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My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?

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Ashlen1515
Reg. Jun 2014
Posted 2015-10-07 1:18 PM
Subject: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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Well my gelding has been eating a grain called mitchells pellet aka 14-6. with 3 cups of alfalfa pellet(standlee), half a flake of the compressed standlee alfalfa forage with 2 flakes of hay as well, with 1 scoop of joint supplement and 1 scoop of Red Cell electrolytes(omg i love this supplement!) he gets this in the morning and evening.

The moment i even gave him a handful of the alfalfa pellet he was obsessd so i decided it would be a go on buying them for him. Its been about 3 or 4 months that hes been eating the alfalfa pellet. Around 2 days ago he would finish his food! (which is not a good sign because thats all HE EVER THINKS ABOUT lol) so of course i was freaking out thinking he was colicing! but he had passed gas and pooped a couple times, so he was okay. i gave him a handful of his food(which is mixed up) and he turned his head, next i got a different handful mostly of just the 14-6 sure enough he ate it! so i tried just giving him the alfalfa pellet and HE WONT EAT IT whats so ever! hes always loveddd it! im just confused.
Has this happened to anybody else? what are your experiences with Standlee alfalfa pellet? Could he have ulcers possibly?
Or just being picky?
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outrundaizy
Reg. Mar 2010
Posted 2015-10-07 1:25 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



Don't Wanna Make This Awkward


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Have you tried soaking the alfalfa pellets?  
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Ashlen1515
Reg. Jun 2014
Posted 2015-10-07 1:27 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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YES! he turns his head away still! he wont eat them dry or soaked or even watered down which he goes nuts over bc he lovesss it.
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hoofs_in_motion
Reg. Apr 2011
Posted 2015-10-07 1:27 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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I agree with soaking the pellets. Sometimes they can be hard. I soak alfalfa pellets/cubes everytime I feed them. 
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outrundaizy
Reg. Mar 2010
Posted 2015-10-07 1:32 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



Don't Wanna Make This Awkward


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Has anything else changed in the last 3 months behavior/personality wise? Does he still finish his hay and everything? You might just be feeding too much alfalfa if you are feeding 2 different kinds. 
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Ashlen1515
Reg. Jun 2014
Posted 2015-10-07 1:39 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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well not really except i started working him a bit more and going on more trail rides. thats a shocker bc even if Mojo was completely full he would still try to eat more. and yea he finishes his hay
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outrundaizy
Reg. Mar 2010
Posted 2015-10-07 1:51 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



Don't Wanna Make This Awkward


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Ashlen1515 - 2015-10-07 1:39 PM well not really except i started working him a bit more and going on more trail rides. thats a shocker bc even if Mojo was completely full he would still try to eat more. and yea he finishes his hay

Well it doesn't really sound like ulcers to me. I would say he is probably just bored with the alfalfa and giving it in pellet and flake form is probably just too much. I would just cut the pellets and give him a full flake of the compressed hay and see if that works for him. 
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streakysox
Reg. Jul 2008
Posted 2015-10-07 2:15 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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Did you just open a new bag?
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Ashlen1515
Reg. Jun 2014
Posted 2015-10-07 2:27 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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Location: texas
no this bag isnt new ive been using for about 2 or 3 weeks now
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cavyrunsbarrels
Reg. Dec 2010
Posted 2015-10-07 3:05 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?


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My horses aren't super crazy about the pellets either. They eat them, but pick the "good" stuff out first. My trick to making them exciting and yummy is adding a handful or two of SOAKED beet pulp and mixing it in. The horses LOVE that combo. A bag of the beet pulp pellets is really cheap and will last you FOREVER using just a handful or two.
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Crowned Image
Reg. Jan 2011
Posted 2015-10-07 3:10 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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I had an "emergency" a few weeks ago and the feed store was closed, had to borrow some pellets instead of cubes. they wouldn't touch them unless I put some HealthyCoat on it. I swear they would eat garbage if I put HealthyCoat on it.
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Ashlen1515
Reg. Jun 2014
Posted 2015-10-07 3:33 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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its just so weird because my gelding used be crazzzzy for the pellet!
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Ashlen1515
Reg. Jun 2014
Posted 2015-10-07 3:35 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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cavyrunsbarrels - 2015-10-07 3:05 PM

My horses aren't super crazy about the pellets either. They eat them, but pick the "good" stuff out first. My trick to making them exciting and yummy is adding a handful or two of SOAKED beet pulp and mixing it in. The horses LOVE that combo. A bag of the beet pulp pellets is really cheap and will last you FOREVER using just a handful or two.

To start feeding beet pulp. do you slowly have to introduce them into it or can you just start feeding it? and what brand of beet pulp do you feed? and how much is it for one bag lol
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hoofs_in_motion
Reg. Apr 2011
Posted 2015-10-07 3:45 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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I buy beet pulp from the local store instead of TSC. I believe it's like $14 a bag at TSC, and I pay $11 for a 40lb bag of it at the co-op. I started feeding a scoop (3lbs dry) of it, and soaking it, never had any issues with it.
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SKM
Reg. Dec 2003
Posted 2015-10-07 4:02 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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Could be he decided he didn't like the binder they use. Most alfalfa pellets have to use bentonite to dry the product out. If it's too wet, you get crap pellets that turn to dust. The bentonite (also known as swell clay) is sometimes added to improve the quality. But animals can't have more than 2% bentonite. So if the batch the plant makes is 1,500 pounds, they can add up to 30 pounds of bentonite. Some mixers don't blend real well and you get an inconsistent spread of the various additives. My guess is thus particular bag has something in the mix that is a higher concentrate that isn't palatable to him. I'd look at ingredients and trust my animal if he doesn't like it.
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outrundaizy
Reg. Mar 2010
Posted 2015-10-07 5:35 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



Don't Wanna Make This Awkward


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SKM - 2015-10-07 4:02 PM Could be he decided he didn't like the binder they use. Most alfalfa pellets have to use bentonite to dry the product out. If it's too wet, you get crap pellets that turn to dust. The bentonite (also known as swell clay) is sometimes added to improve the quality. But animals can't have more than 2% bentonite. So if the batch the plant makes is 1,500 pounds, they can add up to 30 pounds of bentonite. Some mixers don't blend real well and you get an inconsistent spread of the various additives. My guess is thus particular bag has something in the mix that is a higher concentrate that isn't palatable to him. I'd look at ingredients and trust my animal if he doesn't like it.

Totally agree with this 
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mreklaw
Reg. May 2008
Posted 2015-10-07 5:48 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?


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Look closely at the pellets and smell the bag. They might be starting to get some mold on them. I just opened a brand new bag on Sunday and it was moldy.
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Ashlen1515
Reg. Jun 2014
Posted 2015-10-07 10:29 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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i think im going to start feeding him beet pulp. it sounds like a good source of forage and alot of people seem to be happy with it! do i have to slowly transitions into feeding it or can i just start feeding it to him? and which one is better the beet pulp pellet or the shredded or cubed?
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Chandler's Mom
Reg. Jan 2015
Posted 2015-10-07 10:51 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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Ashlen1515 - 2015-10-07 10:29 PM

i think im going to start feeding him beet pulp. it sounds like a good source of forage and alot of people seem to be happy with it! do i have to slowly transitions into feeding it or can i just start feeding it to him? and which one is better the beet pulp pellet or the shredded or cubed?

We feed the shreds and I always do ANY feed changes slowly. I'm upping my old man on his beet but still doing it about half a cup every two days. He'll be where I want him this weekend, but it's taken a week for me to get him there. (Went from 3 cups to 6.)
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Ashlen1515
Reg. Jun 2014
Posted 2015-10-07 11:08 PM
Subject: RE: My horse all the sudden stopped eating alfalfa pellet?



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Posts: 133
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Location: texas
Chandler's Mom - 2015-10-07 10:51 PM

Ashlen1515 - 2015-10-07 10:29 PM

i think im going to start feeding him beet pulp. it sounds like a good source of forage and alot of people seem to be happy with it! do i have to slowly transitions into feeding it or can i just start feeding it to him? and which one is better the beet pulp pellet or the shredded or cubed?

We feed the shreds and I always do ANY feed changes slowly. I'm upping my old man on his beet but still doing it about half a cup every two days. He'll be where I want him this weekend, but it's taken a week for me to get him there. (Went from 3 cups to 6.)

ALrighty! im gonna start him slowly on beet pulp and make sure i soak it really well! thanks!
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