my friends hackamore and he really seemed to love it. I feel awful about him poor mouth!
 
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