Horse that doent know what to do with hard feed!

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sprite1978

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My new horse arrived from Ireland on sunday, and he is a little under conditioned. So I really need to get some weight on him before the bad weather really starts. He is quite fine anway and still a baby at 5YO.

The problem is, its plainly obvious that he just doesnt know what hard feed is! he just sniffs around it and pushes it about. Oh....and he is completely indifferent about POLOs...I`m just not used to it. I normally get mugged by my other horse!
 
Maybe try making it really appetising for him, chopped up carrots, apples ect. Make it really yummy and mayne feed another horse infront of him or in his sight so it makes him think he's missing out on something? :)
 
try sugar lumps! he will get used to hard feed - try just a bit of chaff first. I have 1 mare that hasnt seen a hard feed before - started her on a bit of chaff and now she has gone from sniffing the bucket scared to dancing on the spot in eagerness for her bucket x
 
We have recently had a pony like this, came from a stud, and never had hard feed or treats, soon got the hang of having a handfull of paddock mix, with a few carrots and apples, she now wickers for her feed, up the feed to sugar beet, hifi, and mix now
 
You may have to try several until you find something he will eat,most will eat a HiFi type feed then gradually add something else to it.Make sure he has plenty of hay/haylage and dont worry he will learn to eat something in time.
I have an Irish horse in the yard that still wont eat a polo,apples had to be cut into tiny pieces and a herbal treat is still a bit scarey,he does eat his feed though.
 
from experience, best way to do it, some grass in a bucket with small amount of mashy or beetpulpy feed, then gradually increase the feed and decrease the grass once its all getting eaten up. doesnt usually take long for them to get the hang of it
 
I bought a 2 year old from a stud, she didn't know what feed or treats were, she turned her nose up at apple, carrots, mints, herbal treats the lot. A month down the line she loved everything and can't get enough of the yummy stuff :D
 
sprite1978 said:
I`ve given him sugarbeet and some pasture mix, but i might add a touch of molasses to make it more apealing.
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I've owned a few horses who really didn't like sugar beet. I've also had a mare who would tip her feed on the floor and walk away (in the worst of weather) if it contained certain types of oil.

Perhaps try him on just the mix - what brand is it you are feeing him?
 
Could you try him on readigrass ? Dampen it slightly in the bucket with warm water ( it will smell like wet grass ;)). If he is happy to eat that, you could then maybe try adding a little soaked alphabeet. This should all taste like grass to him and hopefully he will start tucking in. Next, I would add a tiny amount of balancer. Make up his dampened readigrass and soaked alphabeet, and put a tiny amount of balancer in to begin with. It will soak up some of the moisture in the dampened (not sloppy wet) feed. If all goes well, increase the amount of balancer so he is getting enough nutrients. Only add new ingredients to his dampened readigrass a tiny bit at a time so that he doesn't get put off by new, strange tastes and smells. If he does well on this, you could add a few oats (rather than a commercial mix) if he needs a bit more energy for working. Coming straight off the boat from Ireland, it's very likely that he has never had any hard feed before. Go for the radigrass option and build it up slowly from there. A lot of Irish sellers don't generally feed their horses. Horses in work get oats and not much else. (I've worked in Ireland with young show horses and only the working ones got oats, nothing else). Good luck and please let us know how you get on with him. :)
 
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