I have an 18 yo ottb who has been off the track a very very long time. He prefers hay over grass and being in over being turned out. He has an in and out stall that is open to a grassy paddock with shade. Given the choice to eat hay inside or outside, he will always eat in first and the outside stuff he may or may not eat, depending on IF he goes out. He is slightly arthritic so I try to get him out to move otherwise he gets stiff from just standing. If I close the door to his stall, he stands all day there waiting to go in.
if I put him in another field, he will eat his hay and not go graze the grass much.
My other horses usually leave the hay for the grass so it is not that my grass isn’t tasty. My hay is nothing special, just 1st cut timothy orchard. He eats it at a slow pace, doesn’t scarf it up so no one else gets any. He is good at sharing.
if I handgraze him, he will eat grass, but not pig out like my other horses. He is just not that interested in grass, even the thick lush grass they aren’t able to get to unless I take them there.
He eats his grain and treats happily.
Does anyone else have a horse who prefers hay over grass?
When was the last time his teeth and jaw were checked? Maybe the act of biting off grass is uncomfortable?
Is his hay on the ground? Piled up so his head is higher, or flattened/scattered so he’s eating at grass/grazing level?
I also thought about teeth; horses with parrot mouths, for example, have a hard time grazing.
But, some horses don’t like to be out in the summer because of bug and the sun.
This.
I can’t imagine that a horse wouldn’t like (love) grass. There has to be a reason.
When I got my mare, she was thin, and my BO at the time had an irrigated pasture that we turned her out into. I watched her as she just mosied around and made friends with the gelding she was turned out with, but did not graze. I went out to her, and tried to get her head down to eat a few times - no.
Finally, I grabbed a bunch of grass and shoved it into her mouth. Her head shot up, her ears and eyes both went BOING like in the cartoons, then she started doing the head bobbing thing. She had just found her new favorite thing that she had never tasted before.
Horses and Grass is like me and Ben and Jerry’s.
His teeth were done before I picked him up in April. He doesn’t have a parrot mouth, I use hay for bedding so he has hay free choice unless I’m rotating pastures and he gets turned out in a different field then it is scattered so he eats it at different levels.
Dont misunderstand me, he DOES eat grass but given the choice, he will eat hay and if there is enough, he will eat hay all day long and ignore the grass.
Maybe his paddock grass is just not appealing? For whatever reason he just prefers hay and his stall to going out with everyone else. It is unusual, but if he seems happy and is holding his weight I would let him do what he likes best 
Mine prefer grass over hay right now neither will eat hay even if in all day. Neither have much interest in grain both are happy grazing in pasture.
My grass is pretty dry and dead right now. Mine prefer their beautiful green hay over the dead/dying grass. In the spring it’s a different story though 
It sounds like he is just eating what he can get with the least amount of movement.
Sounds like my horse. He also has an in and out and 9 out of 10 times you check on him he is inside just hanging out under the fan or munching on his free choice hay. He enjoys grass, but does not enjoy being out so much. If I put him in a different pasture with no access to his stall he will be fine for like 30 min then stand by the gate or walk back and forth wanting to come in. So I bring him in, then he will go out in his own field. :lol: The little brat.
He gets agitated with the bugs which is part of his problem. He is 19 and also has arthritis.
I think he is just too darn spoiled, so knows he has the option to be out whenever, has all the hay he needs and a fan. Oh to be my horse.:yes:
Mine are preferring to eat hay up at the barn over the pasture right now too (which would not be an issue if I was not almost out of hay and under water so not able to get my hay in). The bugs are horrible this year (so wet) and though the sprays help some it is not enough for them to stay out there for any amount of time.
Sometimes horses won’t eat grass that has grown out of manure or that cows have been on.
OTTB are fussy eaters on top of it all.
Does he bite into apples and carrots with his incisors? When he does graze with you in hand, is he pulling with his lips or using his incisors? Just curious… my guy had a weird disease of his incisors and gave up grazing grass after 15 minutes. He could eat his hay with his molars tho.
My mare loves grass but she also loves her stall which has fewer flies and is cooler so she will come in and stand in her stall and eat her expensive high quality hay and use the bathroom (proper horses never pee in public). Yes, she has had her teeth done, she’s just particular. She also gets really really mad when the barn mows and all the clover gets mowed down.
