tempting a stalled horse to eat ?

I'd be careful about feeding things to tempt him if he isn't eating his hay. Is there an absolute necessity for him to stay stalled? As long as he is drinking plenty of water, he will be okay, and feeding sweets or bran mashes will disturb his gut bacteria and could colic him, or even bring on laminitis. I think the one post suggesting soaked alfalfa cubes made into a mash might be okay, if he is used to alfalfa. Another safer choice would be a Senior Feed like Purina mixed with warm water and made into a mash which would not upset his digestion that much.

There could be several reasons for this behavior. The most common is dusty hay. Has his hay been switched recently? Do you notice dust coming from the flakes when you separate it? I get a few dusty bales every now and then, when I do the there are a couple horses in the barn that exhibit this type of behavior. It can also be caused by bad teeth. I've had a few over the years that had notoriously bad teeth that also did this. A sign of bad teeth that would accompany this would be wads of partially chewed hay in the stall. In the cases I've dealt with involving teeth it's usually been remedied with some intensive dental care but in a few cases the horse had to be switched to cubes or pellets. Another reason is just plain old boredom, but I've rarely come across this. I would suggest first checking the quality of the hay. Even if you are getting in top quality hay you could still have a few bad bales. Then I would have the teeth checked. If it's just boredom causing this moving the hay might help but checking for other causes is relatively cheap so I would do that first. If it does turn out to be boredom causing the behavior then move the pile, get him a stall toy like a jolly ball and change his water more frequently. You may be able to slow the behavior but if it has become ingrained in him it's unlikely it will stop completely.

If he is hungry enough, he will eat the hay, right now he is probably upset at being stuck in a stall. Just watch for signs of colic.

If he is not eating hay, you don't want to load him up on grains or veggies or other types of food because all of that sugar can cause colic without a good hay base.

Something to try on the hay aspect- alfalfa cubes- you can get them at most feed stores and soak them in warm water until it is a giant mush. Add some of the hay he is avoiding too, and a bit of carrots if he is eating them.

You can also try a warm bran mash, which you don't want him to survive on, but most horses don't turn it down.

If he is sulking because he cannot go out then he will get over himself and eat eventually. They all do. It may be a symptom of whatever is wrong with him, so keep a note for the vet just in case of what and how much he does eat. I find a little haylage instead of hay will often work as it is sweet and moist. Also turnip is a good tempter for the challenged palate. If he is a confirmed grassaholic then I'm afraid that he will have to adapt because there really isn't much to hand-pick out there at this time of year! I hope he gets well soon bless him!

My horses like swedes. and if you hang them on a bale string there very good boredom breakers as it takes the pony a while to eat it. I would mix chopped carrots in him feed to tempt him into eating it, or any other treat that he likes

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Is he sick? Maybe he's colicky. Try molasses or his favorite treat. If your using chopped fruits or vegatables make sure to mix them in so he doesn't just eat the ones off the top. Does he usually eat his feed or did you just switch? If you switched he might not like it.

You could try buying a gallon of molasses from your feed store. It's NOT as sweet as our table molasses.

IF that's not an option, try corn syrup. You can also dice the carrots and mix it with his bucket feed.

What about sugar beet? - you can get the unmolassed version and most horses love it. You could also consider haylage instead of hay and there is a product called readi-grass if you get desperate (I know somone who fed it to a 36 year old horse with hardly any teeth)

hmmm. have you though or teying to make him happier and then he might want to eat? he is obviously depressed, it happens alot to horses on stall rest. tey spending ALOT of time in there with him, talking to him, grooming him, bring some other horses in to be next to him so he can touch noses with them. if you have another critter on your farm, like a goat, and your pony wolnt kill it, consider putting it in the stall. it sounds wierd, but seriously, it works. having something to play with and keep him company will make him way less bored. also try getting him several cool horse toys from your local horsey store. my friend went through the same thing with her mare after surgery-8 weeks or stall rest and by the second week the mare wanted nothing to do with the food, and just moped around. anyway, i hope some of this helps and i hope your pony starts eating before this problem gets worse!

You could put apple juice in his feed to sweeten it... if he is stuck in his box his food should be cut right back anyway to prevent tying up.