Horses that would sooner starve than eat the hay I provide

[bestchestnutmareever]

Hey everyone! Dramatic title lol but I have a little guy (yearling) who is very picky with his hay. I have hay from different suppliers this year, but of course it’s all good quality. He loves the hay I have that has a small percentage of alfalfa in it but he refuses to eat the mixed grass hay I have. He also won’t eat straight alfalfa either. He’s very odd. Last year I had a few bales that were more mature and fibrous (so not the best quality as it was a poor hay year) and he chose that over green flaky alfalfa. Like - I don’t understand!

Interestingly enough, the grass hay he won’t eat came off the pasture they graze on in the summer. It takes about a week for my crew to finish one round bale and he will literally stand in the shelter all day (my horses have 24/7 turnout) or mosey around but he will not eat the hay.

I use hay nets so I took some hay out of the net but still nope. He gets minerals and vitamins and salt. Easy access to water 24/7.

He’s otherwise in great health, great condition. Any thoughts?

TIA!

[candyappy]

Is it possible that the other horses have him intimidated enough that he is being chased away from the hay when he attempts to eat?

A young horse is usually best fed with others his own size or in a place he can eat undisturbed. I fed my yearling separately at night until he was 3. They eat well together now.

[bestchestnutmareever]

Good thought but no! I have a group of 5 and they all get along really well! He just decides it’s not good enough! And also when I feed the other hay that he does like, he eats just fine.

[Tha_Ridge]

Not totally the same, but last month I brought a TB off the track from KY to NJ. He would not eat our hay. Without her knowing anything, he told the animal communicator that our hay sucked and asked if it was what the other horses ate. We got him alfalfa, and he’s decided that that’s palatable, but he made me feel pretty bad about our shitty NJ hay. I really think they’re just like humans and have their own tastebuds and preference. Have you tried soaked alfalfa cubes or some compressed bales like they sell at TSC?

[Sarah616]

Horses don’t know what grain or hay is supposed to be “the best” for them. You can try to feed them “the best” all you want, but if they won’t eat it, you could just set hundred dollar bills on fire instead of spending it on “the best”. If he likes the hay that, to you, seems like poor quality, let him eat it if you have access to it. As long as it isn’t in the dangerous category of poor, it would be better than no hay at all.

Story - an owner who kept their horse at their own farm insisted on buying the most expensive, beautiful alfalfa they could find, and just threw piles of it under the horse’s nose. The horse would nibble, but couldn’t really care less. The owner saw a bale of hay we were feeding to our horses and insisted their horse would never touch it. Want to know which type of hay that horse would DRAG people towards? Hint. Not the expensive beautiful alfalfa.

Horses can picky. Once you find something they like, stick to it as much as you can.

[CHT]

I wonder if his little baby teeth and sensitive gums are having trouble with the finer hay and alfalfa bits?

[SusanO]

Of course he won’t eat the baled up pasture. My pasture is primarily bahia and fescue. My horses graze it really well but if you try to feed them hay that has bahia or fescue in the hay, then it is a no go. Won’t even taste it. At one time I had somebody round baling the pasture grass so I didn’t have to pay to get it mowed. The hay baler was afraid my horses might eat his round bales before he could get them out of the pasture. I laughed and laughed.

I am surprised about the alfalfa. The only alfalfa my horses turn down is hay that has preservative on it. Maybe he likes western alfalfa and this wasn’t it.

[Texarkana]

@SusanO

The only alfalfa my horses turn down is hay that has preservative on it.

I’ve been having an increasing problem with my horses not eating “beautiful,” expensive hay from big hay growers. Yet other times they will eat the stemmy junk baled off someone’s weedy back lot. My suspicion is it’s the preservatives, as the problem began about the time preservatives started being used more frequently.

[candyappy]

@bestchestnutmareever

Interestingly enough, the grass hay he won’t eat came off the pasture they graze on in the summer. It takes about a week for my crew to finish one round bale and he will literally stand in the shelter all day (my horses have 24/7 turnout) or mosey around but he will not eat the hay.

We don’t bale pastures that have animals on them? In any pasture you have places where the horses like to eat and places they poop and in those places the grass is usually not eaten near as much. Even if you drag the pastures you would have a heavy concentrated manure smell in that grass.

I wonder if he can smell it and finds it off putting?

[Montanas_Girl]

How is his weight? If he’s in good condition and growing normally, then he’s obviously eating something.

If he’s losing weight, then I’d personally try to buy enough of whatever hay he does like to get him through the winter. If he’s fat, though, then a little “tough love” may be in order - of the “he’ll eat when he gets hungry enough” school of thought.

[walktrot]

If you are tossing out flakes or scoops of grain put an extra one out : 6 for 5 horses. If someone gets pushed off one, there will always another one available. If they are far enough apart walking around increases their exercise. If they are on round bales and he is spending all of his time in a shelter someone might be pushing him off. Even though they get along fine, eating is different. They have a pecking order but it might not be obvious.

My Paint gelding was on pasture board with a few other boarders and school horses totalling between 6-12. He took over as alpha shortly after he arrived and was never challenged during the 19 years we were there. They all got along fine, but there were some situations where the pecking order played a role. One was the round bales. My wonderful beloved senior manager picked out his spot while they stood by respectfully. They filled back in when he was settled. However, he usually took more than one slot. There were a few feet open on either side. No one stood right next to him. A second round bale was necessary most ot the time.

Hay nets could be a problem. They can be tough on teeth. They ration the hay by slowing the rate of consumption, which is good for easy keepers. They have become very popular, but I think many people rely on them because they are convenient. They aren’t appropriate for many horses. Horses don’t waste hay. If they won’t eat it there isn’t anything we can do other than figure out how to solve the problem.

The last barn we were at was sold to a rookie BO. She never understood why I complained about his hay. She would not give him free choice-- first and only BO who refused. Every day he would eat exactly what he needed to maintain his normal body weight. No one was paying attention to how many flakes he was getting, and how many hours he went with an empty stomach. It should not exceed 4 hours. He remained 25+ lbs underweight.

You have a very young horse and I had a very old horse. Both need attention to ensure they are getting enough hay that they can eat. My gelding was 28 when I had to put him down on July 20. His bad knee finally lost the flexion. I miss him, but he is still with me at his normal body wieght. Tasty free choice hay over the rainbow bridge.

[B_and_B]

Hay nets or free choice? I ask because my young boy, now 3, had a very uncomfortable time with his teeth. They Hurt. He also left blood stains all over my big, grey gelding who puts up with the young boy’s mouthiness. There was no problem, except his teeth coming in.
But, as @Montanas_Girl says, if he is in good shape and he is getting appropriate nutrition from something other than the hay, I wouldn’t worry.

[Jump314]

@walktrot

Horses don’t waste hay.

Of course they do. If I don’t use a hay net with one of my horses, he throws half of his hay in the middle of his stall and pees all over it.

[walktrot]

They do, but they don’t see it that way. I listened to all sorts of comments about my horse wasting hay because he was pooping and peeing on it. They were putting hay and grain in the corner of the stall. Why not try moving it, I asked. Try the long wall between the two stalls, between the door to the aisleway and the door to the runout. It worked out fine. He still peed and pooped in the same spot but it was farther away. If he had a few flakes he would take big wads of it in his mouth and whip them around in the air to loosen up. He dropped them along a 12’ wall in a nice mound about 18" deep… It stretched from the inside door to the outside door. He frequetly would push some out the back door where there is an overhang,

He also wasted hay because they were feeding him stemmy hay that he couldn’t chew. His teeth were pretty good for 28 y.o. but he wouldn’t chew stems anymore. He picked out the finer grass.
They had beautiful mixed grass hay shipped in from Canada. It was easy to pick out bales that were fine grass, not stemmy. They put one or two in front of the stall. There were a few others who would eat the stems. Flakes were 4-5 pounds each. I weighed them before the scale disappeared. He needed 25 lbs of forage. If he won’t eat 25% because he can’t chew it he should get a couple of more flakes. Otherwise he will lose weight. The wall where he mounded his hay it was clean and dry, no poop, no pee, a few stems. You could see that he had picked out the good stuff when there were piles of stems.

Horses don’t waste hay. They are trickle grazers. In their natural environment they wander for hours and eat what they prefer. They get miles of exercise every day. I knew my gelding ate what he needed to maintain his body weight, every day. It apparently inconvenienced the new BO to give him free choice. I hand-grazed him as much as possible, and knew the weeds and grasses he preferred. We take them away from their natural environment. We are obligated to provide each horse with what they need to trickle graze in a stall or a runout or a pasture. Horses don’t waste hay. They eat everything they can and leave what they won’t eat. If they live in 144 sf of stall and they poop and pee on it, something needs to change. It’s a form of body language.

[Jump314]

@walktrot

We are obligated to provide each horse with what they need to trickle graze in a stall or a runout or a pasture.

Exactly. My horse needs a hay net so he can trickle graze. He spits out any super stalky pieces and otherwise eats 99% of the hay provided to him in a net. Without a net, he will waste half of his hay so he will run out of food too quickly. Your experience with your one horse does not apply to all other horses in all other environments.

[DiamondJubilee]

Horse can be picky! We bought some beautiful alfalfa bales for my weanling, but it is a little coarse and I’m sure it bothers his mouth. I see he just picks the looser finer material out of the flakes and leave the coarse bits behind. I have a mixed herd from 2 years up to 25 years old and they will finish off his long coarse bits. Inside, he actually prefers the 1st cut, so thats what I feed him. I will give him some 2nd cut that he picks at, but I will give the remainder to the older boys for the night and they finish it off.

I also notice he does pick at hay outside (they are all fed 1st cut outside as I dont want the older boys eating a lot of 2nd cut) and he wanders around a lot more than the older boys. I’m sure he gets full faster then they do. But he comes in every night and can eat as much as he wants then. He’s a bit ribby but has great weight for a weaning (I wouldnt want him much heavier). I do also give him some soaked timothy/alfalfa cubes that he loves and eats up every night. It has put weight on him really well. Not sure if you can offer that if you are worried about his weight?

[trubandloki]

@walktrot

Horses don’t waste hay.

That is one of the funniest things I have read here lately.

Of course horses will waste hay.

I have one mare that if fed in a small hole hay net will eat basically every bit of hay I give her. If I put the same hay on the floor she will dig around looking for the best bits, then pee and manure on it in the process and then freak out because she has no hay.
Took us awhile to figure out how to feed her, but she is for sure more than willing to waste all the hay in the world if not fed in a small hole hay net.
If the holes in the net are big enough that she can pull out too much at a time, the stuff that falls also gets wasted.

[endlessclimb]

Yes, this is my mare. She’s a BIG eater, eats everything you put in front of her - if it’s in a net. Put it on the ground, and your description is perfect. Within 5 minutes it’s strewn all over her stall and getting smashed into the shavings.

[bestchestnutmareever]

Thanks for all your comments!

I’m fortunate I get to live on the property my horses are kept so I have a pretty constant eye on them (except when I’m at work of course). When I feed the hay he likes, he has no problem eating at the round bale with the rest of the horses. Sometimes they go switch spots but he’s there pretty much all the time, except when he’s napping because he loves a good sleep. The hay net has big holes (not a slow feeder).

I have a few babies so he’s not the only one (including a 2 year old who is the same size as him). My gelding is number 1 in the herd and he does a great job babysitting everyone, the babies tend to love him.

I can’t soak unfortunately, I’m in the arctic.

It’s interesting that there was a comment or two about them not wanting to eat hay from their pasture. I understand the manure obviously but my pasture is well-managed and we had a lot of growth this year, too much for my 5 horses to be able to graze down. After it was baled, one wasn’t a full bale so I left it out there and turned my horses out again (as the only other option is a drylot and I want them to be able to move more), and they ate that pretty quickly despite there still being lots of grass. I can’t recall now if this guy ate any of it at the time or not but the others sure did.

All the hay I feed is grown by our small local farmers who grow hay specifically for horses/livestock, not big hay producers. I wouldn’t imagine they would use preservatives but that’s an interesting thing to consider for sure!

He’s at a perfect weight now but last winter he really lost weight quickly so I really want to watch so it doesn’t happen again - it didn’t help that we had a month or two straight of -40 weather. (He was blanketed the entire time.)

[Tha_Ridge]

@endlessclimb

Yes, this is my mare. She’s a BIG eater, eats everything you put in front of her - if it’s in a net. Put it on the ground, and your description is perfect. Within 5 minutes it’s strewn all over her stall and getting smashed into the shavings.

I should farm one of mine out for hay clean-up duty. When he runs out of hay, he combs his stall for every last stem. He’s like a Hoover. Our stall cleaner loves him because his stall is always so clean.