Suggestions please re feeds

[Neversaydie]

I'm looking for a soaked feed that I can feed to give my horse his supplements.

He is very picky, he is basically on a barefoot diet so I'm very wary of mixes and anything with a higher than 15% starch content. He has eaten the soaked feed he is for the whole winter but has decided he won't eat it anymore. I have tried

Calm and condition
Veteran vitality
Equerry condition
Alfalfa nuts
Beetpulp
Purple solutions mash
Fast fibre
Fibre mash

I don't feed chaff in summer just mush to get the supplements in but I have been given handfuls of the fellow liveries chaffs to try but he is turning his nose up.

Anyone any ideas as to what next as he needs his supplements and I'm ready to throttle him. Currently he is being left in for as long as it takes for him to eat it all, but this is getting wearing and very time consuming running back and forwards to the yard.

Needs to be soaked, I only feed soaked feeds.

 

[be positive]

Mine all get soaked grassnuts, a couple would not eat fast fibre, one wouldn't eat speedibeet, alfalfa pellets are fairly strong smelling and a few turned their noses up at them but they all eat grassnuts no problem, they are not on your list so worth a try.

 

[nato]

I feed my guy Bailey's keep Calm and he loves it. Less starch and sugar than calm and condition too

 

[maesmynatchmidnight]

Just bought a rising 3 y/o from a herd and he had never had hard feed in his life and turned his nose up at everything HOWEVER he obsessed with Baileys High Fibre nuggets and he is not a greedy horse at all. They are really chunky so some people use them as treats but I give him a Stubbs Scoop and a scoop of ForagePlus and wet it down and he loves it.
Micronised linseed is also meant to be tasty if you feed them a mug of that too alongside his other feed as I have found that has also helped mine go barefoot

 

[Pocketr@cket]

Soaked grass nuts as they do smell quite strong and lovely with warm water allowed to cool. Would mint or fenugreek help if he's picky ?

 

[Toffee44]

How much supplement do you feed?

Can you make up an apple or carrot puree? No horse woyld turn their nose up at that surely!

Or my answer to everything at the moment is copra coolstance.

 

[huskydamage]

Mines very picky the only way I ever can get her to eat supplements is by putting them in her sugarbeet. She often picks the sugarbeet out and leaves the rest of the feed! Chucks it on the floor lol I feed bog standard mollased sugarbeet. I know most people don't like it anymore but it's the only thing she always eats with no fuss.

 

[Doormouse]

Or my answer to everything at the moment is copra coolstance.

Mine too. My daughters little welsh pony is amazingly very picky and she needs her meds so I give her the smallest handful of hot soak copra and she will eat anything in that. I also use it to get antibiotics, bute etc down the horses when required. They go mad for it and it is so strong smelling it seems to disguise everything in it!

 

[wench]

Grass nuts

 

[Toffee44]

Friend has started it on an old very fussy dog. Won't eat his dinner but is picking at the horse feeds.

ETA was meant to quote re copra

 

[VioletStripe]

I second Bailey's High Fibre nuggets - soak them and then add some dried mint as well? My horse used to be terribly fussy with feed but absolutely devoured that!

 

[Leo Walker]

For a fat cob mine is surprisingly picky! He doesn't like fast fibre, really isn't keen on Copra, will pick at speedi beet if its left with him. Hes going mad for agrobs at the minute. He gets the grass nut thingies soaked and then a tiny sprinkle of muesli so its not too soggy. All very barefoot friendly as well

 

[LouisCat]

Would you feed soaked, mushy calm and condition and then throw a couple of handfuls of dry pony nuts in it?
We had an old pony we were feeding C&C to as a different bulk feed to hay. He started refusing to eat it but with a bit of something else thrown in he'd eat it whilst searching for the nuts or mix that was in it

 

[indie1282]

Grass nuts.

 

[Neversaydie]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I will pick up a bag of grass nuts and I will try and source a bag of these fibre nuggets to see if he will stop being a pest and eat.

He has about 30g of three different supplements all powdered but all not that bad smelling and he eats them all normally, honestly having a fussy horse is a pain in the rear end.

 

[Theocat]

My old horse loved the high fibre nuggets, soaked into a mash.

I much prefer to feed soaked feeds, but the new horse doesn't like anything wet, so I'm back to just dampening - do you have to soak, or is it possible to see if he just has a preference for a dry / dampened feed with a texture? Might be worth a try.

 

[Neversaydie]

My old horse loved the high fibre nuggets, soaked into a mash.

I much prefer to feed soaked feeds, but the new horse doesn't like anything wet, so I'm back to just dampening - do you have to soak, or is it possible to see if he just has a preference for a dry / dampened feed with a texture? Might be worth a try.

Being honest it's a personal preference as I've yet to have a horse colic on a wet feed. He has had dry feeds or a dampened feed but my paranoia goes into overdrive and I end up worrying as I did have a horse given a dry feed of readigrass, pony nuts and a bit of beet pulp chucked on top and the horse choked and Colic'd, someone else fed the horse for me not realising the soaked mush in another bucket was the pony nuts soaked. Horse was ok and never Colic'd again with the nuts soaked. Just been something I've always done.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Those Baileys High Fibre nuts are 18% combined, not sure that is cushings or lami friendly ?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Grassnuts

 

[Queenbee]

Not going to suggest any other feeds as that has already been done, however I always add dry spearmint to my boy's feed as an appetiser, its also great for the digestive system. He also does not like mush, so when I used to feed him something like that I would always add a small amount of chaff to give it some bite - as a chaff I use a grass chaff - readi-grass or such like.