Pony won't eat wet hay

stigofthedump

stigofthedump

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Feb 5, 2009
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My shetland pony has just been diagnosed with PPID & EMS. He has started taking Prascend for the PPID. The EMS treatment involves a strict diet & exercise. My vet acknowledges that until his feet are sound I can't exercise him. So I have to feed him a very low sugar & low calorie diet in order to help him lose a few kilos. He is 10hh & 134cms round the girth which is about 175kgs. The vet gave me the standard advice about soaking hay to getb rid of some sugar. I emphasised that my shetland & his mate, a 12.1hh native, will not eat wet hay. I showed the vet the piles of hay scattered round the field that my ponies won't touch simply because the hay had got wet/damp in the rain. I would love to feed soaked hay to my "little man" as it would help get rid of the laminitis. I have been considering feeding him haylage (Horsehage) because the manufacturer claims the sugar content is less than 5%.
Does anyone else have the same problem?
 
Not here, my girl is always hungry so will eat wet hay quite happily, what's he like if that's all he has? I mean have you tried him on wet hay with no access to anything else at all? I'd be really surprised if he didn't eat it then, but if he doesn't im really not sure what the answer is.
 
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Thanks for your comments. When my other pony had lami in 2008 I did hang up a couple of haynets containing soaked hay for both ponies. They were untouched the following morning & ponies were so hungry they literally attacked a pile of new, dry hay that i gave them. When I told the vet he would rather starve than eat wet hay she said I mustn't let him "starve" (not eat). ATM he has a tiny feed of 30gms dry weight of unmolassed soaked sugar beet & 10gms chop which inevitably contains molasses. This is so I can give him his bute powders & Prascend tablet. Ultimately the vet wants him to just eat soaked hay. I therefore asked the question: how do I get him to take his tablet? She recommended a low cal balancer. I have checked some of these balancers & as well as being very expensive they all contain molasses! He is currently confined to a deep-bedded shelter with access to a tiny piece of bare grass which has been grazed right down by his field mate. The vet was OK with that.
 
I've got one with ppid who is also a porker and real ems risk (jess) and had an ongoing foot/lameness problem/s at least in part from ppid plus an 8hh mini (hank) so get where you are coming from.

Chaff doesn't inevitably contain molasses, there are those out there which don't, it just takes a bit more looking :) are you avoiding alfa too?
For balancers most have cereals/sugar/alfa added (all the pelleted ones) and aren't actually the best balance for foot problems, there are a few available though which don't and have a good balance for good feet, like Progressive Earth's prohoof, forage plus, thunderbrooks to name a few.

Re wet hay my mare was a stubborn old mo about it, to start with I had to give it a light spray rather than soak and eventually she would eat it soaked (she only starved herself for about 24 hours before she gave in) but for me it was far easier to source low cal hay (though she didn't much like that to start with either) I got a cocksfoot mix which is low sugar, low calorie and not very appetising but that was fine as she would just stuff hay for the sake of it before but on that she only eats if she's actually hungry. I've now switched to threshed fescue which is much the same situation as the cocksfoot but a more stable, higher quality supply :)

My little guy is 151kg on a weight tape but on the scales he's 120kg, some of the feed companies will bring scales out for free and doa consultation :)

What were his test results? Is he going on metaformin as well as the prascend?
 
It's really hard when they won't eat it soaked. Fortunately, whenever I have had to soak mine have obliged, but not for lack of trying to go on hunger strike first! Appreciate tho you don't want to do more harm than good by him not eating, that could be very bad.
I have fed Horsehage on and off over the years for various reasons and with different horses, it does claim to be okay for good doers / lammi prone, and I've not had any bother, can you see what your vet says about it? Mind you, they do get fed up with it from time to time, mine can suddenly not want it and go mad for hay instead.
 
Forgot to add about the lami friendly haylage, I can get away with feeding mine a little but too much and it effects her feet, I don't get why as its low sugar but perhaps its the type of sugar or something. Some folks use it without problem though :)
 
I hate soaking hay, gets very boring for me and turns and has to be thrown after a day so a waster also.

I like Jessey sourced a low sugar option. I actually have haylage not hay but it's Timothy grass. It's appetising for them but not to a point they scoff and it is lower sugar that any hay I could find. It's also good for my wee shetland who has at times got a cough from dry hay. They are fed in slow feeder nets so takes it takes longer for them to eat, trickle feeding instead of scoffing.

I never buy balancers, they are full of fillers to make a pellet and most of what you pay for is the pellet ingredients process. A good vit/min powder supplement, pro hoof or thunderbrooks daily essentials been my favourite.
 
WOW. So many interesting & helpful comments. Thanks so much. Pony's blood tests showed ACTH to be 100. Vet said it should be below 50. Insulin levels were also very high. Vet didn't explain what these levels are e.g units of measurement. (Does she think I won't understand??) Vet agreed to email the actual results to me but I haven't had them yet.
I haven't heard of those balancers so will check them out. I did feed Healthy Hooves Molasses Free last winter &, in combination with regular disinfection with dilute Hibiscrub, my Shetties feet did improve. In fact he had no foot problems till the end of July when the lameness came on literally overnight. Since then he's had good days & bad days. Farrier was mystified, like he was last Summer (2015). Even now they look fine with no flaring of the white line.
I will try the low sugar haylage. A vacuum pack should last him about 5 days. If the hay he is currently eating is high in sugar then eliminating it from his diet for 5 days might have some effect. There's no point in testing the hay for sugar content because I don't always buy it from the same supplier, usually because they sell all their bales.
The vet is due to visit again on monday 24 Oct to take another blood sample. I think she has prescribed the lowest dose of Prascend (half a tablet) & wants to check if it's working. If not then maybe she will increase the dose, perhaps a whole tablet. Vet didn't mention any other drug.
 
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Jess spent a year on off lame, had 1 vet out, then went into Newmarket twice for lameness work ups and xrays (2 more vets) and farrier in tow both times, vets categorically said no lami, said bruising at first, then poss subsolar abscess and finally concluded caudal heel pain (navicular) though couldn't say exactly what without a £2k MRI, they offered denervation or long term bute to manage it. Had a 2nd farrier opinion and another vet who said poss suspensories. Through all that I battled thrush, abscesses (5 in 3 months), mud fever that started in may-ish, 4 different types of shoes, with pads and without and still not 100% sound at all times (ranged from 5/10 down to 0.5/10 and was actually lamer in shoes). Tested ACTH again in June with a negative result at 15 but something was niggling me so I nagged the vet to trial Prascend, that was in July and she has been sound and in full work since and all the other little infections virtually cleared themselves up. The moral of my story, ppid can do weird things but correct diet can help loads as can Prascend so I def think its worth trying :D metaformin is used to treat EMS, perhaps his levels weren't high enough to warrant it yet or they want to try diet control first :)
 
Silly question, but do you rinse it off after soaking it?

Pete will only eat wet hay if it has been properly rinsed until the water runs clear - I assume it's to do with the taste of it having been 'bathing' in its own sugars. To be fair, I'd be wanting to rinse it anway to get the excess sugar off .

Does he eat straw? That's low in calorie & I often mix it with hay when I need to reduce calories further.
 
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Both my ponies hate wet hay. I can't put out loose hay on the pallet in the field if it is raining or if it is going to rain. As soon as it gets damp thay ignore it. In wet weather I hang haynets around the field. This prevents the hay getting wet as they usually eat it before the rain gets to it. Ponies have eaten straw in the past (their bedding!) but they are fussy about the type & quality of the straw. A few years ago I mixed hay & straw in a net. The little devils picked out the hay & left the straw.
 
ive never had much luck with wet hay either, i have however had both highlands and shetlands that have had to be on restricted diets.

the best carrier ive found is simple systems purabeet - it is molasses free. To that i add a powdered vitamin supplement, if something is on a restricted diet I always think its important they get a good level of vits & minerals. I also make sure salt is either added or is freely available.
And - I feed straw, good , clean straw. It can be any type really as long as it is clean. 2 of my shetlands are stabled at the moment for various reasons (not lami) and despite full hayracks of beautiful hay (we made it ourselves!) they choose to eat their straw beds!
 
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