Keeping Horses Eating

There is nothing more frustrating or worrying than a horse that wont eat. Horses go off their feed for a variety of reasons which can include illness unpalatable feeds or gastrointestinal disturbances such as hindgut acidosis. Thankfully though there are some things you can do to get a horse eating again. Here are some useful tips for maintaining appetite.
Step 1 Identify the cause.
The first step to getting a horse to eat again is to identify what caused the lack of appetite in the first place. Some possibilities include

   Disease If the horse is sick or has a problem like gastric ulcers it is likely that its appetite will be poor.
   Pain Pain can dramatically reduce a horses appetite. Pain can include lameness general muscle soreness from a hard workout and mild forms of colic.
   Vitamin B1 deficiency Some plant species including bracken fern nardoo rock ferns and horsetails all contain an enzyme called thiaminase which destroys vitamin B1 also called Thiamine in the gastrointestinal tract before it can be absorbed by the horse. This over time will cause a vitamin B1 deficiency. A deficiency of B1 is well recognised as causing loss of appetite in many animal species including horses. Also if your horse is being fed uncooked grains like corn or barley there is a good chance the lack of appetite is due to grain fermentation and resulting acidosis in the hindgut. During hindgut acidosis thiaminase is produced by the hindgut bacteria and can lead to a vitamin B1 deficiency and the resulting loss of appetite.
   Mycotoxin poisoning Many feeds including hay chaff and grains can be contaminated with fungi mould. Given the right conditions these fungi can produce mycotoxins. One of the early symptoms of mycotoxin poisoning in horses is loss of appetite. I often suspect mycotoxins when a change in source of hay chaff or grain suddenly causes a horse to go off its feed.
   Unpalatable feeds Feeds and forages that are mouldy stale rancid or too salty will stop a horse from eating. Some feed ingredients like soybean meal can also be not very tasty and may make the more finicky eaters lose their appetite.
   Oversupplementing Feeding supplements in excess of your horses requirements can also make a feed unpalatable and stop a horse from eating. This is particularly the case with concentrated vitaminmineral preparations and electrolyte supplements.
   Medications Putting medications like Bute into a feed