Horse won't eat grain

[hctjudge]

My 5 yr. old TWH mare is very unconcerned about eating grain. She has been scoped for ulcers--nothing- and recently had her teeth done. She is slick and full of energy, but has a slim build with prominent hip bones and not being able to fatten her up is driving me crazy. She actually cleaned up a scoop and a half tonight but tomorrow she is just as likely to turn her nose up at it. I think she is part house cat!
In 50+ years of owning horses, I've never seen a horse leave grain. She has hay 24/7 and her ribs don't show but I am doing quite a bit of trail riding and I'm afraid she will be a rack of bones. She can easily do 10-12 miles and still want to go more.
Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this. Most of the suggestions I get pertain to horses that eat but don't gain weight, that's not her problem.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Amwrider]

I have a horse that is fussy about eating grain also. I give him soaked beet pulp with soaked alfalfa cubes added to it. Without the alfalfa he won't touch it. I also make sure he gets Max E Glow which is a stabilized rice bran product that is high in fat.

[hctjudge]

Now there's a coincidence. For awhile she would eat ONLY soaked alfalfa cubes. I hid a few supplements in it--weight builder, etc. Then started adding a high fat texturized feed to that and slowly cut out the cubes. What she cleaned up
tonight was just feed.

Has anyone given you a reason for this?

Thanks for the response, I'll check out the supplement.

[JB]

Slim build and prominent hip bones is a not-uncommon trait for a TWH. It's how they are built.

If you can't see her ribs, that's a good weight. How long have you been doing "quite a bit" of trail riding? Long enough that you'd have seen a weight loss by now, or are you just ramping up?

What "grain" are you giving her? Even if it's a good quality one, not all horses like all things, so she just may not really like this product.

Max-E-Glo is a nice stabilized, fortified rice bran product. It's a meal form, which some horses don't like, but there are others, like Equi-Jewel, that are pelleted.

But firstly I would be addressing nutrition, not necessarily calories. A vitamin/mineral supplement with "extras" if necessary (like lysine) or a ration balancer. Then you can add calories on top of that if you need to, based on whatever she likes - alfalfa pellets or cubes, beet pulp, smaller amounts of oats, rice bran, boss, etc.

[hctjudge]

She is eating Ultium right now. I've been through everything they carry at the feed store. The vet that did her scope said that she wasn't skinny.

In the last week and a half we have probably ridden 40+ miles--10 to 12 miles a day. We probably average 4 to 5 mph. I don't notice any weight loss and she is full of energy.
I know I'm used to Quarter horses, but I don't expect her to be a chunk I'm just used to my horses being rounder. I feel like I always have to mention that she is fed all she wants, she just won't eat, so that people won't call animal control!

[spaghetti legs]

Why don't you just give her 2 flakes of alfalfa day and night along with her regular hay. That'll keep the weight on and her energy up.

Does she like mollasses? You could give her a little dribble of mollasses each day with the scoop of electrolytes/salts on top.

[JB]

Can you post a picture? It IS a big difference to look at a typical TWH if you're used to a typical QH :) It's like people used to WBs who see a "typical" TB and go "wow, he's so skinny!" Yes, TWHs typically have prominent hip bones. Prominent due to conformation is very different from "prominent" due to being too thin. If it were the latter, you'd for sure be seeing ribs.

I think in your case I'd be firstly concerned about nutrition, and then figure out calories. It doesn't sound like she's eating/will eat enough Ultium to provide the proper nutrition for the work she's doing. Since you can get Purina, have you thought about trying their Enrich 32 ration balancer?

[Desert Topaz]

I have a horse that's similar (underweight, won't eat grain, or at least not enough) and our latest thought is he might have Cushing's. I know we tend to think of Cushing's horses as fatter/obese, but they can also be under-weight with not a lot of topline muscle.

[MGLad]

My horse did exactly the same thing however it sounds like for a different reason...we had his teeth floated by a 'dentist' who did all the area barns who said Lad was fine. We then had a true 'equine' dentist come...my horse had two long hooks in the back and a wave. He is now on maintenance with the 'equine dentist' and has never had a problem since.....Also he still does not like pelleted feed...will only eat textured feed with some molasses. Good luck

[hctjudge]

MGLad: Could you tell that your horse was still having problems chewing before the second dentist came? My mare seems to be chewing comfortably.
She is easily distracted. I made the mistake of moving my horse trailer around to where I load her this morning and she immediately quit eating.

JB I would LOVE to post a picture if I knew how. I am technically impaired and this is a new computer that does a whole lot more than it needs to be doing. I will get the techie husband on it.

Thank for suggestions

[LearnToFly]

She is eating Ultium right now. I've been through everything they carry at the feed store. The vet that did her scope said that she wasn't skinny.

In the last week and a half we have probably ridden 40+ miles--10 to 12 miles a day. We probably average 4 to 5 mph. I don't notice any weight loss and she is full of energy.
I know I'm used to Quarter horses, but I don't expect her to be a chunk I'm just used to my horses being rounder. I feel like I always have to mention that she is fed all she wants, she just won't eat, so that people won't call animal control!

Ultium is a pretty rich feed... My horse won't eat very much of it but will gorge himself on his current grain (Advantage) if given the chance. If she's keeping weight on hay and alfalfa then what's the problem? Did your vet check her teeth?

[MGLad]

We had no indication that Lad was having difficulty eating other than he stopped eating the pelleted feed. He was eating his hay and grass without disruption..When we contacted the vet, his first thought (since Lad had his teeth floated two months earlier) was ulcers as well...which was negative. When the equine dentist came with all his power tools, he explained that basically if Lad was a human, he would need braces. Over the course of two years, he has corrected his teeth to a more 'normal' bite, and now he requires maintenance care.