|
|
Discussion on Eats grain but picks at hay
|
| Author |
Message |
New Member:
dmcall
|
Posted on Friday, Feb 20, 2009 - 5:52 pm:
I have a standardbred race horse from New Zealand. When he first came here, he ate every piece of hay I would give him. We usually feed Timothy hay. He was racing very well. Then he started "tying up". His blood showed that he was dehydrated. We have been working on that and seem to see an improvement. He eats all the grain that we give him but he just picks at his hay. He is drinking water pretty good. I have checked his throat and there doesn't seem to be any problems there. Is there any reason why he would stop eating his hay? Usually, if a horse backs off eating, it is the grain and not the hay. I can understand him not liking a particular bale or cutting but he doesn't seem to like any of it. We even bought some bagged Timothy and he picks at that to. Any suggestions?
|
Member:
mitch316
|
Posted on Friday, Feb 20, 2009 - 6:24 pm:
I have a standard bred walking horse who had the same problem, and his ended up being a bad tooth, believe it or not. If you checked his throat, I would be at a loss unless he is on really good pasture and is just not hungry for hay right now, but being the time of year it is, I doubt that would be it.
We had a buckskin filly who we rescued at 18 months, and she had never been given hay at all and refused to touch it. We used a alfa alfa timothy mixed cube, and it jump started her into liking it all. I have heard of horses backing off of hay if there was heavy pesticide or herbicide residue in it (that would cause dehydration too, BTW). But that is about all of the ideas I have. If he was a heavy eater before, I would say it is probably health related, but that is just a guess.
|
Member:
digger89
|
Posted on Friday, Feb 20, 2009 - 6:40 pm:
My 7 year old paint (who used to vacumn his stall) quit eating his hay when he developed 2 small gastric ulcers. He was still happy eating grain, treats, etc. During the ulcer workup blood tests showed us that his frequent slight soreness after a hard workout was due to low-grade tying up. A muscle biopsy showed he has recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis. A low starch, high fat diet, more frequent and smaller hay feedings, 24 hour turnout, and ranitidine have done wonders for him Don't know if any of this is of help to you, but good luck. Sarah
|
Member:
paul303
|
Posted on Friday, Feb 20, 2009 - 8:47 pm:
My QH mare was heavily shown in Canada and the US until she was 6. She then had 3 foals before I acquired her when she was 11 ( from Canada ). She was funny at times about eating hay and would sometimes turn away from feed. Within a year and a half of purchase she had an "attack" bad enough to rush her to the clinic where it was discovered that she was "riddled with ulcers". She spent 5 days in clinic and did the Gastroguard cycle for 8 wks. Been fine since. She lives in a stress - free environment with me, but came from a pretty demanding life. Your horse has had a lot on his plate, coming all the way from New Zealand - not an easy trip - plus having a racing career. Ulcers could be an item to consider.
|
Member:
mitch316
|
Posted on Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 - 3:06 am:
I hadn't thought about ulcers, but would think that would affect grain as well. Maybe if it was a mouth or upper digestive ulcer the roughage would irritate it. I would agree that a trip from New Zealand would be stressful, so I would definitely have it checked out before it got any worse.
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 - 6:03 am:
Dolly, my horses are hogs and will eat just about anything This year I decided to try big bales with them, there was one bale they wouldn't touch and another they weren't too thrilled with, it looked like good hay. I decided they knew best and got new bales, which they ripped into. I suspect the big bales were sprayed with the acid to keep them from molding, last year I had square bales with the same thing. They just picked at it....tho horses are not suppose to be effected by it. Also some horses aren't real fond of Timothy hay.
Have you tried getting a different bale of hay from a different supplier that maybe has a little alfalfa mixed in? He may not like the hay you have. Can he have alfalfa? He may like watered down alfalfa cubes, plus that would help get water in him.
|
Moderator:
DrO
|
Posted on Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 - 8:33 am:
Hello Dolly,
Is there grass or other forage available to the horse than the grass hay you are attempting to feed.
DrO
|
New Member:
dmcall
|
Posted on Sunday, Feb 22, 2009 - 10:11 am:
Dr. Oglesby- we do offer him the bagged timothy forage with his feed and he his also turned out in the field most of the time but there isn't much grass right now. We also offer hay in the run in shed but he doesn't eat much of that either.
|
New Member:
dmcall
|
Posted on Sunday, Feb 22, 2009 - 10:20 am:
We checked his mouth and there doesn't seem to be any issues with his teeth. We had a horse dentist do them about 4 months ago so maybe we should get him back in.
I hadn't thought about ulcers but standardbreds do seem to have that problem quite a bit due to the stress level that they have. I'm not familiar with "ranitidine". What is that?
We do keep him outside as much as possible and I only give him 1 flake of hay at a time in the barn. There is a local vet that can stomach scope so we are going to check that out. We are currently feeding a 10-10-10 feed. We just changed from a 14-12-12. We thought the protein was too high and that could be why they were tying up. We tried a low starch feed but couldn't get the horses to eat it. The feed we are feeding now is lower and it seems to be working. I talked to my hay guy who is local and I don't think he is putting anything on the hay. Thanks for all of your help.
|
Moderator:
DrO
|
Posted on Sunday, Feb 22, 2009 - 6:59 pm:
How many hours a day is your horse on pasture Dolly? Some horses will prefer grass in almost any condition over hay. I certainly would be worried if he stands out on the pasture all day not grazing...
I cannot say this is the explanation but if you continue to believe there may be some disease problem I would strongly suggest a exam. Decrease appetite can be caused by so may different problems and that it is the hay and not the grain doesn't help me rule in or out a particular problem.
DrO
|
Member:
digger89
|
Posted on Sunday, Feb 22, 2009 - 7:18 pm:
Dolly - I found that Purina Senior feed is low in starch and all 5 of my horses seem to love it.
Ranitidine is a medication that humans take for heartburn/indigestion. Since my horse had only 2 tiny ulcers the vet suggested trying this option first. It is much less expensive Gastrogard but not as effective for a serious case of ulcers. I bought it in bulk at Sam's Club $8.82 for 190 150mg tablets). Sarah
|
New Member:
dmcall
|
Posted on Monday, Feb 23, 2009 - 7:27 pm:
Dr. O - he does eat grass but what worries me is that he use to eat all the hay I would give him and he was racing great with no problems. He stopped eating the hay and the problems came. He became dehydrated and has had problems tying up. He also blows hard after exercise and isn't as relaxed as he used to be. something is up - just don't know what. I'm thinking that the ulcer idea is worth checking into and I have a call into the vet.
|
New Member:
dmcall
|
Posted on Monday, Feb 23, 2009 - 7:28 pm:
Sarah- will check out the feed. And will have to see if I can race on the ranitidine. Thanks!
|
Member:
rtrotter
|
Posted on Monday, Feb 23, 2009 - 8:57 pm:
Dolly,
Having some experience with New Zealand racehorses, I can say that the way we train our racehorses is not the same as the way they are trained down under. They jog many more miles and train longer distances in New Zealand and they do not get very many days off, and they are usually jogged or towed every day.
We tend to coddle our racehorses, we give them days off after they race, do not reduce their grain intake on days they do not work, they do not get turned out ( not in your case though) and they get Sundays off with full work days on Monday. Not a good combination of events for horses that are not used to it.
From your description, it sounds like your horse is being stressed from something, he may also be allergic to something.
We had a new Zealand horse we raced in the early 1980's and he was not finishing his miles well. We tried all the normal diagnostic things like blood work, scoping etc. with nothing conclusive shown. One of the vets suggested we get him allergy tested and it turns out that he was allergic to alfalfa,( we were feeding him an alfalfa/timothy mix at the time. We stopped feeding him alfalfa and started feeding him straight timothy and he turned his performance around within a week. He had several of the same symptoms that you describe, blew hard, always had a worried look on his face, he was not relaxed etc.
While it may look like ulcers, there may be many other reasons why your horse is acting the way he is.
I am sure you and your vet will finally get it worked out and your horse will be fine.
Good Luck
Rachelle
|
Moderator:
DrO
|
Posted on Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009 - 8:27 am:
Dolly, in such situations it is hard to access how much forage the horse is ingesting so the significance is uncertain. It is possible he finds the grass more tasty and so concentrates on it. Sometimes it is hard to figure why a horse prefers one feed over another. I understand your concerns about the changes in behavior and recent poor doing but if there is an overall decrease in forage consumption it is not a reason for the problem but a symptom of something bigger.
As Rachelle says there are many possible reasons for the symptoms you describe. Besides well understood diseases race horses in training frequently have poorly understood "let down synDrOmes" that can be secondary to ulcers but this does not explain all of them. To flesh them out will take a thorough exam and possibly blood and endoscopic work. Looking at all the symptoms you describe I would recommend the following articles:- Diseases of Horses » Performance Problems » Exercise Intolerance and Poor Performance
- Diseases of Horses » Colic, Diarrhea, GI Tract » Gastric Ulcers » Gastric Ulcers in Adult Horses
- Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Muscle & Tendon Diseases » Rhabdomyolysis: Tying Up, Shivers, PSSM, EPSM
DrO
|
Member:
dmcall
|
Posted on Saturday, Mar 14, 2009 - 10:21 pm:
Had the horse stomach scoped and it was good. Going to try the allergy test next.
Thanks for the help
|
Moderator:
DrO
|
Posted on Saturday, Mar 14, 2009 - 11:17 pm:
I don't understand the relation between a horse not cleaning up his hay and allergy testing: do you think he is allergic to the hay?
DrO
|
|
|
