My old horse had a bad choke last night. It required tubing. My vet recommended feeding from the ground and soaking his food. He is very picky and wasn’t interested. Any suggestions?
Sorry to hear your horse had a problem! That happened to my gelding a couple of years ago. Pretty scary at the time, but (knock wood) he hasn’t done it since.
We put big rocks in my horse’s feed pan to slow him down. He has to pick around the rocks to get his grain. Maybe you could try that?
Many horses won’t like their food if it’s suddenly presented as soup or slop.
I would go to just a handful of his regular food, wetted down enough, and add a smidge of diluted molasses to entice him. If he thinks that’s ok, then slowly, or days or even weeks, increase his wet down food, with a little diluted molasses (it’s just easier to mix in molasses that’s been diluted, rather than trying to get the thick stuff to mix around), and then eventually phase out the molasses.
If it’s not molasses that trips his trigger, try apple juice, some alfalfa tea, or, unless he’s got some metabolic issues, a handful of sweet feed.
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Is he eating hay and drinking water? If so you can just skip his grain for a few days until he starts to miss it.
If he isn’t eating hay or drinking water that’s a more urgent problem.
If he was tubed and so on he might also just have a sore throat or be scared off the grain if that’s what he choked on. He was probably tranqued for the tubing so he might just generally feel a little out of sorts.
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If he is in pain give him some bute in a wormer. You will knoq it is because of pain if he eats immediately.
Strange, to me, to feed again right away after that bad of a choke. I’ve always been instructed, even without tubing needed, to wait several days before feeding grain again, and starting with a very small amount.
I have a very picky mare who will not touch soaked or even mildly wet grain, no matter what “dressings” you top it with. But she will eat soaked Alfalfa cubes.
I would be turning your horse out on grass and feeding only soaked hay cubes or pellets for a week. No dry hay or grain. If he won’t even eat the soaked hay, consult your vet.
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It’s possible he isn’t eating because his throat is very sore. I’d do as @mmeqcenter describes above.
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Or oral banamine. He’s probably not eating because of soreness and inflammation. Because of the inflammation, it’s pretty common for one choke to be followed pretty quickly by another. Call your vet and ask to buy some oral banamine.
Just went through this BS about a month or so ago. Soak your hay for a couple of weeks. It’s a grand PITA, but it helps it to slide down without irritating the throat further. Offer miniscule amounts of soaked feed. Put really tasty crap in it like molasses, very finely chopped/mushy fruit, favourite candy, etc. When I say tiny, I mean a handful after soaking. If it doesn’t get eaten take it away, except at night. I’ve noticed a few horses will pick away at a meal and have a polished tub by morning, but will not clean up during the day.
My horse did drop a bunch of weight, but has put it all back on again with a return to her favourite haynet. I did not feed her soaked grain off the ground. No way would she touch it.
Stay completely away from dry treats as well as dry feed. I use a few mints as a replacement for breakfast, lunch, and supper so pony pants gets something exciting in her feed tub that she will actually consume when the others are eating. Most calories are delivered through hay and a soaked night feed which gets cleaned up by morning.
FWIW, Soaked senior is more palatable than soaked sweetfeed in her opinion. It must be fed hot. It cannot soak too long. It cannot be eaten if there is not a bit of fruit in it. Beet pulp is meh. Alfalfa cubes are a hard no. <- that’s all a roundabout way of saying experiment a little til you figure out what is acceptable.
Hope you get yours eating properly again soon and are able to kiss choke goodbye forever 
Did the vet recommend going back to grain immediately? The typical protocol involves taking a break for at least a day or two to let the throat heal.
I really don’t think there’s a “typical” protocol. Choke treatment and care varies SO widely. My vets in Colorado always said to pull all hay and feed only soaked senior for several days.
The OP hasn’t even said what “his food” IS. He’s an old horse–could be all he gets is senior or hay pellets or something.
Eating with a sore throat is not fun! Voice of experience here. I second the suggestions of oral Banamine or Bute. Does your guy like carrots or apples? The try some applesauce of finely grated carrots as a top dressing. A lot of horses really like watermelon and a cold piece of this can be soothing. Unless your guy is IR, then would I would reconsider these suggestions.
You may want to try the Purina Hydration Hay Block. This is chopped pretty fine, meant to be soaked in water and very palatable. My mare can be a picky girl but she will suck this up like it’s candy. Tractor Supply here carries it and so should many other places.
Popping back to say I use the mints for training treats too. They will slide down/dissolve comfortably if not chewed properly and will not grate their way down like typical horse treats and feed will.
Vet also suggested whole oats as an alternative if I couldn’t get her eating soaked feed. He says that they tend to go down easier than other feeds. No n=1 data on that because I won the battle before I had to play that card lol
What about adding oil?
My horses like CocoSoya oil. It was what got my older gelding eating well after a minor ulcer. He loved that stuff. That would help things slide down if he likes it.
I agree. While a pretty minor choke that resolves with someone massaging the throat might not elicit much if any change, a bad choke that required tubing makes the throat SORE, and all but the basics should be removed for anywhere from 1 to a few days, and if hay is fed, soak it. Grass is usually ok since it’s mostly water.
Thank you for the reassurance! He does have access to grass 24/7 now, so I haven’t been giving hay until he heals a bit. I was feeding him from a bucket on the wall. My vet felt small amounts of wet senior from a tub on the ground would be ok, and he is now eating that. It’s cooler than normal here and raining constantly, so I think he is hungry.
Hopefully this will help going forward. I am concerned about him, but it was cooler than normal the day he choked and I fed his buddy first when I normally feed him first. I do also have a pre-vent feeder coming to try as welol. I panicked about never being able to get him to eat soaked feed, but he is eagerly eating small amounts now.
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Yes feed on the ground. The saliva runs down the neck. This does not happen if fed off the ground.
