Racehorse not eating?

[only_me]

we have a very good racehorse currently staying in one of my stables for the week as owner is away and one of the liveries is schooling it for him. this horse is amazing - he is HUGE and startlingly handsome, and has the sweetest nature when handling him (not so when racing, hence the schooling

) he is worth a huge amount (owner offered riduculous amount but turned down as he believes horse will win cheltnam

)


BUT he is given a HUGE amount of hard feed a day, and at 2 scoops a feed (3 feeds) but he is not eating it all, and when he does eat some he only eats about a scoop/scoop and a half and always leaves some. he hardly ever touches his hay, and gets out in the field for about 4/5 hours.

he has lost a little weight. and is lacking a little in mucsle behind.

is the not eating thing due to the stress of being at a new place or do you think he needs a blood test/wormed etc? he is 100% in every other way.

thoughts?

 

[the watcher]

Change of routine/ change of surroundings/ even slight change to feed or hay is all enought to upset a horse which is used to a very specific regime

 

[PrincessDana]

Maybe, as you say, just the change in environment. Is he usually stabled at a racing yard? Racing yards are normally all hustle and bustle so maybe he's finding it strange if it's quieter than usual? Also, does he usually have turnout at his own place? If not, maybe the grass is filling him up and therefor he's not really hungry?

 

[hellybelly6]

It could be any of the above things, or perhaps an ulcer, the stress of moving may have made it rear its ugly head.

 

[Marchtime]

When I bought my first TB (Sammy) he came from a point to point yard although he had never raced. When we got him back to our yard he didn't eat for a number of days. We sought advice from a number of people all who said it was stress related and that if he didn't start to eat within five days then begin to worry. He did start eating on the fourth day. He also used to not eat the day after an event - the stress and excitement was simply too much for him.

 

[tikino]

i used to work in a racing yard and was head girl and we had this problem quite a lot. the trainer told me is was because they are so fit that they phycologically think they do not need to eat. when these horses didn't eat they just tried them with diffrent types of food but theywere not overly worried as it was something that happened quite often at one point we had 3 off there food all at once

 

[AmyMay]

I'd contact the owner and say you are a little concerned - and ask them how they would like you to proceed.

 

[Bossanova]

Try-

-Seperately the feedtypes into seperate bowls
-Feeding less but more often- 6 feeds if possible
-Feeding straight after exercise, this always works for my horse
-Feeding haylage as well
-Feeding in the field