update on hi fi vs hay

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Christmas_Kate

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Okay, so last night i left him with 1kg of Hi fi, and half a slice of hay (both soaked).
Went down this morning to find he'd left the Hi Fi and eaten all the hay
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. He was shouting at me for his food.
He went out for a ride, came back and tucked into the next lot of hay.
Went to muck out this evening and tied him up with his usual hi fi and carrots. He picked out all the carrots and I heard a massive banging noise, looked out and his bucket of feed was across the yard.
Finished what i was doing and took him out for a bit. Came back and offered him what was left of his feed (I always give him something when he's tied up or he gets into mischief). He picked it up with his teeth, and literally thew it across the yard in a temper!!
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.
Me thinks he has now gone off Hi Fi.
I dispair, I really do. At last check he had again eaten all of his hay.
 
I have to say whenever I have switched horses onto HiFi Lite they have never been too amused however they have no option so they eventually get the hang of the taste and after a week or so they seem to eat it no problems.

My laminitic pony was on ad-lib HiFi Lite for months and months with just a teeny handful of Farriers Formula sprinkled on the top. After a few days she didn't seem to mind it any more, but as I say she had no option but to eat it.
 
I think HiFi Lite is similar to those slimmer's breakfast cereals for humans - you will only eat it if you are really hungry! My old pony wouldn't eat the stuff at all, although she liked Spiller's Happy Hoof. It is worth persevering with the rest of the bag to see if he will take to it, but if he still won't eat it you could try Happy Hoof instead.
 
Yep, Jelly used to do that til I mixed a small amount of Speedibeet into it, then she was quite happy to much it.I literally used a 100g dryweight of the SB and made it quite sloppy, then mixed it in et voila, one happy pony
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Keep persevering with him....if he's hungry he'll eat it....he is on a diet afterall!!
 
can you put a sprinkle of mint on it?

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if he still won't eat it you could try Happy Hoof instead.

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Yeah all horses LOVE that stuff!(Dont know much about it though as dont feed it, but people at my yard do)
 
Maybe he was just off his food generally due to his recent move. If he's eating the hay up now then at least you know he's getting plenty of fibre (which I think was you're initial concern). If you are just giving him a token feed after his work then you could just get in a bag of high fibre cubes and give him a handful of them and get him a vit/min lick for his stable perhaps.
BTW: my shettie(now he's at home) gets a scoop of hi fi lite, a handful of pony nuts and some sloppy speedibeet to wet it down twice a day plus ad lib hay. This maintains his weight but doesn't put any on and he doesn't do any work.
 
The aged shettie on our yard is given Dodson and Horrells safe and sound - it's a bit more interesting than Hi-fi lite or happy hoof, as it's got nuggets in it.
We've just started our cobs on it, and it's their favourite roughage so far.
 
Ahhh well. At least you know he's eating his hay now. Cheaper than the Hi-Fi.

In my limited experience, they won't starve themselves anyway! I assume his teeth have been checked? My Shetland had really over grown hooks when I first had the dentist to him. Being a companion only, I think he was often over looked for dental care assuming it not to be so important to him being as he's not in work. He certainly eats more happily and is generally a more pleasant soul since his mouth was sorted out.
 
My little ones are on Super Molli-chop Lite. Suitable for Laminitics and has little alfalfa pellets in it. They think they're getting a treat with the pellets and wolf it down!
 
well, I have hit on this idea now (I am NOT going to waste 3/4 of a bag of feed lol) of putting a little apple juice in the water I use for damping down his Hi Fi. His favourite things are apples if I only use a teensy bit, just for flavour, I can't imagine it will add much sugar to it.
I think his biggest problem is he knows he has a snackball with carrots in it, he literally threw himself on it yesterday.
 
he is going out 24/7 soon, as the grass is fab, so I'll see how he gets on with the Hi fi / apple juice combi lol, and if not then try the Dengie Good doer, I've heard alot of good reports on it.
 
The Good doer has a higher sugar content than the HiFi Lite though, so just be aware of that. I know it's such a nightmare trying to get weight off ponies who are by nature prone to carrying a few extra pounds...I think you're doing everything right for the little fella, who is so cute I could just eat him
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