How to get horse to eat supplements

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Tayto

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My mare is a very good doer so I feed her a teeny amount so she can have forage plus but I can't get her to eat the forage plus.

This is what she gets twice a day -
Half a cup of fast fibre
Scoop of micronised linseed
Scoop of forage plus

I tried adding dried mint to make it more appealing but that didn't make any difference. Then i tried garlic but still nothing. I have now started adding a small handful of cool fibre as she loves that and even that won't make a difference.

She eats the feed without the forage plus in it but even if I add a teeny bit in she turns her nose up at it

I added the forage plus really gradually over 2 weeks and at first she was ok but after I started adding more than half a scoop she wouldn't eat it. I reduced the amount and tried adding it gradually again but she just won't eat it.

What else could I add to make it a bit tastier? I am reluctant to try apple juice as I need to keep the amount of sugar to a minimum.....

I have heard of people adding aniseed - has anyone had good results with this and if so, where is the best place to buy?

Someone also suggested swapping the fast fibre for speedibeat which I could do as a last resort - but would rather she just ate the fast fibre as I have a huge bag of it!
 
They are all different, like different things etc. I managed to get my horse to eat forage plus by adding a good scoop of bran. Over time I have been able to reduce this down to just a handful of bran as it isn't very good nutritionally I don't think but is very pallatable.

We still have the odd day where he won't eat it all but mostly he does. You can buy small bags to try in health food shops rather than buying a big bag
 
The other thing is to stop stressing about her eating supplements which the majority of horses just don't need! Horses have survived millions of years without added minerals and that does include all the ones that have been domesticated.

Instead give her free access to a multi mineral block.

The Marmite suggestion is good, another one is to add Peppermint Oil to some warm water and damp the feed.

For the really difficult ones put some Vicks Vapour Rub just inside each nostril then they can't smell the added stuff. Some of which stinks.
 
Try a different supplement? Horses aren't stupid and Id never force a horse to eat something there is prob a reason. Mine will lick their supplement out of the container given the chance.
 
Loving what you are trying to feed though. I have one of the mine on the same as he is a cushions boy and have to keep out the sugar. He is picky and doesn't gobble it down and if I have to get anything exciting in like bute or probiotic I have to syringe it. He knows where the feed room is though and where the sugar mixes live and quite regularly steers me off in that direction and will happily trough on them until pushed back out! It is a never ending battle for me too! I figure as he is in retirement and 21 that a scoop of the bad sugary stuff once a week is a nice treat. Not helpful advice but though I would join your club of picky eaters and say hi!
 
Tnavas said:
The other thing is to stop stressing about her eating supplements which the majority of horses just don't need! Horses have survived millions of years without added minerals and that does include all the ones that have been domesticated.

Instead give her free access to a multi mineral block.

The Marmite suggestion is good, another one is to add Peppermint Oil to some warm water and damp the feed.

For the really difficult ones put some Vicks Vapour Rub just inside each nostril then they can't smell the added stuff. Some of which stinks.
Click to expand...

You are so right! I put her on the forageplus in a desperate attempt to help her transistion to barefoot as a lot of people told me it helped support the feet and helped with things like white line disease.

Long story short - that didnt work out and she is now back in shoes but I wanted to continue the supplement as it cost a fortune and was interested to see if it actually made any difference...
 
Tayto said:
You are so right! I put her on the forageplus in a desperate attempt to help her transistion to barefoot as a lot of people told me it helped support the feet and helped with things like white line disease.

Long story short - that didnt work out and she is now back in shoes but I wanted to continue the supplement as it cost a fortune and was interested to see if it actually made any difference...
Click to expand...

Very few horses will eat coppery tasting supplements. If a horse licks the bucket that has nothing bar a bit of fast fibre and a supplement, the supplement probably doesn't have enough copper to make much of a difference ;) Just because they don't eat it, doesn't mean they don't need it. The issue is that if the forage has the correct balance of copper/zinc to iron, they are eating it in tiny amounts in each mouthful, so don't notice. If the forage doesn't have the correct balance, we have to try to persuade them to eat it all in one go, so it tastes very strong.

The Forageplus can be difficult to coax into horses, and I have to admit I swapped over to the Equimins Advance pellets for that reason. However if I do need to get them to eat the Forageplus, I throw a handful of high fibre cubes into the feed before adding the supplement, wet the feed, allow the cubes to break down a bit, and then add the powder and mix immediately before feeding. Keeping the copper/zinc from getting wet and oxidising makes the taste less noticeable.
 
Tayto said:
My mare is a very good doer so I feed her a teeny amount so she can have forage plus but I can't get her to eat the forage plus.

This is what she gets twice a day -
Half a cup of fast fibre
Scoop of micronised linseed
Scoop of forage plus

I tried adding dried mint to make it more appealing but that didn't make any difference. Then i tried garlic but still nothing. I have now started adding a small handful of cool fibre as she loves that and even that won't make a difference.

She eats the feed without the forage plus in it but even if I add a teeny bit in she turns her nose up at it

I added the forage plus really gradually over 2 weeks and at first she was ok but after I started adding more than half a scoop she wouldn't eat it. I reduced the amount and tried adding it gradually again but she just won't eat it.

What else could I add to make it a bit tastier? I am reluctant to try apple juice as I need to keep the amount of sugar to a minimum.....

I have heard of people adding aniseed - has anyone had good results with this and if so, where is the best place to buy?

Someone also suggested swapping the fast fibre for speedibeat which I could do as a last resort - but would rather she just ate the fast fibre as I have a huge bag of it!
Click to expand...
I find with one who can refuse it is to make it up at least half a hour before feeding and more carrier. I have found those of mine that have grazing can be much less inclined to eat FP especially in Spring. Those are fed before they go out as opposed to when they come into the yards.
 
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