finicky horses

Question
QUESTION: We have 2 Arabs one is 30 and one is 25, and they have just decided to not eat their hay, they just kind of pick through it and get bits of it and throw the rest out of their feeders. The 30 year old is given equine senior, beet pulp and alfalfa pellets as she has no back teeth and needs this for her nutrition but the 25 year old doesn't have a problem with teeth so I have started giving him the same mixture as the other soaked so it is mushy and poured over his hay to try and get him to eat it. I am worried because he has lost weight and I don't want him to lose anymore. There is nothing wrong with the hay because we usually bag up what they throw out and give it to the horses next door and they eat it right up. We are at a loss and would like any advise you could give.
Thank You
Cathy

ANSWER: Hi Cathy,  This is not uncommon from my experience with older horses.  I had a 30 yr. old TB which I had to change his feed and brand about every 2 months as he would refuse to eat once he got tired of it, he also would not eat any hay only pasture grass.  I would advise you to get some bagged timothy/alfalfa mixed hay.  Triple Crown makes a great mix that is sprayed with molasses which makes it softer to eat and less dusty (and much tastier), this works great for older horses.  There are other brands you will just have to ask your local feed store.  In the meantime you may want to up their beet pulp and add a middle feeding between the morning and evening of just beet pulp.  Beet pulp can be somewhat of a roughage replacement.  If you up it, just make sure to feed 3 times a day instead of 2 since horses stomach's are not made to hold large amounts of feed at one time.  You  may also try alfalfa cubes soaked and mixed with their grain or by itself.  If none of this works I would consult your vet to be sure there are no underlying problems.  Good luck, Jessica

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Jessica, the 25 year old does not tolerate alfalfa very well, matter of fact we just switched them to grass because he coughs when he eats to much alfalfa so would that mixed hay do the same or is there just a hay pellet with the molasses on it that we could try? Thank you for your response, I hope it will work for us.
Cathy

Answer
Hi Cathy, I don't know of any hay pellets.  I would still try the bagged hay, you can get pure timothy and sometimes bagged oat hay where there is no alfalfa in it.  It's all coated with molasses so that it's not dusty.  The only reason I would think he would be coughing while eating hay (assuming he's not sick) would be that the hay is too dusty.  Often older horses develop breathing problems such as heaves, in which case dusty hay would disturb this condition.  However, if he's doing fine on the grass hay then don't change anything.  In my opinion as long as he's not choking, I would rather him cough a little while eating what he likes rather than get skinny because he won't eat the hay that doesn't make him cough.  Consult your vet regarding the coughing, if he is a little bit of a heaver then you can get inhalers for that from your vet.  If you think it's more of a choking episode then I would wet his hay to soften it up to make it go down a little easier.  I would stay away from coastal/bermuda.  Because of it's fine texture it will cause one to choke more often if eaten too fast, not to mention a higher risk of impaction colic.  Jessica