Horse who doesn't like hay

[mydaddysjag]

I have a horse who I got about a month ago, and since they, have been having a hard time getting to eat his hay. At his previous home, he wasnt on hay, only pasture. He'll occasionally nibble on his hay, but he's not eating anywhere near enough. He does clean up his pellets. We've already had the vet out for other unrelated issues, and they did agree with me that he needs to start eating more hay, or a hay substitute. Hes already on the max amount of grain he can safely be fed. I need to get a good bit of weight on him, and the whole "leave it there, he'll eat it when hes hungry" does not work on him. Ive tried straight second cut timothy, straight second cut alfalfa, orchard grass, and timothy/alfalfa. Those are my only hay choices in my area. He WILL eat a beet pulp/alfalfa pellet mash, but there's no long stem fiber in that, and Im sure in the long run its not best for him. I pulled that thinking that maybe he was just too full to eat his hay, but hes still skipping over the majority of the hay. The hay isn't coarse, moldy, etc. and my other guys dive right into it. Actually, when I put hay out in the field, he'll watch the other guys eat, but wont eat his own. Hes also fed in his stall twice a day. We can pull him in for a third meal if needed (when I was feeding him the mash, it was at lunch). If I don't have any other choice, I'll soak beet pulp and alfalfa cubes, or chops for him, but I would much prefer he ate the regular hay, I think its better for their digestive health. Hes still very, very standoffish, and isnt really halter broke, so I dont want to do anything to stress him out either.

Any input?

 

[Miniequine]

Hi,

Have his teeth and mouth been checked? It may be painful for him to eat hay?

~Sandy

 

[Becky]

I agree with having his teeth checked if you haven't already. He may just need a good float.

We acquired a 10 yr old mare with a filly by her side back in Sept. The mare was very underweight. She would eat all the pelleted portion of her feed including alfalfa pellets but would leave virtually all the hay I put out. No matter the type of hay. I treated her for ulcers, too, with no difference in her eating habits. After 3 months, the mare was still not in the condition I wanted her to be in. The filly was weaned and I had my vet out to check her teeth. She had a few hooks. Nothing major and her teeth were floated. Within a week, the mare started eating hay and putting on weight. She now is at a good weight and eats hay normally with the other horses.

So, it definitely could be a teeth issue if you haven't looked into that.

 

[disneyhorse]

Could be teeth. But give him time. My new guy wouldn't touch any pellets or grain for a week when he got here, now he scarfs down everything.

 

[Genie]

I have an older stallion who wasted his hay, dragging it around his stall.

I started chopping his hay and he is now enjoying the smaller bits.

His body condition has improved quite a lot.

I give him a hot mash twice a day (beet pulp,grain pellets,some sweet feed and oil) and the chopped hay for dessert.

 

[targetsmom]

I believe he is young??? And so maybe has never eaten hay?? If that is the case, it may just take him time to get used to it. I don't think there should be a problem feeding him the soaked alfalfa/beet pulp for now, but I would try alfalfa cubes because those will be a bit more like hay, even soaked. Some horses (older ones usually) do fine on a complete feed so you might also consider that. I like a complete feed (14% protein) for young horses because then I don't have to worry when I feed them a lot of it to get the protein levels up.

Do you have ANY grass where you are that you could hand graze him on??? We still have grass in our front lawn so we turn our bred mares out there for a while each day!

 

[shorthorsemom]

Ditto... check the teeth.

 

[mdegner]

Definitely have the equine dentist come out. Classic signs of dental issues that could be immediately remediated by a good float

 

[lucky lodge]

i to think it maybe his teeth..

 

[mydaddysjag]

Yep Targetsmom, it is a young horse, hes an 8 month old colt. We've had him or a month now, I really though he would have gotten used to the hay now. The vet was out to see him or the second time last riday, his teeth are ine. Th only place we have grass is in the ront yard in ront o the house. I would hand graze him there, but honestly, not a good place or him. Its next to the road, and the neighbors dogs go nuts barking when they see people. The horse is EXTREMELY skiddish, he was a pasture raised colt. I wouldn't really consider him even halter broke, and it is very, very hard to catch him. We're working on that though.

 

[Sandee]

Just give him time to adjust. Also sounds like you've been changing up on what you're putting out for him a lot. Stick with one type of hay and give him time. If he really looks like he's losing weight then try the alfalfa cubes soaked for a while but I'd still put out whatever hay you're using. He'll come around.

 

[wingnut]

How "stemmy" is the hay you're feeding? All of my girls have problems with "stemmy" hay and will waste it. For 6 months last year, I found hay that was uber soft and green and they couldn't eat it fast enough. Is there any chance you could get something like this to help with the transition? I think part of our "hard keeper's" problem when we got her was she was used to pasture but ultimately ended up on mainly hay after the first couple of months here (they ate down the dry lot and our pasture wasn't ready, so it was all hay for them through that winter/spring).

Our last load of hay we bought has been pretty stemmy and they're wasting it again. I like the idea of chopping it and will be trying that this week.

 

[midnight star stables]

Yep Targetsmom, it is a young horse, hes an 8 month old colt. We've had him or a month now, I really though he would have gotten used to the hay now. The vet was out to see him or the second time last riday, his teeth are ine. Th only place we have grass is in the ront yard in ront o the house. I would hand graze him there, but honestly, not a good place or him. Its next to the road, and the neighbors dogs go nuts barking when they see people. The horse is EXTREMELY skiddish, he was a pasture raised colt. I wouldn't really consider him even halter broke, and it is very, very hard to catch him. We're working on that though.

You lost your F's my Friend!

He is looking good now and you have done a lot of great thing for him, so that is a good sign. You are also working hand in hand with your vet which is great! If it were me, I'd keep offering the beet pulp and add soaked hay cubes. Keep offering hay. Seven found much of his food that I gave him "weird", but in time, he'd eat it. Don't ask me why, but the one thing that really helped him eat his hay was putting in in a hay net. Maybe because it was a bit like a toy? Give that a try too.

Good luck!!!

:yeah

 

[targetsmom]

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about the hay net, although I would use something safer, like a slow feeder with hunks of hay pulled out. Hanging it where a buddy could reach the other side might help too.

 

[Charlotte]

Did you say he's on ulcer meds? I'd sure get him on that if he isn't since he sounds like a very stressed young horse. and at that age I'd go with the soaked alfalfa cubes if he will eat them. That is actually a decent diet for him if he eats nothing else....then give him time and he will eventually learn to eat long stem dry hay.

I too like the suggestions of some hay in a busy snacker or some such....just to keep it in front of him.

 

[Lewella]

I had a similar problem with a mare I bought last year. Her issue wasn't hay though - she loves any kind of hay - but she'd never seen a pellet in her life, only whole oats. You would have thought I was trying to poison her the way she reacted when she reached in her feed bucket and it wasn't oats! I ended up buying her a bag of oats and after about a week of her getting used to her new home I started adding a little handful of pellets to her oats. At first she tried to avoid them but she'd end up eating a few and after several more days she started cleaning them up with the oats so I gradually added more pellets every day. It took about a month to get her to eat pellets with no oats in them but now she loves them. Some just take longer to get used to new foods than others. I'd do like others suggested and feed him what he'll eat and gradually introduce a little hay into his beet pulp/cube mash and once he's eating it gradually add more.

 

[dannigirl]

I have a similar problem when I wean my youngsters. They are used to just eating what I feed the mares and then after I wean them, they don't want the 'strange' stuff I feed to the youngsters and work horses. It usually takes up to 3 or 4 weeks of letting them have a little of what they are used to and adding the new.

Good luck. Nothing drives any of us crazier than a horse that will not eat.

 

[mydaddysjag]

All of the hay I have is super soft second or third cut, Im a little bit of a hay snob and wont feed anything stemmy. My timothy is seriously as soft as field grass. I cant feed him next to my other horses, both are a good bit bigger than him, and food aggressive. They will run him down the field if they even think I'm throwing them hay. Since they are so nasty to each other over food, I always pull everyone into stalls to eat. I had cut the mash for a week thinking maybe he just wasnt hungry after his grain and mash. Ill just get him back on the mash, and keep offering the hay, and just hope he'll come around to it. Hes gained a lot of weight since he's been here, but has a lot more to gain.

 

[Becky]

I didn't realize you were talking about a weanling. I would continue to get him to eat what he will. If he eats beet pulp, alfalfa pellets and cubes, there's not a thing wrong with that. He will eventually start to eat hay, but most of my weanlings prefer pellets, grain and chopped feeds as opposed to longer stemmed hay. The main thing is that he is eating. A young horses' digestive system isn't geared towards digesting a lot of long stemmed fiber at his age. So, what you are feeding him is appropriate for his age and should put weight on him.

 

[Marty]

"leave it there, he'll eat it when hes hungry"

Oh yes he will! If he's hungry that is. He is not going to starve himself unless there is something terrible wrong with him.

Not every horse takes a new move that smoothly and does not settle in that easily to a new program and new home. They are like little kids in a new school who are scared. My kids used to puke every morning before having to go to their new school for weeks on end they were so upset all the time. This can take more than a month. This boy is basically a baby and his whole world has been turned upside down. Thank heavens he is in the right home with someone who is catering to his every need. He has yet to realize how lucky he is to be where he is.

In the second place, he wants grass. He's wanting something green. That is how he was raised and all he knows and what is natural to him. Als, if you notice when you have had a horse with ulcers, or even colic, usually they don't want food or hay but will still nibble on grass, which I think is mother nature's recipe sometimes. He has to understand right now, grass is not on the menu. He will figure it out.

I would totally do ulcer meds. I also would remove his food for a while, days, which may "make him get hungry" and teach him to graze on hay, but in the grande scheme of things make him realize this is how this boat is going to float at his new address. I would not be bending over backwards feeding him all kinds of things just to make him eat. As I said, he's not going to starve himself once he gets the hang of all these new things going on in his life and gets his ulcers (which I suspect heavily) under control.

As far as hay, I love timothy but most big horses I have fed it to never really thought it was that much fun. They do seem to like the taste of orchard grass. I would not be feeding this boy alfalfa because you can "spoil" him on it to where he won't want anything else and also because it can make his kidneys work overtime. Last but not least, he most definately could be just way too full on everything else you are giving him and he's just not that hungry.

Not to worry, you are a super great keeper of the horse flesh and this shall all work itself out.