In December I bought a 3 year old ott. I’ve had a really tough time with his diet because he really isn’t interested in hay. I’ve tried orchard, Timothy, alfalfa, and a mix. All very high quality. He will nibble but not consume the amount he should be. I have him on soaked alfalfa cubes but even then I have to mix in grain or he won’t touch them. He’s on a high quality complete grain along with beet pulp. Has been wormed and treated with ulcer guard. Can anyone recommend anything or share similar experiences? I’ve managed all different eaters but never one that I can’t get eating hay… Btw, has been thoroughly evaluated by my vet and nothing appears to be wrong and totally normal otherwise
When I got my OTTB mare a couple of years ago, I had a hard time getting weight on her. She would not eat a large quantity of grain at a time, didn’t like beet pulp. She was ok with hay, but definitely took me a long time to get weight on her. I tried every thing from Cool Calories to several other brands to add calories, added some alfalfa pellets (soaked) to her feed, and I changed the type of grain from a performance to senior. I also gave her an extra meal of grain when I would go to the barn. I gave her alfalfa forage which she really liked. She eats her hay great now, will eat a little larger quantity of grain and is starting to like beet pulp(if I add some alfalfa pellets to it). You didn’t mention if you had his teeth done? The other thing I did for my mare is have a session of chiro/acupuncture as dentist said she felt very tight and stiff in her head neck area.
I would look at the horse’s hind gut. My horse dropped his hay intake dramatically (also an OTTB) when his hind gut was a complete mess. Also, my ottb is extremely picky about hay, too, and I had to settle on a less than desirable quality of hay, because he loves it more than anything else.
You mention he was treated for ulcers. Did you do anything to support and or treat his hind gut? Often colonic ulcers either go hand in hand with gastric, or crop up after gastric ulcers are treated. Start there, you might be impressed. Hay can be uncomfortable for a horse with hind gut problems.
If you’ve done all the teeth/ulcers/etc, which it sounds like you have…
I have one of these. When he first came off the track it was the worst. He seemed to have a fixed amount he was willing to consume in terms of calories. He would eat lots of concentrate or he would eat hay, but he would not consume lots of hay if he also got lots of grain.
I tried cutting his Ultium with beet pulp 1:1; I fed him extra alfalfa and oil meals late at night. We tried rice brain supplements in at least three different forms. I tried beautiful grass hay and nice alfalfa. I have lost track of all the ways we tried to sneak more calories into this horse.
The worst was the running. He not only boycotted hay, but he picked his spots and galloped up, jogged back, galloped up, jogged back for about 15-20 minutes at least 3-4 times a day.
After a mild gastric upset episode, I took him cold turkey off grain. He was hungry for a day, dropped a tiny amount of weight, and started eating his hay on the second day. After a week, he ate hay and consuming enough calories kept him occupied so he stopped running.
Almost four years later, it’s still a balancing act. I would like for him to be obesely, jiggly fat. He would like to be at retired-athlete-paunchy. If he’s in good work, I can feed him more grain. He’s still hit or miss on his hay. We have one batch that will get us through the year, so it isn’t like we get a new type he doesn’t like. He almost seems to have trouble focusing long enough to eat hay.
I don’t mix his hay (i.e. Add alfalfa) because I’ve found that only encourages his sorting and pickiness.
The most helpful thing I’ve found is a good older pony for a turnout buddy who has only passing interest in running and playing. Pony puts his head into the round bale outside, TB mimics. Sometimes puzzled TB steals hay out of chubby Pony’s mouth – win-win.
Sorry I’m not more helpful. Hope yours is smarter than mine.
Whoops, I did have his teeth done and they were definitely due so I was hoping this was the answer but no improvement. He was treated with ulcer guard and is now on a GLC probiotic
He doesn’t have many signs of ulcers, but I treated since he’s ott and the hay issue. He isn’t super skinny considering the circumstances either. Loves his beet pulp and grain, just not forage
Everything is very normal and he’s on a great diet, 3 meals a day. Just doesn’t enjoy hay!
Like someone said above, have you tried cutting the concentrates to see if that will turn him to the hay?
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Almost four years later, it’s still a balancing act. I would like for him to be obesely, jiggly fat. He would like to be at retired-athlete-paunchy. .[/QUOTE]
Sounds like you have a smart horse!
does he eat gras???
Yes but grass is dead.
Per someone else… will he eat hay that isn’t high quality? In my barn’s recent hay saga, there were horses that would eat stemmy kind of gross looking first cut, but wouldn’t touch the beautiful soft fresh smelling second cut…
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Yes but grass is dead.[/QUOTE]
I know I was just wondering… Did you ever try Chaffhaye??
I think we have the same horse! I have an OTTB I brought home in November. He was driving me insane but has FINALLY gotten better about eating hay. I also feed him beet pulp with his TC senior 3x daily, and he gets unlimited hay.
Where are you feeding his hay? It turned out location was the key to getting my guy to eat his hay. My stalls are open to private paddocks, so at first I played around with putting hay on the ground in his stall, on the ground in his paddock, in a haynet in his stall, in a hay bag outside, etc. He still barely picked at it, he was MAYBE eating a flake a day, if that. Finally, I tried hanging a haynet high in the doorway of his stall/paddock. That was the magic place! From the doorway he can either stand in his stall or his paddock to eat, and I think that is the key because he likes being able to watch the world go by.
The other thing that helps is turning him out with my absolutely-lives-to-eat gelding. My fatty gelding will start chowing down immediately, ignoring all attempts by my OTTB to play, so OTTB gives up and starts eating too :lol:.
I know how frustrating it is, but experimenting with where you’re feeding him may be worth a shot. Remember, most horses on the track are eating out of hay bags hung high all day long so that might be more familiar for him.
Good luck and feel free to pm me to commiserate… my ottb has the same quirks 
I’ve tried it all outside on the ground, hay bag outside, hay bag hung all different ways, hay on the stall floor…doesn’t change it. He will eat his orchard but only about a flake overnight :(! Thanks for the advice, glad I’m not the only one!
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I’ve tried it all outside on the ground, hay bag outside, hay bag hung all different ways, hay on the stall floor…doesn’t change it. He will eat his orchard but only about a flake overnight :(! Thanks for the advice, glad I’m not the only one![/QUOTE]
Well darn! These horses sure know how to drive us INSANE, don’t they?!?
Some OTTB just take time to learn to eat hay, IME. I would give him a few months and just keep offering it. Once he lets down some more, he may start to show more interest.
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Well darn! These horses sure know how to drive us INSANE, don’t they?!?[/QUOTE]
Funny! I put his net up super high again last night (can’t hurt to keep trying) and it was almost empty!
Thanks for the advice/stories everyone! I’m getting in more new hay tomorrow so maybe he will like this one (doubtful, but hopeful.) Because he is SO normal otherwise, i’m going to give him another solid month before I go looking into other things. Thank you!
Ulcerguard may help prevent ulcers, but it does not make ulcers that are already present go away. So the horse has not really been treated for ulcers.
TBs can be finicky and take a while to settle into a new routine, especially those who have been on the track. I lay up tbs, and find that 30-60 days is the norm, and some settle better than others.
