Fingers crossed that he loves it! I might try it even just on it’s own in a small bucket to see if he licks it up.
1 Like
I would try adding a pump or two of CocoSoya to the feed. Most horses love it.
Well, he sniffed it for quite a while - didn’t seem immediately disgusted by it like many things - but ultimately he said no to the Platinum. 
@SillyHorse I didn’t try CocoSoya (the brand) specifically, but I did try a coco-soy-ricebran-flax blend. I am getting the impression that he doesn’t like oil in general.
1 Like
Poor guy, having such a finicky palate, and poor you, trying so hard to find what he will eat.
1 Like
My picky red horse doesn’t care for oil either. I barely can sneak it in with the most scrumptious concoction I can mix up!
1 Like
It’s comical, really. And I can’t try too many new things in a row, or he becomes very suspicious. So far pelleted supps have been the easiest to hide. Since he won’t eat mash, powders tend to sift out.
I suppose we will just transition back to what worked before, and I will accept my fate as Mad Scientist of the Feed Room!
I have a video to upload but it is too big for COTH, so will have to put it on YouTube later.
6 Likes
I think Purina Senior is rather maligned as a feed. The run of the mill horse with no metabolic problems will do perfectly well on it. If Bo enjoys it, and particularly if he doesn’t really enjoy anything else, I’d remove a headache from my life and just feed it to him.
My last elderly QH lived to be a hale and hearty 35 on Purina Senior. These are the horses its designed for. He wasn’t very keen on anything else as he got older so I finally stopped feeling guilty about it.
13 Likes
I don’t think it’s really awful, and I was pleasantly surprised by the ‘new’ formulation when we started on it - I hadn’t used it in probably a decade, and they’ve added a lot to it since then. I was just hoping to simplify things on my end and the other feed is a bit more in line with the diet ideas I tend to stick to, also. But if Purina is his chosen one, that’s what we’ll do. 
I have never had a horse that was so brand-loyal!
11 Likes
Maybe he can be a sponsored Purina Senior horse! Someone send this thread to a Purina rep!
15 Likes
Actually if you email purina they put you on a coupon mailing list. They sent me over 200.00 worth of coupons last year, and so far coupons for 2 free bags. Every little bit helps.
12 Likes
Monday is here again!
Bo got bumped from the big pasture into a private suite yesterday, because my youngster managed to find a way to slice open his face - I assume on the clamps that hold my panels together, although who knows. He likes to stick his head through the panels, and must have caught it just right. At any rate, youngster is now in the big pasture where he’s less likely to re-injure and Bo has moved into one of my covered stalls that is open to a 1/2 acre or so paddock. It’s a semi dry lot with sparse grass, so he’s getting some soft alfalfa to pass the time. I’m not sure if this will be a permanent arrangement or not.
I believe we’re at 14 weeks now. Still waiting for the shedding fairy to get rid of all that icky old hair.
And a guest appearance by Elmo, who would crawl in my pocket if he could fit. He did not think it was fair of me to be giving Bo more food and not him (as you can see, he is clearly starving and that pile of alfalfa next to him doesn’t count).
36 Likes
Goodness, Bo is looking positively round. Ish. 
6 Likes
You tickle me, Elmo!
Lookin’ good, Bo.
3 Likes
You continue to do amazing things for Bo! Wow, he looks so much better than day 1.
With his finickiness about eating, is there any chance he still has some dirt/sand/gravel in his gut, or some other partial obstruction that makes him “meh” about eating sometimes? Just a thought. I’d love to see him really going after all that good stuff you offer him, and trying to think what might make him blah about eating.
2 Likes
Anything is possible, really, although nothing noteworthy was seen on the parts of his guts that were ultrasounded about 50 different times at the hospital. I don’t know of any treatments (other than surgical intervention) for sand clearing that will work on a no-forage diet, though. Ulcers are also a consideration.
He has a good appetite now, just shows very strong preferences for certain foods and is not starving enough to be willing to eat anything else. 
11 Likes
On that last head shot the sun is reflecting off some new growth coat on his shoulder…it glows. Makes me want to grab a shedding blade
2 Likes
Come on over I do it a couple times a week but he’s only letting it go in little bits. There’s a secondary reason I clip Elmo besides just keeping him less sweaty - I really hate shedding season!
And now for the oddity of the week… remember that funny divot in his RF a couple weeks ago, that was ultimately decided to be most likely from hitting it on something? This is the LH, now…
2 Likes
Is it possible his hooves are super brittle from starvation?
2 Likes
Yes, they are somewhat shelly and starting to crumble a little now that the ground has dried into concrete. His walls at ground level are pretty thin, and a few cracks have popped up (interestingly, on the other two feet - not the ones that have these odd marks). Malnutrition definitely creates poor hoof. I’m not discounting the whole vaccine reaction, hospital treatment thing either.
2 Likes
Bonus Bo pics today, because he seems pretty perky in his new digs. I frequently see him and Elmo hanging out together under the shared roof, and he seems pleased that he can see the back door from his stall. He is better able to demand more food as soon as I appear!
He has also decided that the low carb beet-pulp based treats are not as abhorrent as he once thought. However, oatmeal cookies are still repugnant. I think being right next to Elmo (whose entire existence revolves around food) is helping him though, every time he rejects something I offer it to Elmo and Bo always comes back over for a second sniff. I think Bo’s got FOMO.
39 Likes
