[irideazip]

A lady i know recently got a young horse (3) and he had all kinds of medical problems when she got him. He is doing much better, and eating the round bale of hay that he and the mini share, but he will not eat grain. I was wondering if this was something she should seriously be concerned about. I have never really heard of a horse that didn't like grain before, or mash for that matter, so if anyone has experience with this, let me know!

P.S...this horse is woned by the farm neighboring ours and we dislike the people b/c they do not care for their horses properly. This lady is the exception and she does all she can for her personal horses.

[buggywhipp]

I don't know if this will be any help or not but when I got my 2 Paint babies they would not eat grain for anything in the world. I ended up getting them pellets and they would eat them just fine.

[Ryle]

Unless he's just never had any kind of grain/pellet before, he should be interested in feed. If a horse that is off of grain but eats hay/grass we add gastric ulcers to the ruleout list. If he's had lots of medical problems and been on meds (especially NSAIDs) that adds to the possibility of ulcers being a problem.

[irideazip]

I will let her know. He never had grain before, we think, so it is new to him. But she was just kind of weirded out that a horse would not want sweet feed! I know he was on Penicillin, banamine, and SMZ's, so that could be part of it. I told her that my horse is a chrinic colicer and she was scoped for ulcers and maybe she should have it done too, but i don't know if she will or not. I will let her know that it could be a possibility

[rageandglory]

i agree with Ryle's sentiments. no need for me to expound on them.

[Ryle]

You are right, it could be the meds he's on now or it could be something that he's had for a while that is being irritated by the meds. Her vet may just want to try him on something that would alleviate the symptoms of ulcers to see if there is any response or he may even go ahead and prescribe Gastrogard if the history and symptoms fit, whether or not she has him scoped.

[JBandRio]

Don't bother even feeding grain You do need to figure out if he just doesn't like what he's being offered, or if he has a physical reason for not wanting the grain. Once you figure that out, you still don't NEED to feed grain. There are healthier alternatives for calories - alfalfa pellets, BOSS, rice bran, beet pulp, flax - that don't carry the increased risk of causing/exacerbating ulcers

[irideazip]

Thats true, JB....my horse gets about a pound and a half of grain at every feeding (2X a day) and flax + digest aid in the AM. I will tell her not to worry too much, but to have him scoped to see if ulcers could be his problem. I will also let her know that he may just prefer an alternative.

I really hope she can figure it out. He is a real cutie, but i fear for him b/c i know the owner of the farm is not a very good horseperson and does not feed her horses properly. I can only hope that this lady takes more helpful measures with this horse

[ejforrest]

Horses with stomach problems such as ulcers tend to stay away from grains.
The practice of feeding starch such as oats and corn(grains) have fallen into disfavor as research has shown that too much starch can cause health problems such as colic, ulcers, founder, tying up, and diarrhea. In a worst case scenaria, the small intestine can be overloaded, ultimately leading to the release of endotoxins into the bloodstream. In addition, some horses have intense reactions to starch such as colic, founder, ulcers and tying up.
When horses eat hay(fiber) the acid in the stomach decreases and when the horse eats grains(starch) the acid increases-which causes pain when there is ulcers and the horse wont eat grains or finish grains. Hay acts as a fuffer from acids.
If the horse is holding his weight and doing fine on hay alone, he dont need grains. Grains should be added as an add on to the diet if the horse is hard working(racing, polo, eventing, and endurance) or cant hold his weight. Plenty of good quality hay and if needed a vitamin/mineral supplement and fresh clean water is all he needs. Grains are not part of the horses natrual diet and it shows when over fed.

[Super Step]

I bought a 2 and 3 year old from a breeder that only fed round bales and self raised oats crushed with hay. It took both horses a while to develope a taste for any other type of feed.