Horses won't eat my hydroponic sprouted barley shoots - suggestions?

[catembi]

In case hay is horrifically expensive or impossible to get this winter, o/h & I have been experimenting with hydroponics - sprouting barley to make an alternative forage. Apparently cattle farmers are heading in this direction, as is the Spanish Riding School.

So...we've managed to produce some trays of barley shoots which look quite delicious...and my 2 won't touch them! My sprouts look exactly like the ones in the picture...see link...and I'm very disappointed.

http://www.h2ofarm.co.uk/Science/Default.aspx

Can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong? The shoots are lovely & clean, not at all mouldy, absolutely fresh...in fact, they look far better than my rubbish hay. I've tried mixing them in with feed, putting them in a bucket to make them look like a bucket feed...and they are rudely left to one side. Very sad that my best efforts have been rejected...and that I won't be able to 'opt out' of any hay crisis, as I'd intended!

 

[*hic*]

Oh I'm sorry but that made me giggle! Ungrateful beasties you have!

In the hope that it makes you feel better I have a little pony staying with me at the moment. Until the beginning of the year she'd never been handled let alone fed apples. Now she has decided she prefers to eat pink lady apples. She will eat gala and granny smiths but won't touch either golden or red delicious.

Might I point out that the "Spanish Riding School" referred to in the link is in fact the Spanish Bit Riding School, located in the UK?

 

[Snowysadude]

We tried some on our yard but to buy in was too expensive anyway! As it goes the only horse that would eat it was my fattie (seriously eats anything!!) everything else completley rejected it - I think it might be more appealing when they are a bit hungrier in winter because in summer they are probably quite full with all of the grass!

 

[catembi]

I'm wondering if other grain sprouts might be more appealing? Not sure what though... My oldie (aged 38) who has Cushings was on the soaked oats diet til she got bored of it, so we had lots of unintentionally sprouted oats around the feeding area, & they weren't that interested in those either.

I'm baffled by their fussiness...the sprouts are green & fresh & look a billion times more appetising than my rubbish hay that was all the hay merchant had left, or my equally rubbish grass!

Oh well, at least if a whole yard of horses rejected them, then perhaps horses just don't 'do' sprouts...