What To Do If Your Horse Won't Eat

Here are three questions to ask when a healthy horse loses his appetite for no apparent reason.

- Heather Smith Thomas with Laurie Bonner

Whether it’s just a few mouthfuls of feed sitting in the bottom of your horse’s bucket or a whole ration untouched, discovering that your horse has suddenly lost his appetite is troubling ---and it should be.

A horse doesn’t refuse to eat without a reason, and that reason could be serious and even life-threatening. If your horse has lost his appetite and is showing any signs of illness or distress---such as a fever, discoloured gums or elevated heart rate---it’s cause for an immediate call to your veterinarian. Likewise, if you notice half-chewed feed or other evidence of tooth or oral issues, arrange for a dental checkup.

If, however, your horse seems physically fine, your first instinct may be to change his grain and whip up something “more interesting” in the feed room. But that’s not the best course of action, experts caution.

“There are a multitude of things people try, to get a horse to eat,” says Stephen Duren, PhD, founder of Performance Horse Nutrition, a consulting firm in Weiser, Idaho. “They start changing everything---feeding a different grain, or a different hay, or put molasses in the grain. Before I’d start trying all kinds of new things, if I had a horse that was eating well and suddenly stopped, I would first find out why he is not eating. I try to solve that issue first.”