Ever know a horse that wouldn't eat....

[Libertybelle]

My yearling QH filly won't eat COB, mare & foal pellets, apples, carrots or those prettily packaged horse treats from the feed store, but she eats her Alfalfa & Bermuda hay like it's candy. She gets free access to a salt/mineral block combo and of course plenty of fresh clean water at all times. She looks great and has a nice coat, great teeth, bright eyes... it just

seems really odd to me that she doesn't seem to know what any of these yummy treats are. How do I get her to at least TRY them?

 

[annanicole18]

if she doesn't look like she needs pellets and refuses to eat them i wouldnt press the issue. only if she starts to look like she needs more weight. she just might be completely content eating her hay and pasture (if she has access to any). maybe offer the pellets to her as her only treat option so that if she decides to eat some thing it will be full of vitamins that she would need if she isn't already getting them.
does she maybe have a dental problem that could make if uncomfortable to chew anything other than hay?

 

[Libertybelle]

Thank you for your input annanicole18! No dental issues at this time. She was born on range and raised on pasture with very little human contact so I think she just doesn't know what these goodies are.
I am trying mixing a handful of pellets with a handful of cob, a few shredded carrots & a little bit of an apple, a Tlbs or so of corn oil and a bit of molasses to bind it all together and serve it to her on top of her Alfalfa. Maybe she'll accidentally get a bite and like it!
Putting weight on her or making her fat won't be a problem. I won't give her enough grain to worry about it. I'm feeding her a premium quality Alfalfa but I do want to make sure I can supplement her should I ever need to. We live in the desert where it's not a bad idea to feed a bit of bran to keep things moving and regular and ward off sand colic.
I would also like to reward her with a treat during training, and a carrot or apple treat is easier to put in my pocket than a flake of hay she just may not be motivated by treats, I guess.

 

[john in wa]

i bet she is just dont know what it is. i have had young stock that would not eat grain and treats till they learned what it is. if she is housed alone put a hand full in her tub and leave it sooner or later she will be sniffing around and try it. then its all over for ya

 

[annanicole18]

will she eat alfalfa cubes? you could maybe soak them and mix your goodies in there and she would get a taste of them. this is sad that we are plotting against a horse to eat anything but its "veggies"

 

[Cara]

Noooooooo to the treats. It's a horse, not a pet dog!

 

[mully]

Noooooooo to the treats. It's a horse, not a pet dog!

I agree!! All this processed horse candy is not in their normal diet. Check the ingredients apple and corn syrup as a sweetener. To me she seems to know what is best ...follow her lead.

 

[kimmyh]

If she needs condition, and it sounds like she doesn't I would try All In One/Chopped Alfalfa with molasses. Many young horses think anything new in their diet is poison, so if you really want her to eat something new, I would keep offering it too her fresh in the morning, and take it away at her evening feeding. It took my horse a couple of years to appreciate apples, horse treats and corn on the cob. He still won't eat carrots, and I have had him since he was 6 months old, and he is 16.

 

[dianneS]

She'll learn to like those treats in time. My gelding wouldn't eat anything but grass, hay and plain old oats for the longest time. He was 6 months- a year at that time. I would try to give him all sorts of good smelling tasty treats and calf manna pellets and he wanted nothing to do with them. (He was emaciated and I was trying to get some weight on him) I would sneak some into his feed tub along with his grain and he would leave them behind. One day, I think he tried one. Eventually he started trying new things and now he'll eat anything... well, except pineapple. Looked at me like I was crazy trying to give him that stuff!

I don't grain my gelding, so his manna pro treats that I use for his training are pretty much a supplement for him. He gets carrots and apples now too. Only healthy stuff since he's an "easy keeper" to say the least! No fattening treats for him.

 

[ducks4you]

Watch the beer--once had a horse that would grab the can from you!