What brand are your hay pellets? Standlee makes tiny ones. Way smaller then most other brands.

 

I don't think it's the crunch, I think he is losing interest in flavor, or lack of same.

If he is allowed rice bran, I would try it - just be sure to buy stabilized and calcium fortified for horses.

My insulin resistant horse got bored with his smidgen of supplements, Timothy pellets and water. A year ago I started adding a 1/4 cup of pure natural apple juice, not the fruity kind with added sugar. It hasn't hurt him one bit, in terms of raising his insulin.

Would your horse be allowed apple juice? The difficulty would be keeping it from going sour if the boarding barn doesn't have a refrigerator. In these hot/humid months, I don't pull the apple juice out of the refrigerator until I'm headed to the barn and I only take what I need to mix his supplements.

Gatorade might also work but it's so high in sodium DH's heart doctor will only let him drink it occasionally. I would think extra salt might help a horse with RER or no?

That's all I can think of based on the next-to-nothing-soy-free diet both my horses are on. One for IR, the other is very soy intolerant.

 

I'll try the apple juice! Luckily our barn does have a mini-fridge so that could be an option.

Luckily, for him, he doesn't seem to be sugar sensitive [RER tends not to be] so I try to keep sugar low just in case, but he's not "no sugar allowed"

Extra salt IS great for RER horses...but, again, Fabio is extremely picky about his salt intake. He gets a tablespoon of salt in his evening feed everyday and that's seriously pushing it, in his mind. He's technically supposed to have 2 tbsp, minimum, everyday but I haven't figured out how to get that into him.
I'll try Gatorade though. Maybe the added flavor of it will cover the salt enough that he won't mind getting some "excess" sodium...that could be a handy trick for getting that extra salt into him!



I bet boredom with his food is a definite factor. I don't blame him though, I'm kind of expecting him to eat some [probably] bland hay pellets with some mildly bitter supplements [a few are supposed to have been made more palatable, but some some of them I know taste bad]. I'd be over it too, if I were him!


Thanks for your ideas! Those are great.



Another thing, if those other ideas don't work, is add some coconut oil. I know he lovesss coconut oil, and oil/fat is great for him. It might get difficult in the wintertime, but we could cross that bridge when we get there...

 

Rain Shadow, I think they are Standalee. Or they're a local brand that are basically the same size. They aren't huge pellets by any means. :/
The size of pellet he'll happily eat is like the brown ones in that photo [or smaller] - anything bigger and he questions it. He'll eat bigger pellets one at a time, but mouthfuls are not his thing. haha

 

Triple Crown does a Grass (chopped) forage) that's just Timothy, Orchard grass and Glycerin. I wonder if you mixed some of the small grass pellets in with that, a bit of sugar beet pulp, maybe a small handful of bran or a few crimped oats he'd eat his supplements in that?

 

That's an interesting idea! I'll see if I can find anywhere that carries that chopped forage. That might be really beneficial since he is completely on board with eating hay...
He definitely prefers beet pulp to hay pellets, but my BO really doesn't want to soak things. I suppose I could ask how she'd feel if I mixed up some BP each night, left it to soak overnight at the barn, and she could feed a portion morning/evening... That might be an option, I'll inquire for sure.

My advice would be to get a non soy grain/RB.

I would definitely be soaking pellets!!!

I have seen "mini bite hay extender" that is basic hay based (timothy/orchard maybe? just "normal" hay) but small pellets like the typical pelleted grain. Just in one brand but maybe they make others than.

I agree! Unfortunately it has been next to impossible to find an RB that is soy free and available on the west coast.
It looks like my hoof trimmer mightttt be a dealer for Equipride [one of our two options], so I'm asking her about that. It doesn't look to be a ration balancer exactly, but it's something that isn't hay pellets! haha

There's an RB I had hoped to start him on - HorseTech Fuel, but it appears to be a powder so it's kind of out unless I can find a "carrier" he likes.

I'll look that up! Thanks!

I know you said you didn't want him to get a lot of sugar but since it's not on the "can not have" list what about trying to mix a couple of tablespoons of blackstrap molasses into what he gets now.

Here's a link so you can see the nutritional values in case there's something there he shouldn't have. Contrary to popular belief molasses has quite a bit of nutritional value.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molasses

Good to know! I'll definitely keep this in mind! I didn't know that about blackstrap molasses!
More potassium might be beneficial since there's some science that says RER is a "glitch" in how the body processes calcium, maybe extra potassium would help... I'll have to do some research.



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In this evening's news, I tried adding orange Gatorade to this evening's feed and Fabs was MIGHTLY unimpressed. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

I'm hoping that maybe, by some miracle, he'll try it overnight and it won't be so bad since he was loving licking the Gatorade itself off my hands...but who knows. He'll also eat undisguised antibiotics and bute straight out of my hands so eating something out of my hands might not be the best gauge... haha

 

My advice would be to get a non soy grain/RB.

I would definitely be soaking pellets!!!

I have seen "mini bite hay extender" that is basic hay based (timothy/orchard maybe? just "normal" hay) but small pellets like the typical pelleted grain. Just in one brand but maybe they make others than.

 

I know you said you didn't want him to get a lot of sugar but since it's not on the "can not have" list what about trying to mix a couple of tablespoons of blackstrap molasses into what he gets now.

Here's a link so you can see the nutritional values in case there's something there he shouldn't have. Contrary to popular belief molasses has quite a bit of nutritional value.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molasses

 

If he can have applesauce, that's been my go-to for hiding meds in our horses' food for a few decades----our horses have always licked their pans when applesauce is mixed in their grain.


Beet pulp does not have to be soaked before feeding it to a horse. In the winter I add dry beet pump to our mini's diets for some extra calories if they are losing weight

 

That's a good idea with the applesauce! I'll give that a try. It's probably not a great idea for every day, but maybe to tide him over until I find something he likes enough to eat consistently

Unfortunately, I had my last horse colic, and pass away, from torsion colic after she ate a small amount of unsoaked beet pulp and I'm sure there's no correlation, but emotionally it feels like there's a correlation. Haha
So I'm not ok with feeding unsoaked beet pulp, however fine it may be. but thanks for the suggestion!

 

Something else that occurred to me --- does his feed pan get cleaned? If. It, that could be the reason he has lost interest in eating his supplements.

I use hard plastic over-the-rail feed pans and wash them every time the horses eat from them.

If the feed pans aren't kept reasonably clean, the buildup of slobber, etc can turn sour.

I watched my neighbor's dog while they left town for awhile. They take good care of her --- give her arthritis meds every day --- but they don't keep her feed pan clean. It was so full of scummy slobbery dirty buildup, I couldn't clean it and wouldn't use it. I dug out one of my old feed pans for her.

I often wonder when SOME overly sensitive horses colic for no apparent reason, if eating their feed from dirty feed pans might have been what sent them over the edge

 

That's a good point! The feeders at my barn don't pull off the wall, but I do try to clean it out as best I can once both "wells" of the feeder have leftovers in them.
He definitely eats better when there aren't leftovers in his feeder!

 

Agree with Walk. I scrubbed my feed pan daily. My gelding likes to dunk his muzzle in the water and slobber all over the feed pan. In the hot summer months I fret over that gloppy mess turning moldy.

Besides that, he leans more towards the fastidious side......lol

 

I prefer the Triple Crown brand but Lucerne farms do a good range of chopped forages but they use soy bean oil in their non molassed range so you'd have to use the one with molasses in it
I've seen a horse choke on unsoaked beet pulp so I'd never feed it dry but the no added molasses beet pulps will be OK soaked and fed later on in the day if they're kept in a cool place - or maybe in a Cool Box - or the ones like Speedi Beet which is a British Product distributed here by Emerald Valley Equine only needs soaking for 10 minutes - I buy it from my local Blue Seal but you can order it online. They also do Fibre Beet which is a more complete feed that has no soy products in it, it does have a low amount of molasses (and peppermint flavor) but that might tempt him to eat
Fibre Beet natural quality beet pulp with alfalfa for horses

 

Thanks! I'll look that up and see if I can get it! Good thinking.

 

McCauleys M10 is a soy free pelleted RB, also theres horetech's high point and then equipride. I choose high point over equipride any day, more vitamins/minerals per dose. Also horsetech does FREE shipping so getting it to you shouldn't be any issue. You CAN get the high point as pellets, which my horses LOVE but it costs almost twice as much . Also keep in mind, horsetech will customize your supplement if you want to add little more of "this" or "that" to try and help with his issues.

 

Good to know about the pellets! But ouch about the price.

I definitely agree about HorseTech vs Equipride! I like HorseTech's ingredients wayyyy better!


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He's finally eating again!!

Our sweet BO went out and bought rice bran pellets just for him [rice bran is on her list of feeds she'll supply, but no horses were needing it so she didn't have any on hand] and guess what.
SOMEONE started eating 'ok' promptly after discovering rice bran instead of hay pellets in his feeder! :lol:

We also removed the salt from his SmartPak for a day and guess what? Mr. Fabio cleaned his feeder right up once the salt was gone!

I guess two things were happening - too much salt AND pellets that he didn't fancy, which explains why he was so adamantly anti-food for a bit.

Now I've entirely removed the salt from his SmartPaks and added just a teaspoon of it to his little baggies of non-SmartPak supplements.
Hopefully a teaspoon of salt doesn't offend his sensibilities.

I really wish there was a way to get more salt into him though! He's supposed to be eating ideally 3 tablespoons of loose salt per day, and I can't even get him to eat one.
UGH.
On the plus side, salt is not quite as imperative, in terms of helping his body function at an acceptable level!
He does have a salt lick available which definitely isn't ideal, but he does use it occasionally.

Nothing is ever easy with this horse! :lol:


Thanks for your help and support guys! It helped me stay slightly more sane.



..........I wonder what he'd do if I rolled some carrots [his favorite treat] in salt...probably kick me in the face. haha

 

Goodness, poor Fabio!
So I take it he won't eat salt straight from a bucket or whatnot hanging full of it on the wall?

The only other thought I have on salt- could you give him a big horse syringe full of salt water you make, or would he throw a fit and spit it all out? Maybe mixed with applesauce or something?

 

Not really. Not enough, at least!

He'd probably shun me forever if I tried to syringe it into him! haha And everyday, he'd get real sick of that real fast. He's not the most tolerant type. He puts up with a lot for a bit, but there's no negotiation when he says no! :lol:

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@rainshadow your post made me laugh so so hard!! That's too funny!

She sounds a lot like Fabs. haha

_____________________


Luckily the salt isn't a super huge deal. Technically he should eat more, but he's not showing any real negative signs from not eating enough of it. He does get real grumpy when he doesn't have access to any salt, so I'm guessing/hoping that maybe he self-manages that pretty well and doesn't feel like he needs help?
I'm trying to figure out some way to offer loose salt in his stall [vs salt block] so that he has salt that's more easily accessible than the salt block...


On the plus side of all of this, since getting him to start eating again using the rice bran, he's been doing WAY better than he ever has - physically and mentally.
I have read that high fat is beneficial for RER horses, and he's always had some fat in his diet [he gets Cool Calories in his SmartPak], but now he's on a high-fat diet AND the "ALCAR diet" - generally it's one or the other.
And, weirdly enough, they seem to be really working well for him. I had heard all sorts of things about how you shouldn't combine the two diets as the goal of high-fat, traditionally, is to teach the muscle to use a different source of fuel [fat] and the goal of ALCAR is to make the muscle's natural fuel sources more easily accessed...
Technically ALCAR shouldn't even work for him as, as far as we know, he doesn't have a storage disorder [PSSM1 is, as far as anybody knows, the only "real" muscle storage disorder - all the other myopathies are more "processing glitches"] but whatever, it helps like crazy. haha

Anyway, we're breaking all the rules and he feels amazing. :lol:

 

This is Star. Star makes poor life choices. Like not eating her salt and then getting impaction colic every winter.

Star's trained ape has the darling task of fixing this little issue. The ape has become quite clever. Star is half Arabian, so the cleverness often fails. But the two-leg has developed a few plans of attack that often work.

Trick One:

Sugar free peppermints. Take three or four and stick them in a coffee grinder with a teaspoon of salt. Grind them up. Human suggest buying food process because coffee will forever taste salty and pepperminty after this.

Sprinkle atop Pony's food and sacrifice another peppermint to horsey gods. Depending on pickyness of horsey god invoked, you may move onto trick two.

Trick Two: Milkshake time! Add several cups of favorite food. Rice Bran would work well. Star's two-leg prefers her ration balancer because rice bran would ruin Star's...not very slim image. Add gallon of water to 1lb ration balancer in Star's case. Mix, mix, mix, add salt, mix more. Dump into bucket and allow horse to slurp up. Most effective method to date.

Trick Three: Consider if potato chips with extra salt and or french fries are harmful to hoses. Consider if you wish to put your vet's children's children through medical school. Move on to trick four.

Trick Four: Sacrifice all dignity and try to force feed salt water.

Trick Five: After signing the hospital discharge papers, buy Himalayan salt. Discover that this is magical salt, that pony will actually eat out of feed bowl. Allow wallet to sob over cost.

 

I always had the opposite problem my horse would eat everything the only thing he ever tried but didn't like was pez candy he even tried to eat my phone once also this just made me think of it but I tried a salt lick once and they go great with candy bars