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Member
Posts: 24
Location: FL | I picked up a new mare a couple of months ago, and up until this morning, we have had virtually no issues. She settled in quickly and secured her spot as a member of the family in no time at all. This morning when I fed, she declined to meet me at her feed pan as she normally would and made no effort whatsoever to eat her breakfast. Her hay from last night was totally untouched (which she usually devours in .0374 seconds) and she showed no interest in coming over for scratches...but did park her fat hiney at the front fence to gaze longingly at the stud one house down.
Throughout the day we kept an eye on her, and aside from no appetite for her grain, her behavior was normal. No signs of distress, no rolling, pacing, etc. She grazed off and on all day, drank, pooped, peed, and ate treats when offered. She also ate a few handfuls of feed that my husband offered her by hand.
Aside from going off her feed, she is showing no other signs of heat. I have had mares my entire life (granted, 25 years isn't much of a life in the big scheme of things!) and I have never had one go off her feed. I've had them get lethargic, ouchy, distracted, and transform into human eating she-beasts before my eyes, but this is different. Honestly, if she wasn't spending most of her time looking down the road I wouldn't have even considered that she could be in heat. I haven't seen her wink or any other tell-tale signs.
So I guess my question is, does anyone else have mares that go off their feed when cycling? Any suggestions or experiences worth sharing? Thanks in advance! | |
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| I don't know about your mare but it may be because the weather is cycling into heat and high humidity.
I am on the tx/ok border north of Dallas and we have received over 24 inches of rain in May and June and if my memory serves me right FL got parts of our storm systems that contains long bouts of high humidity.
Due to this happening here I have had pelleted horse and cattle feed grow a white mold in the whole bag or the ends of the pellets and the horses were the ones that smelled it and refused to gobble it down like your horse is doing. Their warning looks made me aware of the mold problem.
I cut a bunch of pellets that was showing mold on the ends in half to see if it was molded down the core of the pellet. Yes, it was. Having worked summers in a milling company while going to college I knew it had to do with the lack of heat used to cook and form the pellets and that the elevators were contaminated with the mold spores. . . I know about mold spores because being the low man on the totem pole ... I got to climb up with a hand pick axe and break the crude loose. Which is done more often in high humidity time frames.
My feed guy first said .. AHHhaw .. you got your feed wet..... I mentioned it was a clear afternoon two days ago when I bought the ton of feed and so far the first 5 bags are moldy ... he did some fidgeting and told me to bring it in and he would give me credit for it.
I changed over to a 16% race horse sweet feed and whole oats ... I mix them 50-50 and throw a handful of GroStrong minerals in their feed buckets and they are eating like they are in an ice cream store ... lol ...
You never know what a milling company puts in pelleted feed to increase their profit margins or cuts the drying time to save on fuel .. or what changes they make in their bug poison that horses know it smells or tastes different and refuse to eat. Ether is usually used on grain products.
Buy you two different brands of other feed that is primarily corn and oats with soy bean meal or alfalfa pellets in it to raise the protein levels like the 16% sweet feed I am doing and then using the whole oats as more fiber and a good slow digesting food source. The whole oats also makes a horse chew which puts more saliva in their gut to assist the first step of digesting their feed.
Also... try a bale of good alfalfa a block or two should let you know she is willing to eat something that smells and tastes good...
GOOD LUCK ..
Edited by BARRELHORSE USA 2015-06-10 11:02 PM
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
 
Location: Texas | I have a mare right now sort of doing the same thing. She eats her dinner, but is slow to finish her AM feed. She is an easily distracted/upset mare, and i thought it may have been because I put her next door stall buddy back in the round pen where I usually keep her unless it's raining. So it's either that, or she's coming into heat. I don't know. She also is acting otherwise normal. | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 976
Location: somewhere in Oklahoma....... | I had a mare that I have owned for 12 years do it last year. Took her to the vet ran all kinds of blood work and everything was fine. Just would not eat for three days and this mare ALWAYS eats. Has never happened again but it was really hot out at that time too.
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