Has anyone ever noticed something like this? I moved my boss mare back to my trainer’s last week and now my other two are eating way less hay than before. At first, I thought there was maybe something off about the hay, but it’s the same hay I’ve bought for years, looks and smells beautiful. I even had my vet check it out to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. But, they started eating less as soon as my other mare was moved. She was an absolute hay hoover so maybe they felt pressured to eat more with her around?! No one is showing ribs or anything like that, I’m just surprised how much less I’m feeding compared to last week 
Re: the bolded - there’s your answer.
Horses are, by nature, animals that are constantly adjusting in order to survive. I’d bet dollars to donuts that your other two A) were probably not getting as much hay as you think they were if your third horse was a vacuum on legs, and B) that your other two horses knew full well that if they didn’t eat with some pace, they weren’t going to get enough food. Now that the vacuum horse is gone, they can eat more leisurely.
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If they all ate together off the same bale or out of the same feeder I would expect a decent drop in consumption. You are minus one horse, after all.
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How do you know the mare wasn’t eating more than you thought she was, and the other 2 are eating just the same?
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Makes total sense, not to mention I had to put three slow feeders in the field when boss mare was here or she’d chase the other two off 
Well yes, definitely. I’m talking about how much they are eating when they are in their stalls as well! They have a slow bale feeder in their pasture that they share, and get hay nets in their stalls.
Out in the pasture, that’s totally possible! The other mare I still have here is also a fattie hay hoover and she’s the one who is really surprising me right now. My horses are out all night and come in from about 10am-5pm. She used to empty her hay net within a couple of hours and it’s now lasting her all day long.
They did empty their bale feeder in the field last night, so it seems that they’re starting to eat more. Do you think maybe they just felt less secure out there without the boss mare around anymore? It’s only been a week and a half since she left…
If they are eating less in the stalls then my guess is they are getting a lot more hay while out in the pasture now that piggy is gone…
Also with a horse gone there is probably more grass. If they are grazing more they don’t need as much hay.
Good point hahaha!!! They seem be back to normal…they’ve had their faces in the hay pretty much all day. Phew. Man, do I just love to overthink everything :lol:
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I would rather overthink and know what is normal for my guys , then be completely unaware and have a problem because I didn’t notice…
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