Wits end with anorexic horse, ideas please.

I know it sounds strange but my lad who can smell bute a mile off and will not go near a bucket with it in practically mugs me for bute laced strawberry fromage frais.

All else fails mix the powder with natural yoghurt and syringe it down him
 
I've found re leve a great feed, Billy started on it when he was 6 and I couldn't get the weight on him. He's still on it 5 years later :p

Definitely give it a go, even Shetland will mug me for that even over the cheap molasses mix lol. Hope it works!
 
Gosh I am no help at all....you very kindly donated your redundant bag of grass nuts to me a few weeks ago. I have only just seen this as I've not been on here for a while but I'd be happy to drop you a tub of copra up to see if that might work?
 
dancingkris said:
Gosh I am no help at all....you very kindly donated your redundant bag of grass nuts to me a few weeks ago. I have only just seen this as I've not been on here for a while but I'd be happy to drop you a tub of copra up to see if that might work?
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Got it on order thanks DK, it should arrive Monday. I hope your guys are enjoying the nuts.
 
Also worth working out what texture he prefers. The fussy Musli loving one is not fan of sloppy feeds and prefers something with a bit of bite. He will eat Copra but only if I get the Musli:Copra ratio correct, too much Copra and he refuses to eat.
 
Auslander said:
It's nothing like Fast Fibre! It's a mix, and although it's supposed to be low starch/low sugar, it looks and smells like horsey junk food!
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Absolutely. I only know of one fast fibre and it couldn't be more different to re-leve.

I highly rate re-leve. Horses seem to just love it.
 
I don't know if you have heard of The Natural Horse Feed Company? Theyre on facebook or i can send you Sue's number. As the name suggests shes a massive advocate of low sugar barefoot friendly feeds. She can source stuff which otherwise might be difficult to obtain or offer samples for you to try to avoid having to buy full sacks of feed that end up being given away (*wink*). Sue is a mine of information and a very interesting person to chat to and she travels all over our area delivering.
 
I think a lot of the fast soak mashes have it in. I think it's the inulin fibre that was on the sleep program the other night. That's why they are so good for the gut, inulin (the fibres found in pulses) is a big pro biotic.
 
Well that's two more to knock off the list. I got some good size samples of Dodson& Horrel Safe and Sound and Fibre something-or-other from Chatsworth today. Both smelt superb - to me anyway. Reaction to the first? Pah! Reaction to the second? Meh.

Very intrigued what happens with copra and re-leve.

He ate today. Coming in out of a night in the rain helped :)
 
ycbm said:
Well that's two more to knock off the list. I got some good size samples of Dodson& Horrel Safe and Sound and Fibre something-or-other from Chatsworth today. Both smelt superb - to me anyway. Reaction to the first? Pah! Reaction to the second? Meh.

Very intrigued what happens with copra and re-leve.

He ate today. Coming in out of a night in the rain helped :)
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Re-leve is the only thing that tempted my insanely fussy horse into eating his medication (he has RER) but I had to balance the slightly higher sugar levels with the more urgent requirement for him to eat his ulcer meds. I had tried literally everything else. Good luck!
 
Copra arrived at eight. Brought in a cold, wet, hungry horse. He dived into his feed with added copra. I'm just about to crack the champagne when he pulls a face, spits out the mouthful and refuses to eat any more. Replace it with just bran, straw and supps and he ate it all.

DK do you want a full bag of copra, a chat and a coffee for ten quid?

Bring on the re-leve!
 
ycbm said:
Copra arrived at eight. Brought in a cold, wet, hungry horse. He dived into his feed with added copra. I'm just about to crack the champagne when he pulls a face, spits out the mouthful and refuses to eat any more. Replace it with just bran, straw and supps and he ate it all.

DK do you want a full bag of copra, a chat and a coffee for ten quid?

Bring on the re-leve!
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Horses. They always do what you least expect. It's the law.
 
_GG_ said:
Absolutely. I only know of one fast fibre and it couldn't be more different to re-leve.

I highly rate re-leve. Horses seem to just love it.
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My (previously ulcery) horse loved it - me, not so much, when he spent some time cantering round the stable after a days' worth of eating it. He's not allowed it now, until he's fit enough to work hard enough to use up all the extra energy it gave him.... I'm thinking Badminton maybe, or the Grand National......
 
Sukistokes2 said:
All I can say is thank the lord i don't have a fussy horse!!!
YCBM you have the patience of a saint!
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Unfortunately, I don't. I swear I'm going to rip his head off if the re-leve doesn't work! It's just a good job that he is extremely pretty and a great mover :)
 
spacefaer said:
My (previously ulcery) horse loved it - me, not so much, when he spent some time cantering round the stable after a days' worth of eating it. He's not allowed it now, until he's fit enough to work hard enough to use up all the extra energy it gave him.... I'm thinking Badminton maybe, or the Grand National......
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Oh joy. I have that to look forward to then :)
 
See if you can get a sample of the baileys Stud Balancer. It sounds random but my guy was a picky devil and it worked for him. it is expensive to buy a bag to test but give them a ring
 
Hi ycbm. I'm afraid I've not read right through the posts but I just wondered how old your horse is? I don't suppose his drop in appetite could be anything to do with Cushings could it - have you had him tested at all? It's just that Cushings affects them seasonally and when my horse first had it, he lost his appetite big time - which then got worse when he started on the medication (Prascend), which is a known side effect.

The other thing would be whether he might have any mouth ulcers which particularly affects my horse in the Spring. He recently went off his feed and it turned out that it was due to a slight gum infection due to impacted feed between his teeth and a small ulcer on the side of his tongue due to a slightly sharp edge on his tooth - his teeth are checked every 4 to 5 months so it's didn't take long for it to cause a problem.

Anyway, ref feeds to tempt your horse, when he started on Prascend, I'd literally tried every feed from my local feed merchant, then I bought a reduced bag of Topspec Comprehensive Balancer as the bag had torn, plus also their Topspec Cool Condition Cubes. I was totally amazed when I offered him that because he loved it - he was fed four small feeds a day and fairly quickly picked up his condition. I've suggested it to others and it does seem to tempt the fussy eaters.

Good luck - I know how worrying it is when they keep turning their noses up at feed.....and it's expensive!
 
It's official. I have the only horse in the world that won't eat re-leve. I thought it smelt wonderful. He spat it all over me.

I give up. Thanks everyone for all your suggestions, but I've now offered him all the most tempting foods and he has refused them. His favourites are plain bran (with calcium added to balance the phosphorous) and linseed when I need more calories. So that's what he gets. And he'll come in of a morning and stay in his stable until he's eaten it. The risk of ulcers is lower than the risk of PSSM, so that's how it will have to be. Roll on September, he'll eat again then.

Sigh.

Thanks again folks.
 
ycbm said:
It's official. I have the only horse in the world that won't eat re-leve. I thought it smelt wonderful. He spat it all over me.

I give up. Thanks everyone for all your suggestions, but I've now offered him all the most tempting foods and he has refused them. His favourites are plain bran (with calcium added to balance the phosphorous) and linseed when I need more calories. So that's what he gets. And he'll come in of a morning and stay in his stable until he's eaten it. The risk of ulcers is lower than the risk of PSSM, so that's how it will have to be. Roll on September, he'll eat again then.

Sigh.

Thanks again folks.
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Seriously try the soaked hay cobs and banana.
 
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