My mare HATES Fenugreek :( Other ideas on making feed more palata

[Dr_Doolittle]

So my 6 year old WB mare has recently become picky about finishing her grain with the supplements; this wasn’t formerly a problem, so not sure what’s going on - though she has had periods in the past where she has turned her nose up at some of the supplements I’ve added - mostly the powdery ones like Ritetrac. Switched to Equishure and it’s been better since.

I feed her Horseshine flax from Smartpak - she USED to like it better than the Glantzen from Horsetech - but the most recent bag seems less palatable to her.

i have heard that Smatpak’s supplements are now lower in quality?, so things that make you go Hmmm.

She gets M30 (an RB) with a couple of handfuls of Senior, a couple of ounces of the Horseshine, pelleted G.U.T., Equishure, MSM and Quiessence. All maintenance amounts. She is an “internalizer” with a nervous tummy and has had hindgut issues in the past, so this combo has always worked for her, and she has cleaned her plate. Has never had an issue with anything before.

She is slightly IR, hence the Quiessence.

Because of this recent pickiness (I can coax her to finish by holding the bucket up and/or hand feeding her sigh), I thought I would try adding some Fenugreek powder to stimulate her appetite - put a little in her leftover feed today, mixed it in, and MON DIEU!! She sniff sniff sniffed it (like a dog, sort of what she tend to do), and would no longer have ANYTHING to do with it after that, very melodramatically turning her head away like I had served her a shit sandwich on a platter.

I kept hoping that she would just have a taste. realize that it’s not that bad! and start eating, but nope.

I even added a handful of sweet feed (forbidden fruit) to tempt her, but even that was met with disdain

So, any suggestions that don’t involve adding sugar?? Are there sugar free peppermints that could be ground up and added to supplements?

TIA!

ETA: Anyone want some Fenugreek powder?

[CanteringCarrot]

I have a horse that likes garlic. Mix some minced garlic in or a garlic pellet I found works too, and he’s more apt to eat any supplements.

[IPEsq]

Other things you can try that are aromatic and not sugary - fennel seed (whole or ground), ginger (ground), turmeric, garlic (the HorseTech garlic / apple cider vinegar pellets are PUNGENT).

I fed HorseTech’s Respire last spring to see if it would help with headshaking. It’s got turmeric and that plus the spirulina I guess makes it smell like curry. Horse loved it. Sadly, didn’t do much for his headshaking. I’ve got him on the Equine Med Surg “Happ E Mare” now which also contains spirulina, but among other things like anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety herbs, it has ginger and oregano and is also pretty pungent especially if fed in a warm mash, but horse thinks it’s tasty.

However, take that for whatever it’s worth, since for HorseTech’s other supplements, I have to use the fenugreek flavoring because horse won’t eat any of the other flavors (peppermint is 50/50, but the others are a no-go) or “plain”.

If she is one that would like “sweet” flavors, I think Uckele makes some no sugar flavorings.

[fjordmom]

If I recall, Uckele has some flavoring syrups that are sugar free and suitable for an IR horse. I have an IR horse, but so far so good. He will eat anything…except… raw peanuts that were recommended as a sugar-free/safe treat for IR horses. NO cigar! Tossed them right out of his tub onto the floor, stomped them, and gave me the his most disgusted grunt. ROFL. No problem with his Heiro IR supplement that contains fenugreek seeds. Have you tried the seeds instead of powder or is it a totally lost cause?

He will eat Uckele’s sugar free treats with abandon if I’d just let him have the whole bag at once. Nope, not going to allow him to be a piglet either.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Thanks everyone! I think I may have narrowed it down to what doesn’t like: the Horseshine efrom SmartPak.

I give her mother baggies with the flax, MSM and copper/zinc (they both get this - pelleted- because of the high iron in our water and forage), SHE is not nearly as picky.

I tried to to feed her one of her mother’s baggies with a little bit of her RB, and she was not interested.

I think she may object to the newer formulation of the SmartPak flax. Ugh.

Ella does NOT like strong flavors, tried turmeric and she hated it, also garlic

She does have a sweet tooth, though! The last time she was picky about supplements, I added some ground up peppermints to them and she ate them.

Trying to stay away from sugar now, though. Will try the suggested flavorings from Uckele , and meanwhile will pick up some sugar free treats, reduce the amount of flax, and keep my fingers crossed.

[Chachie]

Have you tried star anise or anise powdee? It smells like licorice but not pungent. Not sure if it’s ok for the IR horse .it’s in a lot of horse studf so it might be ol

[PNWjumper]

I have a horse who will only eat Cinnamon flavored things…so that might be worth a try?

[blob99]

Instead of the horseshine, try Ukele’s cocosoya. It’s an omega source that is great for the coat and good for IR horses, despite the fact that it smells like syrup.

I use it for both of mine–one for her coat and the other gets it as a fat source to keep weight on. But one of it’s uses is to make grain/supplements more palatable–the horses LOVE it.

I get the granular kind because my barn doesn’t do liquid supplements, but they also have a liquid, which might cover everything more easily making all the grain more tasty.

granular: https://uckele.com/cocosoya-granular-5-lb.html

oil: https://uckele.com/cocosoya-1gallon.html

[Dr_Doolittle]

@Chachie - will try the cinnamon! Easy enough

@blob99 - funny, I went to Dover last night and picked up a bag of the CocoOmega - since it contains flax, maybe I could substitute it for the Horseshine that she has “grown weary of.” I have tried Cocosoya in the past and she was lukewarm about it, but DID eat it. We’ll see. I also picked up two bags of horse treats that were low sugar and low starch; tried to pummel them into a grainy consistency so I could mix them.

Damn you, mare! :lol:

This is a horse who eats tree branches, boards, chews on jump standards and poles, ate pool noodles!, and will put pretty much ANYTHING in her mouth that she can reach. She’s like a puppy. But put tasty, yummy, good for you horse feed in front of her?? Eh, she turns her nose up.

[Xanthoria]

It’s just possible that her drive to eat non-standard things comes from a deficiency in her diet. Possible.

I used stevia powder on a picky horse once - benefit being a TINY amount is very, very sweet and low calorie. You can get it at the supermarket.

I will say you’re feeding a lot of supps that might have overlap?

“M30 (an RB) with a couple of handfuls of Senior, a couple of ounces of the Horseshine, pelleted G.U.T., Equishure, MSM and Quiessence”

I didn’t look at all their details, but M30 and Horseshine have at least copper, selenium and zinc in common, which are three ingredients that can get out of whack causing problems. Not sure how much you’re feeding.

However, you could do the math or use FeedXL.com to find out where you have excesses (or deficiencies) in any areas, and then use Horsetech to make a custom supplement that’d likely be cheaper (easy to ask for a quote), and either let you supplement in one custom-flavored scoop per day vs 6, or, if you use Smartpack, avoid filling up the world with single-use plastics every day Win win!

[Dr_Doolittle]

@Xanthoria

It’s just possible that her drive to eat non-standard things comes from a deficiency in her diet. Possible.

I used stevia powder on a picky horse once - benefit being a TINY amount is very, very sweet and low calorie. You can get it at the supermarket.

I will say you’re feeding a lot of supps that might have overlap?

“M30 (an RB) with a couple of handfuls of Senior, a couple of ounces of the Horseshine, pelleted G.U.T., Equishure, MSM and Quiessence”

I didn’t look at all their details, but M30 and Horseshine have at least copper, selenium and zinc in common, which are three ingredients that can get out of whack causing problems. Not sure how much you’re feeding.

However, you could do the math or use FeedXL.com to find out where you have excesses (or deficiencies) in any areas, and then use Horsetech to make a custom supplement that’d likely be cheaper (easy to ask for a quote), and either let you supplement in one custom-flavored scoop per day vs 6, or, if you use Smartpack, avoid filling up the world with single-use plastics every day Win win!

Yes, that would be the assumption - but I have had bloodwork done on her (twice), and with the supplements she is on, she is good with all her levels of vitamins/minerals - nothing high EXCEPT the iron - which was pretty high. Hence the supplementation of copper/zinc. The water and forage at our barn is very high in iron…

She gets one Solo cup of the RB (amount recommended by a nutritionist), not sure how much of the copper and zinc the Horseshine contains? (Will have to look at the label), but she is getting about 2 oz. per day. It helps her coat and though her feet are already good quality, can’t hurt

Previous to feeding that I had her on Glantzen, same daily amount (this was before bloodwork was done so would have reflected her vit/min levels), I would think they have similar nutritional profiles.

https://horsetech.com/media/wysiwyg/…2-24-1…_1.pdf

Would Horsetech be able to come up with a custom supplement that covers the gastro support as well, or just vit/min?

Oy, Smartpak. After reading the posts on this board, I’ve become suspicious; horses who previously cleaned up their feed are suddenly “eating around” the Smartpak stuff, or refusing to eat it? Ella was eating fine UP UNTIL this most recent bag of Horseshine.

Hmm.

I’m going to try the CoCo Omega tomorrow and see whether that’s more to her liking…

As for her Pica, she’s been doing this all her life (I bred her), and even when nursing, getting a complete feed as a foal and weanling and yearling, nutritional bases covered, blood testing, etc. The BM has EXCELLENT hay and pastures, and I struggle with keeping weight OFF my mare. She is VERY oral…I’ve asked vets and nutritionist and they tell me that considering all of this, it’s “just her.” She loves to chew wood, eat leaves, etc. You would think it might be boredom related?, but she is out 18 hours a day in a huge field and gets worked 5 days a week doing a variety of things (I’m an eventer), hacking, ringwork, groundwork exercises, jumping, shows and schoolings off property. The only other thing I could do is trick training, which she would probably be (too!) good at!

I hear ya on the plastic. I use and reuse baggies - wish I could get some that were like grocery sacks to be used over and over again, but nothing is small enough.

Thanks for the Stevia recommendation - a great idea! and certainly worth a try.

I appreciate all the input from everyone!

[IPEsq]

Might depend on what gastric support you want in terms of ingredients and whether HT carries that. The only one I’ve used from them is Gutwerks, which I am sure they could mix into a custom supp. It’s mostly a pre/probiotic type supplement. They do have other “buffer” type supplements and ingredients. The one closest to G.U.T as far as ingredients is probably HorseTech’s Amiquell. I haven’t tried it. HT will definitely do a mix that adds extra Cu and Zn and omits iron.

[Xanthoria]

@Dr. Doolittle

I hear ya on the plastic. I use and reuse baggies - wish I could get some that were like grocery sacks to be used over and over again, but nothing is small enough.

Before I used Horsetech I had a load of little tupperware lidded cups that last forever, and I’d set up all my supps in those. Dishwasher proof too!