Miniature unable to eat hay...

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Calekio

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Locket is a yearling who was born not quite right. He was a late foal, mum wasn't ment to be in foal as vet scanned her empty, when he was born he had undershot jaw, enlarged joints and we had two episodes of mystery lameness.

My vet has worked to try and correct the jaw/prevent it becoming too far back, he's left with his bottom teeth and top teeth about 1 inch out. He still doesn't look 'right' to me... and something about the look of his nostrils doesn't look right to be either.. but can pinpoint what really... but in all he's a happy, playful yearling who's just been gelded.

However we seem to have some digestive problems which even baffle my vets... he does seem to suffer with diaorhea and vet said that it sounds like he has irritable bowl syndrome as he gets very bloated, cronic wind and cronic diaorhea and we spent aa few months scratching our heads trying to figure out what caused his upset tummy before finally relising it was hay.

So i'm now left with the question why can he not eat/digest hay? Even my vets are puzzled on this one... he can be on grass and he's fine, confine him and that seems to make it worse, but feed him hay and he has major problems with the diaorhea, i've tried a few different bales of hay as well (but in general just normal hay)

This really does have my puzzle and i'm not sure what i can feed him as a hay replacer.. as he is one of my therapy ponies who goes round visiting kids etc, but where there is no grass for them to munch they get ad-lib hay which he can't handle. Also as he grows up and laminitis(founders) becomes a problem what am i to feed him.... i've never come across a horse who gets diaorhea from eating hay... neither has my vet... anyone here able to shed some light?
 
Could he be a dwarf? They have a lot of different health problems sometimes due to enlarged internal organs.

Can you get a good complete feed there?

Sending good thoughts
 
I'm not sure to be honest Kay, i did wonder if he was when he was a foaly.... to me he doesn't look like he is... height wise he is same as my other yearling if not taller...

This photo was taken back in May when he was about 9 months old, just been clipped expect for his legs.

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I have a mare who is very similar to yours, she gets very loose and often has the squirts, she's fine in the summer, but as soon as winter gets close and there are less grass pickings, it starts! Her stall is covered, it makes me gag sometimes. I have to cut her tail as high as a draft horse just to keep it somewhat clean. My vet doesn't know either. I think it has to do with hay too.
 
Honestly from your description he sounded like a dwarf but not so much in the picture although he does look bloated.

Also bad bites can lead to digestive problems from not chewing the hay up enough.

I would have a fecal egg count done first to rule out parasites

What kind of hay are you feeding?

If you can get a good complete feed that may help. We have a mare that tends to go loose and does much better when fed complete feed and a little bit of hay

Kay
 
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A veteran feed would probably be the closest you could get but honestly, I have Rabbit on a totally no hay (no teeth!!) diet and he is fine on what he is fed, which is soaked BP, soaked grass or alfalfa pellets and barley.

He does get ground linseed and BOSS and some soya meal, but no other additives and, at 30 years old just gone, is fat a fit and full of it!!

He got diarrhoea after a small impaction fright ($1,200.00 later he was fine......
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) and I had him on Codeine Phosphate to stop it. After a while (quite a while) I cut them out and his gut kicked in.

It sounds to me as if he has an immature gut, I have seen this in a foal weaned to early, and I have seen it in a foal raised without access to grass, neither of which scenarios fits your boy, so maybe your gut feeling that he is just "not right" is right.

The one filly I had charge of with this problem I got her gut up and running with Alfalfa...now I know it is hard to get Alfalfa hay here, but it is easy enough to get cubes, and soak them, Dengies do them, they even do a mix with Alfalfa cubes and Beet Pulp cubes, already mixed!

I would feed him on that, and get yourself a couple of bags of Alfa A as well, then try the Alfa A/ Timothy mix and see if he can tolerate that, and slowly wean him onto something like Readigrass and go from there...good luck!
 
I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL! 
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I have a coming 3 y/o stallion and he has had the squirts since he was weaned and after thinking about sand, ulcers, etc. I noticed that after I had ran out of feed for a week ((my private grain provider was gone on vacation and I didn't know so didn't pre-plan)) and had to feed straight hay --> ALL SQUIRTS WERE GONE! I have since been feeding him free choice hay and no grain. 

I wasn't ever planning on showing him in halter, just driving and jumping so the hay belly doesn't concern me. 

My vet said some horses are just sensitive to certain things. Some have digestive systems that are too sensitive to be able to handle the components in hay, grain, supplements, minerals, etc. I would get him on a complete feed. . .

ANOTHER THOUGHT::: Maybe you could do a combination of complete feed and pelleted hay? Maybe he isn't able to digest the hay whole or in cubes but maybe he could handle getting his fiber through pellets?
 
Well an update.

Still baffled as to why he can't eat hay... he seems fine on a low cal haylage (its a timothy mix one.. i'm sure someone mentioned timothy hay...?)

He has now started to drop weight as well so i've popped a rug on him and increased his feed by adding some beetpulp.. again he's coping with that ok... He's also gone out into the grass with the 13hh ponies who are on more grass... comes back into mini paddock at night with haylage.. again his tummy seems fine...

So whilst i am now beginning to find something he can eat.... and he coping ok with it... still a mystery as to the hay intolarence....
 
I know some horses that are allergic to Timothy hay. Vets don't know why but they can't eat it. Depending on which horse you are talking about.. some do OK and plain local orchard grass hay and others on a bagged chopped feed.

I just found out the rescue mare I bought gets the heaves/dry cough when fed timothy hay or pellets but is fine with Orchard grass.

Has the Vet tried to narrow down what types of hay your mini is allergic too. Because he might not be allergic to all.
 
I have a friend whos large horse can not eat hay. He eats soaked grass pellets,and a mixed food of some sort with all the goodies, and he is doing just fine. He can eat fresh grass without a problem. He had a bad colic and after his surgury the Doctor said never feed this horse dry hay again... He is fit and healthy now.
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by the way , nice little guy ..
 
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I took in a rescue pony 3 months ago and he had the same problem. After extensive dental work and putting him on a senior food as well as 1 lb of hay stretcher and a very small amount of hay he is doing great. I had to wash his legs and behind every other day due to his problem. It's very sad and frustrating but I'm sure you just need to find the right combination and he will balance out. Good Luck
 
I took in a rescue pony 3 months ago and he had the same problem. After extensive dental work and putting him on a senior food as well as 1 lb of hay stretcher and a very small amount of hay he is doing great. I had to wash his legs and behind every other day due to his problem. It's very sad and frustrating but I'm sure you just need to find the right combination and he will balance out. Good Luck

I agree, I had to give a lot less hay to my mare and more straw , and filler. I was giving only a handful per day to her for a while , now she is up to 1/4 of a small flake per day with straw , and a shreaded mix. It takes time for some horses to find the right balance. I would try different ratios of food to help him first before I would give him meds.
 
A fecal count as Kay suggested is a good idea. Have you ever done a Panacur purge? That may help. Especially in the youngsters I have always had good results. Alot of horses won't eat hay when they are full of worms. Don't ask me why.

Get his teeth done, definetely. See if it helps. I bet it well!

Also, I would reccomend feeding him Nutrena Sr. it has everything he needs in it and is made for horses with dental issues. It can be used as a complete feed. And the directions are on the back of the bag. Best Sr. feed I know of. Highly reccomended by my vet. But most of all, Good Luck.
 

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