New mare not eating

Question
Jessica,

I recently purchased a thoroughbred mare for the prospect of crossing her with and Oldenburg warmblood for a hunter/jumper prospect. I have had her for a week and a half now and she still refuses to eat. When we brought her home she was fat and happy. She has probably lost 100lbs and is really starting to worry me. She doesn't show any signs of being sick or in pain. The gentleman that I bought her from is a vet and i have talked to him and he does not seem worried. My concern is if even she does start eating am I going to go through this again when I take her to be bred. This could cause her not to take. we have had many horses and I have never seen anything like this. She is a very sweet horse and would really like to see this work. Any suggestions would be great

Answer
Hi Bret,  I have owned mares like yours who are finicky when introduced to a new environment.  She should start eating and be just fine, that doesn't really worry me.  She may loose more weight in the process but she should put it back on once she settles.  If she's by herself try putting someone with her that she could get along with.  Also find out what she was eating previously and keep her on that until she settles in.  If she still won't eat then you can always get some alfalfa hay and a senior feed and see if she'll eat that.  Those two are usually very tasty to horses.  Also give her plenty of turnout.  I too would be concerned about using her as a brood mare.  I owned a mare who was much like your mare.  She did go off and get bred however when she came back she fretted so much she aborted the baby after only a couple of weeks of being confirmed bred.  I sold her due to this behavior as I bought her strictly for breeding.  If you decide to try to get her bred, you can either board her at the stallion's location for a month or so to get her to settle there, or try the other extreme of only leaving her for the amount of time she's in heat.  If she comes back and is bred, put her on regumate as soon as you know she's bred.  This will help keep her in foal to where she does not abort.  You may want to consult the stallion owner or your vet, if they are avid breeders they will be familiar with this kind of problem and be able to advise you.  Good luck as I know breeding under perfect circumstances is stressful enough.  Jessica