Wits end with anorexic horse, ideas please.

In case everyone thinks I'm nuts (or a saint!) I plan to get a little video to show you why I bother with this horse!
 
Mine, with one exception, would all give their right hoof for a banana. Bet yours is like my one exception :( who acts like we are poisoning him.

I reckon mashed banana with a spoonful of honey surrounded by a delicate and delicious custard and served in a dessert plate possibly daubed (tastefully) with a raspberry jus.
 
Ladyinred said:
Mine, with one exception, would all give their right hoof for a banana. Bet yours is like my one exception :( who acts like we are poisoning him.

I reckon mashed banana with a spoonful of honey surrounded by a delicate and delicious custard and served in a dessert plate possibly daubed (tastefully) with a raspberry jus.
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Whod'yathinkIam? Raymond Blanc? :D :D :D
 
Ladyinred said:
Mine, with one exception, would all give their right hoof for a banana. .
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My fussy one didn't like bananas at first, it was only a couple of months watching my other one go mad over bananas persuaded him to try it and now he likes them.

In fact that is true of nearly everything, he is very suspicious of anything new so if I let him see the other one eating in and keep offering a little from time to time till he realises I'm not trying to poison him.
 
criso said:
My fussy one didn't like bananas at first, it was only a couple of months watching my other one go mad over bananas persuaded him to try it and now he likes them.

In fact that is true of nearly everything, he is very suspicious of anything new so if I let him see the other one eating in and keep offering a little from time to time till he realises I'm not trying to poison him.
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I've been trying that trick for three years :)
 
When you're trying him on new foods, do you try them with his meds in straight away or just as they are to start with? Wonder if just seeing if he likes the food on its own before adding meds so he can't get a taste for it/trust you're not trying to 'poison' him might be an idea.
Failing that I can't wait to hear how he gets on with the custard/mashed banana/raspberry jus concoction! ;-)
 
Chaps I've added the supplements into a big portion straight away, because I know from loooooong experience that there is simply no point in teaching him that something is lovely and tasty and then adding the minerals. The only way to do it is to add them immediately to a big portion and then reduce the portion to what won't put too much weight on him.

He's very clear what he will and won't eat. He took to bran immediately, and to linseed meal. Oats are third, but some way behind. Bran and linseed meal with brewer's yeast are head and shoulders above any other feed as far as he is concerned.

I'm settled at the moment on 200 grams of bran and a handful of straw chaff. I know that he will take hours to eat that again when the sun comes out, and that it will be too much to keep his weight steady in mid summer as well. I'm just resigned to upping his exercise if he gets a crest. I just hope he stays fit enough to do it.
 
Ladyinred said:
I reckon mashed banana with a spoonful of honey surrounded by a delicate and delicious custard and served in a dessert plate possibly daubed (tastefully) with a raspberry jus.
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Hey, don't knock it! One of ours used to love custard more than anything. She even ended up with a story about her and her custard addiction in the local paper.

Admittedly she was less fancy than this. Just a big ol' mixing bowl of custard she could slurp was her thing.
 
I may be being thick here but I thought modern bran was fairly low calorie (because we are better at stripping the wheat from the bran nowadays, so bran is now low nutritional value)
I know the mineral balance is off in bran, but I think you said you're correcting that, but I wonder why you are worried about sticking with bran on a calorie basis?
Personally if bran works then I'd stick with it.
 
I can't think that feeding 200g of bran would be enough to give a horse a crest either? There's beggar all calorific value in it. I've fed it to picky horses before.

Has it been mentioned about having a good EDT or experienced dentally trained vet out to examine his mouth? If he's sore anywhere, that wouldn't help his appetite.
 
little_critter said:
I may be being thick here but I thought modern bran was fairly low calorie (because we are better at stripping the wheat from the bran nowadays, so bran is now low nutritional value)
I know the mineral balance is off in bran, but I think you said you're correcting that, but I wonder why you are worried about sticking with bran on a calorie basis?
Personally if bran works then I'd stick with it.
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It only works when the sun shines if I starve him in his stable all day. That makes him anxious and is not good for his stomach in two ways at the same time :(

I just looked up bran and it's about 250 calories per 100g.
 
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Tiddlypom said:
I can't think that feeding 200g of bran would be enough to give a horse a crest either? There's beggar all calorific value in it. I've fed it to picky horses before.

Has it been mentioned about having a good EDT or experienced dentally trained vet out to examine his mouth? If he's sore anywhere, that wouldn't help his appetite.
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It would be strange that he's only sore when the sun shines and with bran not with haylage :)

He's got a very uncomplicated mouth and is due for his routine 30 seconds of dental treatment in July :)


We're going round in circles folks. I know I can't expect you all to read well over a hundred posts, but the questions coming up now have already been answered.

Thanks everyone for trying to help. I'll give you an update on custard powder!
 
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I have very fussy pony who sniffs medication a mile off - tried all the normal tricks of apple sauce, hiding in apple etc, then tried AGROBS MASH - he loves it mixed with warm water & meds straight in.

ycbm said:
This is a horse who always stops eating in summer, but this year is worse than usual. This is a matter of life and death, not just a few minerals to prevent me having to put shoes on him. He needs vitamin E and alcar to keep him on his feet at all.

So far I have tried:

bran
Oats
Linseed
Nuts
Sugar beet
Pink mash
Apple juice
Orange juice
Grated carrot
Grated apple
Fenugreek
Mint

His favourites are bran and linseed.

Some of these things will work for a day or three but not longer.

I have tried hand feeding him, including shoving it in the bit gap, which he is now refusing.

The most successful recently was giving him one handful and no more till that was gone. That's now failed.

I've split out the vitamin E and alcar which are essential and removed the nasty tasting copper, zinc and magnesium, but he still won't have it. There is too much alcar and vitamin E to hide in anything like an apple.

I had to leave him in on his own all last night with nothing but his bucket feed to force him to take the first stuff he's eaten in 48 hours.

He's in again now instead of in the barn with his haylage, but ignoring the bucket on his door. He will only eat from a door bucket, not from the floor.

If he doesn't die anyway, I'm going to rip his bloody head off if I don't find a way to feed him.

Ideas please!
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ycbm said:
It only works when the sun shines if I starve him in his stable all day. That makes him anxious and is not good for his stomach in two ways at the same time :(

I just looked up bran and it's about 250 calories per 100g.
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Ah - sorry, I misunderstood and thought that bran seemed to be working ok. Sorry you're having a tough time with him. Mine can be a bit fussy and that is annoying enough when she is a good doer and her supplements aren't essential.
 
cobgoblin said:
Get some Bird's Instant...much simpler to make up.
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I haven't gone to town yet. I won't be coming home without it :h

Tried him with re-leve at a different texture today and now he won't eat anything I put in his bowl! He's in prison now.

Anyone want to send me a kilo of agrobs mash?
 
ycbm said:
I haven't gone to town yet. I won't be coming home without it :h

Tried him with re-leve at a different texture today and now he won't eat anything I put in his bowl! He's in prison now.

Anyone want to send me a kilo of agrobs mash?
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Random thought, but could it be due to his feed bowl? Maybe taste of previous medicines in it or something he really didn't like.
Might be worth trying a different bucket for each new feed, or retrying some of the older Feeds in a new bucket.


Not sure if have been mentioned before, but what about feeding straights? Just maize and oats, barley?
Or even trying hot barley?
 
It's bad enough being asked to cook instant custard :D. I just can't imagine filling the kitchen with boiling linseed.
 
Linseed cooked in the microwave is less smelly than if it is boiled up on the hob. It's still fairly smelly, though.

Goodness, that takes me back, I used to cycle 9 miles to work and see to the horse en route, carrying a plastic tub of homecooked linseed jelly in the saddlebag :D.
 
Lost track of the things you've tried now but someone was talking to me recently about peas, and how they used to be a 'thing' but no longer - dried, garden or mushy peas. Apparently v high energy? Might be worth a go. Sorry if that's duplicating ideas you've already had.
 
Verdict:

The Drizzle has asked me to inform you all that he believes custard should be reserved for slapping into clowns' faces.

He did finish his prison stint before midday though, so I'm hopeful that he is putting two and two together about not being let into the barn with his mate until the bowl is empty. That would help a lot.


Thanks for trying!
 
horselady said:
How did the banana go down?
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I forgot the banana! I've just gone and let them out for the night and tried Drizzle with banana while Henry enthusiastically crunched a carrot to give him the idea. He sniffed it, tried it, and made a face like I'd tried to poison him. Safe to say it's probably not the answer :D
 
Tiddlypom said:
Linseed cooked in the microwave is less smelly than if it is boiled up on the hob. It's still fairly smelly, though.

Goodness, that takes me back, I used to cycle 9 miles to work and see to the horse en route, carrying a plastic tub of homecooked linseed jelly in the saddlebag :D.
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And the aftermath of a boil over is a thing to behold .
 
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