Poor Doer TB won't eat, should I worry?

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Ride_2_Live

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Ok, bit of a long one so apologies in advance, it might be something or nothing!

To cut a long story short, 17 year old, 17hh poor doer stressy thoroughbred gelding had a mysterious virus/illness/seasonal depression/loss of appetite spell back in December and has since picked up but is now going back over again and off his feed. He's turned out with another horse on poor grazing, has haylage put out at night and fed in the field seperately. I'm lucky if he eats a few mouthfuls of his feed, he's just not interested no matter what's in it :confused:here's a list of what we have tried : calm and condition, cubes and mixes of varying brands, linseed, oil, sugarbeet, chaffs, molasses, peppermint flavourings, apples, carrots but the bucket is never cleared! I know if he was that hungry he'd eat it but with the bare field, his workload increasing and his age, breed and temperament against him in the battle of condition I'm beginning to worry about him as it getting progressively worse. He's wormed up to date, had his teeth done recently, his bloods are clear and he seems happy and content in himself, should I be concerned? Ideas of what we could try or what you would do in this position? Any advice welcomed, good or bad. Thank you :)
Here is a picture of said horse taken this morning
IMG]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad311/Ride_2_Live/Neddies/08042011039.jpg[/IMG]
 
He is not really looking poor from that photo, given he has been poorly and coming out of winter!
But if you are really worried, can you not feel him in the stable? That way he can come back to it overnight.
 
I had this with my TB earlier in the year and he dropped a lot of weight. I split all the different feeds into different buckets so he had a bucket of chaff/readigrass another with nuts another with sugarbeet another with mix to see what he was prepared to eat. put a ball with nuts in the field with him plus a large bucket of chaff and then as he started eating the bits he fancied he seemed to get his appetite back
 
I wish my stressy tb mare looked as healthy.He looks in good condition to me.Mine eats loads and until grass is really abundant never holds the weight that yours has on. There is probably more grass than you think.:)
 
Don't feed him for a while (when I say this I mean bucket feed), maybe he's been too spoilt for choice and will appreciate a feed when he either a bit more hungy or fancies something more tasty to eat, he's bright and perky and his bloods are still clear and you know this virus has not come back (which they do) then I wouldn't worry too much, then just introduce it back but in very small amounts.

Have you tried Readigrass? will he eat this on its own, if he does then you could add some nuts to it and introduce weight gain type feed back into his meals that way.

Can you make sure he's ample hay or haylage in his field if it's sparce? but introduce it in small amounts so he looks forward to it and gets into a routine of feed time, then eventually you can leave it there all the time for him.

Does he eat alone? sometimes company (providing they don't fight of couse) encourages them to eat as its a bit of competition and social time.

Apple Cider vinegar, this increases the appetite, could be worth a try, as well as being great for joints and coat.

He looks pretty much spot on on the photo, I can see though why you are worried because obviously you don't want it drop off if he's not eating up but maybe after a rest bite, he'll start to eat up again, maybe your mixing too much up in the bucket?
 
He doesn't look poor at all, I think. If you would like him to eat more, it's worth trying to feed him after exercise, so, after you have ridden, give him some water and wait about an hour, then feed.
 
If that's a recent photo - he looks great.

With all these things though - if you're worried about weight then either get him on to better grazing - or feed adlib haylage (not just once a day).
 
I think his weight is spot on, I certainly wouldn't want anymore weight on him. I agree with the others perhaps just give adlib hay and I would give him a balancer so you know he is getting all he needs.

My 2 are the opposite and live off fresh air, they are now out 24/7 and all they get is a balancer and a handful of chaff for supplements and they have never looked better coatwise/healthwise however I just need to get more weight off them!! It could also be because the grass is coming through, my big lad wouldn't eat his short feed for 3 days which was driving me mad as he wasn't getting his very expensive supplement but now he has calmed down with the grass he is eating again.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice and reassurance :) I am happy with hs condition at the minute, all things considered, I just worry about him loosing it quickly, as he has been known to do.
I can't feed him in the stable as he dislikes being in, he will pick at a tea overnight if he is, but refuses to eat breakfast (in eagerness to be turned out) but also box walks. If I fetch him into the stable from the field to feed him he just looks at me unamused as to why he has been brought in and won't even entertain the idea of even looking in the bucket! He is also the same as this after ridden, not interested in food in the slightest (even after a good 2 hours) and shan't be tempted by anything other than a token polo.
He is fed in the field in a little pen (as in the picture) as he would quite happily share or donate his bucket feed to his greedy friend if they weren't seperated! He defo doesn't fight when it comes to feeding, if anything they will have their heads stuck together eating the same mouthful! He always comes down to the haylage on a night and must have his fill as there is always some left in the morning and he is the boss between the two so I know if he wanted it, he would chase the other horse off, but again they are like a married couple and generally happily share everything!
He definately is spoilt on the food front! If he knows I am around he will look and whinny to me, I have unfortunately encouraged this, as being the softie I am, have gone and brought him something else when he doesn't want whatever he'd got - so inevitably I have made a rod for my own back and made him be fussy and demand different feed, although now I have run out of different things to try! :( if I disappear, I have spied on him and sometimes when he realises I am not coming back (at least for a while) he has picked his dummy back up and reluctantly tried to eat what he has.
Think perhaps cutting the feed out or right back, just for a short period may encourage the appetite and novelty of feed to return (hopefully), in the mean time adlib haylage to supplement the poor grass until they move to summer pasture in June which will support them for a couple of months before it will be barren again the the haylage will be brought back out :( I dislike the quality of grazing but its the only yard in the area with year round turn out and there is no way I would stable him for 20 hours a day in winter, it wouldn't be fair to him given his temperament and dislike for stabling.
Thanks again :)
 
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