Horse won't eat...

FoxTrotx

FoxTrotx

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I moved my mare and her friend last Friday to a new yard. Since we've been there she has refused to eat her feed. She is still grazing and has eaten some hay but just sniffs her bucket feed and walks away.
I have not changed her feed in any way and she has always seemed to enjoy it up until now.
She is currently on;
HiFi molasses free
Micronised linseed (which I did get her to eat on its own tonight)
Brewers Yeast
Pro Balance +
Superflex

I tried mixing her feed with apple juice (grudgingly because of sugar content) but she still wasn't interested. She looks as though she's dropped a bit of weight but I could just be being paranoid as she looks far from terrible. Could she just not be hungry as they do have alot of grass? Should I just wait a little longer and see if she becomes interested in food again?
Anyone got any ideas on how to recapture her interest?
 
Would have thought the best thing to do would be to check her temperature and check her droppings, are they normal/regular. How's her behaviour apart from not wanting bucket feed? Is she listless ect.?

If there's lots of grass, it's been a long winter and she might just be enjoying the change too much.

Oh, check teeth as well.
 
I do hope so, I'm just such a worrier, lol. I have the vet coming next week anyway for booster jabs so can probably annoy him half to death with my little niggles...
 
Sorry, forgot to say did have a good look in her mouth as it did cross my mind she could have had something stuck. Her teeth were done in Feb and she was eating fine up until the move.
 
And also droppings look normal, I haven't taken her temp yet but will do tomorrow just to be on the safe side. She is a little listless, she is generally quite 'stressy' so I expected her to be a bit on edge.
 
Was hoping to see an update on this today - didn't want to post anything scary but just want to say get the vet if this continues - we lost a beloved horse this winter after just one week of being listless and off food - assumed wrongly was teeth, she had liver issues which don't appear until the liver is extremely compromised - we were too late. :( it could be the change but would urge caution.
 
Aah, sorry not to have updated, I wasn't sure anyone would be interested :o

She seemed very happy this evening, she was grazing when I arrived. She still wasn't interested in her feed but did enjoy an apple (then searched my pockets for more) so I'm hoping she is just full of grass. I do have the vet coming next week anyway so will ask him to check her over.

Really sorry to hear about your horse though, and thank you.
 
Ah good! Ours lost weight really dramatically as well as being off hard feed so let's hope yours is full of the green stuff.
 
Just a quick update, she ate her whole feed today and licked the bucket clean :rolleyes:

I'm sure they think up ways to worry us....relieved doesn't even begin to cover how I felt this afternoon!
 
I was going to suggest, if this happens again, could you feed in the morning instead or are they out 24/7? I found this worked with my boy in the same situation but he was coming in at night so was hungry enough to eat in the morning.
 
They are out 24/7 unless its forecast rain for 24 hours. I fed her after a good ride today (although that made no difference earlier in the week), she does seem alot happier after being ridden, which is odd as she found being ridden a chore at the old place, I think she actually enjoys it at the new yard. Funny creature.
 
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