{"id":10388,"date":"2018-09-02T14:02:12","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T19:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/be55915bbd.nxcli.net\/?p=10388"},"modified":"2023-10-01T07:57:11","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T12:57:11","slug":"help-my-horse-refuses-to-eat-his-supplements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nouvelleresearch.com\/index.php\/articles\/10388-help-my-horse-refuses-to-eat-his-supplements","title":{"rendered":"Help! My Horse Refuses to Eat His Supplements!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your horse refuses to eat a supplement or even a feed.\u00a0 You put in a lot of effort to help them with their health or a medical condition, and yet, they walk away from their dinner!\u00a0 Not an uncommon problem, but certainly a frustrating one for many owners.\u00a0 So, what do you do?\u00a0 Is it the supplement? Your feed? Or maybe your horse?\u00a0 It could be a combination of all three, but with some detective work, patience, and persistence, you can change the situation and maybe their health in the process!\u00a0 The picky eater horse can be helped!<\/p>\n

Here you are with a horse that has a medical issue, maybe an allergy or lameness, and you are putting the effort into proper supplementation to aid their recovery, but they refuse to eat it!\u00a0 How dare they, right?\u00a0 You put that dose of supplement into their normal grain, potentially wasting a dose, and now they walk away from their evening meal.<\/p>\n

What’s the deal?\u00a0 Is it your feed?\u00a0 Is something wrong with the supplement?\u00a0 Are they just not feeling good today?<\/p>\n

Picky Eaters and the Horse<\/span><\/h3>\n

Likely there is nothing wrong with your feed, the supplement, or your horse.\u00a0 In reality, it is something going on inside of your horse that is creating the problem.\u00a0 It’s their taste buds, but the problem goes much deeper than just the fact that you think your horse doesn’t like the supplement.<\/p>\n

These types of horses to me are picky eaters and almost every horse owner has experience in this area.\u00a0 It is also something that I encounter in our rehab patients, creating difficulty in providing a prescribed supplement regimen.\u00a0 I can prescribe a formula to aid in their recovery, but it does very little if they won’t eat it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

If we step back and look at the situation, many of these ‘picky’ horses will actually refuse a carrot, a slice of apple, or even a handful of whole oats.\u00a0 Pretty odd.\u00a0 Certainly not all of them fall into this group, but a high percentage do.\u00a0 So, how can they turn their nose away from a carrot or even whole oats?\u00a0 The reasoning lies in the tastes that they have developed, become accustomed to over time, and also the influence of the gastrointestinal microbiome.<\/p>\n

Digging Deeper into the Problem<\/span><\/h3>\n

Looking at this group of horse, most of them are on processed, commercial feeds, often having the feed changed periodically as their taste wanes from one and desires another.\u00a0 Processed foods have a different taste than real foods, often higher in additives, added sugars, colors, preservatives and even food sources.\u00a0 Many of these grains are not even using ‘real’ foods, but modified versions of them or even synthetically created sources of nutrients.\u00a0 The fact is that they are not food, at least in the traditional sense.<\/strong>\u00a0 Feed them enough of these types of foods and they become accustomed to them, their palate changes, and so does the bacteria in their digestive tract.<\/p>\n

When it comes to the microbiome, a horse that eats whole foods, minimal grains and has access to plenty of pasture has a slightly different bacterial population from a horse that eats commercial grains, stalled, and kept on a dry lot.\u00a0 This population of bacteria then can influence the tastes that the horse craves, often with the craving for sugar or sweets being prominent, as these carbohydrate sources feed the bacteria that have overgrown.\u00a0 Even whole grains, vegetables, and some fruits are lower in carbohydrates than some foods on the market.\u00a0 Despite their natural state, they are not as sweet or tasty, as some commercial feeds.<\/p>\n

In reality, this situation is no different from a child that was raised on high sugar cereals, processed foods, sugars, and candy.\u00a0 Then you attempt to change that child’s eating habits, encouraging more fruit and vegetables.\u00a0 What is the result?\u00a0 They cry, whine, and walk away from their dinner.\u00a0 If you succeed on getting them to eat the vegetables and fruits, and truly eliminate the other negative foods, their tastes will change, their gut microbiome will change, and their health will change.<\/p>\n

It’s not a coincidence that most picky eater horses also have ongoing health problems!\u00a0 There is a reason, and their diet, established microbiome, and eating habits all play a role.\u00a0 Test your horse’s microbiome through a fecal culture<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Resolving the Dilemma with the Picky Eater Horse<\/span><\/h3>\n

If you want to truly help your horse, you will realize that the efforts you are making with the supplements you have chosen are likely not the problem.\u00a0 Or it could be, dependent on the supplement.\u00a0 There are a few things to keep in mind.<\/p>\n

When it comes to many supplements on the market, in order for the manufacturer to help you they must make their product palatable to your horse.\u00a0 This means that many companies add a lot of sugars, sweet flavors, or artificial sweeteners to their products.\u00a0 More sugar usually means more likable by your horse! However, this is not a good thing, as outlined above.<\/p>\n

When it comes to our Cur-OST Equine Supplements<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, we have no added artificial flavors, sugars, preservatives or other chemicals.\u00a0 In most we have added a whole, organic banana fruit as a component of the blend. This is the real fruit, not a flavor.\u00a0 Given this, no addition of sugars or otherwise, some horses may turn their noses away from their first few meals.\u00a0 Reason being…they are craving sugars and their are no added sugars to those supplements.\u00a0 This isn’t a huge issue in using our products, but it does happen, however, there are ways to resolve the problem.<\/p>\n

In order to resolve this, most of the time we need to evaluate and modify their main diet, remove contributors to the problem.\u00a0 Just like with the child above, we can’t keep giving him cake if we want him to eat his spinach.<\/p>\n

The first step for me is to get the horse eating real foods.<\/strong>\u00a0 So, we use whole oats, some alfalfa pellets, maybe flaxseed, carrots, peas, or even chia seeds as a food source.\u00a0 Even with these natural foods, they are not a meal.\u00a0 Forage is the meal for a horse.\u00a0 These are just a snack, a medium for supplementation to improve their health.\u00a0 In many cases, some picky eaters will walk away from that meal.\u00a0 That’s okay.\u00a0 Don’t give into them, but let it sit, and see what they do overnight.\u00a0 Over time, most will start to pick, and finally eat the meal.\u00a0 If they don’t, here are some suggestions:<\/p>\n