Not eating carrots

[KEK]

Hi,
My 8yo Connemara is all of a sudden refusing carrots. We've had him since we was started and this has never happened before. I'm retesting his bloods for laminitis as he also walked away from me yesterday when I went to catch him as is currently on grass due to the time of year, but he's sadly had laminitis before and not refused carrots. Any thoughts?
TIA!

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Tbh I don't understand why you are trying to feed carrots to a laminitis prone pony.

 

[ponynutz]

I think a laminitis-prone pony can definitely have carrots or bits of them in moderation and we don't have much information about pony's current condition or when he last suffered/how his diet is managed. One or two a week really won't hurt a pony who has previously had laminitis but is currently not suffering.

Sorry, KEK I'm of no use to the mystery of the carrot refusal but I think you're doing the right thing by him testing his bloods. Does his weight or anything else (struggling/refusing to walk, signs of lameness or sore feet, hot feet, raised digital pulse in his feet) suggest he might be at risk of or suffering from a relapse?

 

[KEK]

Tbh I don't understand why you are trying to feed carrots to a laminitis prone pony.

He had recovered from it, the laminitis was brought on by a steroid inj and being out of work.

 

[FieldOrnaments]

agree with the above, carrots are very sugary. I wouldn't keep a laminitic on lush grass either. Not sure why you think refusing carrots could be linked to laminitis, I'd be more wondering about teeth/mouth pain than feet or generally being full of grass and not wanting it.

 

[KEK]

I think a laminitis-prone pony can definitely have carrots or bits of them in moderation and we don't have much information about pony's current condition or when he last suffered/how his diet is managed. One or two a week really won't hurt a pony who has previously had laminitis but is currently not suffering.

Sorry, KEK I'm of no use to the mystery of the carrot refusal but I think you're doing the right thing by him testing his bloods. Does his weight or anything else (struggling/refusing to walk, signs of lameness or sore feet, hot feet, raised digital pulse in his feet) suggest he might be at risk or suffering from a relapse?

Thanks He’s not overweight and seemed ok with being ridden but will still check. No pulses etc. Most of the year he is on low sugar meadow grass hay, but this time of year there is actually some grass in the paddock.

 

[KEK]

agree with the above, carrots are very sugary. I wouldn't keep a laminitic on lush grass either. Not sure why you think refusing carrots could be linked to laminitis, I'd be more wondering about teeth/mouth pain than feet or generally being full of grass and not wanting it.

I don’t think it’s necessarily linked, I’m wondering about other causes. He’s not on lush grass, we live in WA and we don’t have any grass 90% of the year. We have a small amount at the moment which my husband is currently killing off. Teeth have just been done by vet dentist.

 

[Spotherisk]

Dental problems?

 

[ponynutz]

Thanks He’s not overweight and seemed ok with being ridden but will still check. No pulses etc. Most of the year he is on low sugar meadow grass hay, but this time of year there is actually some grass in the paddock.

That's ok I do agree partially with the others - I'd take him off the grass or muzzle him and stop feeding him sugary treats until you're sure he's not laminitic again. I'd also maybe have a dentist check as my first thought with refusing food would also be mouth pain. It could just be he's full of grass (which for a laminitic I would worry about, hence the above of limiting his intake).
Good luck to you!

 

[KEK]

Dental problems?

Thanks, teeth have literally just been done. Was wondering about gut upsets due to grass, maybe, but he’s never had it before and he hasn’t been moved

 

[KEK]

That's ok I do agree partially with the others - I'd take him off the grass or muzzle him and stop feeding him sugary treats until you're sure he's not laminitic again. I'd also maybe have a dentist check as my first thought with refusing food would also be mouth pain. It could just be he's full of grass (which for a laminitic I would worry about, hence the above of limiting his intake).
Good luck to you!

I’ll move him to the dead bit of paddock until bloods are back which should be today. He’s had carrots literally his entire life and my husband is a farrier and said definitely no pulses or increased temp of feet. Thanks for your thoughts all.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Carrots are mostly water.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Dave will decline a carrot if the grass is tasty.

 

[FieldOrnaments]

honestly if he seems well apart from refusing carrots i'd chalk it up to the grass tasting nicer. It could be his mouth/tmj is a bit achey from the dental gag/tools and will go with time, but either way horses give us enough to stress about ordinarily without trying to read too much into their food preferences. Kudos for wanting to catch something before it gets worse than necessary but honestly you might be worrying unduly here fingers crossed bloods are ok and it'll just be him enjoying the grass

 

[PurpleSpots]

Did the reluctance to eat carrots begin just after his teeth were done, or have they been done since?

How are you offering the carrots - are they whole meaning he has to really crunch them, will he take little pieces over a whole one?

Will he take apple slices instead of carrots?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Carrots are mostly water.

I often just go and give my 2 a carrot Louis has cushings and on prascend but 1 carrot a few times a week for a horse is not going to cause a massive problem.

Horses are a bit weird it took me 3 years to convince Arabi polo's are not poison

 

[TPO]

Carrots are fine to feed and are not high sugar treats. U less you're feeding kilos at a time there's nothing to worry about in that respect

If horse is earing everything else fine other than carrots I'd suspect dental issues. The only time one of mine struggled with them was when he was shedding caps

I'd get his mouth looked at again. Was it a vet specialist that did them or EDT/vet without specific training? I used to be pro EDT but since using a vet eith advanced training, and now regularly using a specialist dental vet, I'm anti EDT given what was missed >9yrs of very regular appointments. I'm talking advanced diastema and huge periodontal pockets.

So yeah, if everything else is fine and horse normal in every other respect I'd get the mouth re examined.

Equine Dental Clinic recently posted images of incorrectly rasped mouth (by a trained professional) that they had to fix and it was shocking. On their fb page I'd you fancy a nose.

 

[KEK]

I’m glad to hear carrots are fine to feed as that was my understanding too. I like to train using positive reinforcement where possible so he gets them when he is ridden. I break/bite off bits of whole carrots I stuff down my tights pockets.
Unfortunately he now appears to be slightly short on his LH, and would take a carrot from hubby fine so guessing he was not wanting to work. Waiting for bloods then if normal he’ll have to go into hosp for a lameness work up. Have fenced him off the grass. He was definitely trying to tell me something

 

[TPO]

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Info about carrots

 

[Keith_Beef]

Is it ok to give swede or turnip to a horse?

If he will eat something with a similar texture but different taste, it might just be that he's fed up with carrots.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Is it ok to give swede or turnip to a horse?

If he will eat something with a similar texture but different taste, it might just be that he's fed up with carrots.

Yeah they can eat those

 

[scats]

Carrots are not the evil, sugar-laden things that people think they are.
A laminitic is fine to have a carrot.

Echo those saying a dental issue.

 

[ThreeFurs]

My old dressage codger won't take a carrot from me after I've given him his monthly arthritis injection. He stands still for these, and is very good boy, but then he's still like 'how could you do that'? The rest of the time he's a gimlet-eyed gob face!

For the last few years I've been on treating after I give a little whistle. I saw this behavioral advice in an interview with high profile equine vet science researcher Professor Paul McGreevy, [from Sydney Uni, who keeps Frisians]. He does this with his own horses. His theory is horses quickly learn they only get a treat when they hear you whistle, so its stops them 'hunting about'. [good luck with that!]

Maybe your horse has associations, maybe between carrots and the dental work? With mine though, the treat rejection is only temporary.

 

[Tiddlypom]

It screams of a dental issue after the dentist visit to me. Hopefully just a minor thing, but get him thoroughly checked for fractured teeth etc.

You’re in Aus aren’t you? Who does teeth for you? Not all dentists are equal over here - like TPO I’ve had very poor quality work from a supposed trained non vet EDT over here, which the specialist dentist vet subsequently found and has corrected over time.

 

[Peglo]

My oldie stopped eating carrots when it got too tricky with her teeth. (Knew what was going on with them so wasn’t surprised) how’s your horse with a less crunchy treat?

My big one will also refuse her carrot if I happen to get to her at a spot in the field where they poo. It took a while to realise why she sometimes refused them and then I worked it out. I was feeding them by hand btw but she wouldn’t entertain it. I have to take her to a clean spot in the field.

 

[PurpleSpots]

I’m glad to hear carrots are fine to feed as that was my understanding too. I like to train using positive reinforcement where possible so he gets them when he is ridden. I break/bite off bits of whole carrots I stuff down my tights pockets.
Unfortunately he now appears to be slightly short on his LH, and would take a carrot from hubby fine so guessing he was not wanting to work. Waiting for bloods then if normal he’ll have to go into hosp for a lameness work up. Have fenced him off the grass. He was definitely trying to tell me something

Bless him for being so precise! Positive reinforcement is fantastic for giving them a voice that might otherwise be muffled isn't it. (My focus is that he'll take a carrot from someone else but not you, and that you give him carrots when riding which is likely an association for him.)

One of mine started to refuse carrots during a spell when she had to have multiple eye treatments each day (few years ago, she's fine now, and she's also returned to loving carrots wholeheartedly). She too associated the carrots with something she didn't want to be doing. She was still letting me do the eye treatments loose without protest, but she started refusing to accept the carrot slice afterwards, even 5 minutes later. It made me feel awful knowing that what I was asking her to do was making her feel sad enough that she didn't want the piece of carrot which she'd usually love. She seemed to have formed an association between the piece of carrot and the feelings she had about the plasma application stinging her eye. Though in her case I already knew what the health issue was, and was able to swop to a higher value 'special' treat that she was willing to take afterwards to make the eye treatment period of time more acceptable for her.

Hope you can get to the bottom of why your boy isn't right on his LH soon .

 

[Time for Tea]

Well you have had some good advice. I would just add that my New Forest pony can be fussy about carrots. Frequently leaves them, they are subjected to the sniff and reject test. It has to be the right carrot!

 

[paddi22]

did his teeth get done with powertools? you get some dentists that use them badly and can damage nerves etc. if it only started after his teeth got done i'd be looking at that. maybe get another dentist to check?

 

[Lucky Snowball]

I agree with possible dental but a lot of cheap carrots are stored for a ong time before sale. Buy some to of the range organic and you might find horse eats them fine. Please let us know. ( I’ve had it several times)

 

[KEK]

Thank you very much, everyone, for your time and thoughts. Much appreciated. The dentist was an equine vet that just does dental work and said his mouth was perfect (don't think we have EMTs here?)
I got his bloods back and although his glucose and ACTH are normal, his insulin is slightly elevated "mild insulin dysregulation" so I guess that makes him EMS. Looks like he can't tolerate the grass at all which is sad given we only have it such a short time. I will put him back on the glucose blocker and husband will put pads on.
I think it was exactly what PurpleSpots was saying, he was refusing the carrots due to the association with riding which must have been uncomfortable despite him not being lame until today