How to Get Horses to Eat Supplements: Smart Strategies for Even the Pickiest Feeders

Your Equine Answers to this Important Question!

No one knows how to get horses to eat supplements better than the Equell team – our whole ethos is based around using natural ingredients and formulating palatable supplements as a supplement is of no use to anyone if your horse wont eat it!

Feeding supplements to horses can feel like an exercise in frustration—especially when you’re left staring at a half-eaten bucket or a horse that flatly refuses to cooperate. Whether you’re adding a vital joint supplement, a gut balancer, a calming blend or even medicines/supplements recommended by vets, ensuring your horse consumes the full daily serve is essential to seeing results.

A horse’s appetite can be influenced from individual taste buds and environmental stresses to things like Gastric Ulcers and it is important to understand why a horse may refuse to eat supplements and have a strategy for success to combat this!

Fortunately, with a better understanding of equine behaviour, taste preferences, and feeding management, you can turn supplement time from a battle into a breeze. In this article, we’ll explore why some horses reject supplements and offer proven strategies to encourage consistent intake.

🐴 Why Horses Refuse Supplements

Horses are natural foragers with a highly developed sense of taste and smell. In the wild, this helps them avoid toxic plants—but it also means they’re quick to reject anything that tastes unfamiliar, bitter, or overly pungent.

Some common reasons horses resist supplements include:

• Unfamiliar smell or taste
• Powdery or dusty textures
• Strong herbs or mineral scents
• Changes to their regular feed
• Feeding time anxiety or distractions
• Previous association with illness or unpleasant experiences

Every horse has its own preferences, and what one devours enthusiastically, another may turn their nose up at. So it is important to know your own horse and follow some simple steps for success when introducing new feed or supplements.

🧠 Understanding Equine Taste and Smell

Horses have around 25,000 taste buds (compared to about 10,000 in humans) and are particularly sensitive to bitter and metallic flavours. Many supplements can trigger a negative response due to their strong taste or smell and can be unpalatable due to synthetic ingredients that the horse does not recognise.

Additionally, horses are highly sensitive to texture. A gritty powder, sticky paste, or clumpy pellet can all be off-putting if not introduced carefully.

Understanding these sensory sensitivities is the first step toward solving the problem.

Equell’s Top Tips on How to Get Horses to Eat Supplements

✅ 1. Start with a Clean Base

If your horse already resents their feed, piling on a supplement won’t help. Begin by ensuring their base feed is clean, fresh, and appetising. Avoid dusty or mouldy feeds at all costs. Not only is mould a source of mycotoxins, it is not going to help your feeding quest if the feed smells musty or dusty! If possible, feed a palatable, molasses-free chaff or mash that blends well with added ingredients. If your horse has a preference for a particular cube or pellet hard feed – you can add warm water to these in advance and turn it into a mash to introduce your supplements with!

Tip: Horses with sweet preferences often do better with soaked beet pulp, soaked grass pellets, or high-fibre mashes as a base.

✅ 2. Introduce Supplements Gradually

Suddenly dumping a full scoop of supplement into your horse’s feed is the quickest way to make them suspicious and leave you thinking you have thrown your money away! Instead, set your horse up for success:

• Start small: Introduce just a pinch or 10% of the recommended daily serve in their first feed.
• Increase slowly: Over 5–7 days, gradually build up to the full daily serve.
• Mix well: Disguise the supplement’s texture and smell by blending thoroughly. Don’t just dump the scoop on top of the feed and shove it under your horse’s nose!

This slow introduction allows the horse to adapt both psychologically and physiologically to the new addition and realise that you are not trying to poison them!

✅ 3. Make It Tasty: Carriers and Mix-Ins

Many horses will eat anything if the flavour is masked with something they love. Popular mix-ins include:

• Apple puree or applesauce
• Grated carrot or apple
• Molasses (in moderation, be particularly careful when feeding horses with laminitis)
• Fenugreek (a favourite with many horses)
• Dried mint or cinnamon
• Banana mash
• Unsweetened fruit juice (apple or carrot)

You can also try:

• Commercial flavour enhancers (available in apple, aniseed, peppermint etc.)
• Soaked alfalfa or grass nuts, which blend well with powder and are highly palatable

Test one new flavour at a time, and take note of what your horse enjoys and says no to. Don’t try to introduce the mix-in’s at the same time as a new supplement – this is a recipe for rejection! Make sure your horse is comfortably eating their base feed before adding any supplement in to avoid negative association.

✅ 4. Use a “Double Bucket” Strategy

If your horse associates one bucket with bad-tasting feed, it may help to use a separate feed bucket just for their supplement mix. Start with the new bucket containing only a small handful of their favourite feed and gradually build in the supplement.

This can “reset” any negative associations and encourage a fresh approach.

✅ 5. Wet It Down or Make a Mash

Water helps reduce dust, bind ingredients together, and create a more uniform texture. Most horses prefer:

• Slightly dampened feed with warm water
• Full mashes that incorporate soaked beet pulp, linseed mash, or grass pellets

Soaking horse feed offers key digestive benefits by improving hydration, softening fibre, and aiding nutrient absorption. It helps maintain gut motility, reducing the risk of impaction or choke—especially in older horses or those with dental issues. Moist feed also ferments more efficiently in the hindgut, supporting a healthy microbiome and more effective energy production. Additionally, soaking enhances palatability, bringing out natural sweetness and aroma, making it easier to disguise supplements and encourage consistent intake, even in fussy eaters. Dispose of any uneaten dampened feed and wash out buckets before the next feed to avoid mould.

✅ 6. Offer by Hand First

Some horses trust feed from your hand more than from a bucket. Try offering a small amount of the supplement mixed with a treat mash in your palm, allowing the horse to investigate at their own pace. Be careful when using this method that you only use a very small amount of supplement to avoid overwhelming the horse with new flavours/smells in just a handful of feed.

This method helps build trust and familiarity with the new flavour.

✅ 7. Use Treats as a Delivery Tool

If your supplement comes in a pellet or powder and your horse only needs a small daily serve, try hiding it in a:

• Hollowed-out apple or carrot
• Feed ball with fibre cubes and a sprinkle of supplement
• Commercial treat pouch or moulded herbal treats with the supplement intertwined! –
• Create your own! – mix a small amount of your horse’s favourite feed with warm water and your supplement. When it has formed a mash, roll them into treat shapes and hand feed immediately. Do not store dampened feed as this is a breeding ground for mould and mycotoxins.

Be sure to mix well and monitor intake to ensure they’re getting the full amount.

✅ 8. Try Different Formats

Some horses are picky about textures rather than flavours. If your horse refuses a powder:

• See if a pellet, paste, or liquid version of the supplement is available
• Most powder supplements can be made into a paste with water or applesauce and syringed in – be sure to introduce the syringe with a tasty substance first to make your life easier and encourage the horse to look at the syringe in a positive way!
• Or try a molasses-free lick or block that includes the supplement. Be aware that using a lick may mean your horse does not get the required daily serve of particular ingredients – they may consume excess amounts or not enough, depending on their individual appetites.

Check with the manufacturer to ensure any change in format still provides the full active daily serve.

✅ 9. Time It Right

If your horse is distracted or anxious at feeding time (e.g., due to turnout, other horses, routine changes), they may be less inclined to eat.

• Feed when the environment is quiet and stress-free
• Offer their supplement feed when they’re hungriest, usually before turnout (although be aware that if they are anxious and anticipating turnout this may not be the ideal time to introduce new flavours to a fussy feeder!) or after work
• Avoid mixing supplements into medicine feeds, which may already have negative associations

✅ 10. Consider Gut Health and Appetite

If your horse is consistently fussy, check for underlying issues:

• Ulcers can alter horse’s appetites and make them avoid feeds with acidic, bitter, or textured components. Reluctance to eat (or wanting to eat but then picking at the bucket/tipping it over in frustration etc can be signs of gastric ulcers and you should discuss with your vet)
• Poor hindgut health or imbalanced microbiota can affect appetite and digestion
• Dental discomfort may also lead to feed avoidance, especially with pelleted or gritty supplements

In the cases of digestive issues, a palatable gut balancer or prebiotic blend may support or improve appetite over time, creating a better baseline for supplement acceptance.

🧪 Why Palatability Matters in Formulation

High-quality supplement companies like Equell formulate with palatability in mind. Look for products that:

• Use low-dust, natural carriers (like alfalfa or beet pulp) – carriers can be a positive thing in supplements if they are chosen carefully and result in a more palatable product that your horse wants to eat! Carriers can tick two boxes if they are selected for additional health benefits – like alfalfa which is a natural prebiotic, supporting digestion and aiding bloating through its enzyme’s amylase and lipase.
• Include natural flavours through ingredients like peppermint, apple, or fenugreek. Fenugreek is used to encourage appetite and is a natural digestive support.
• Have undergone taste testing with different horse types – the more horse’s who will eat a particular supplement, the more likely it is that your horse will! Look for palatability guarantees on products.
• Include prebiotics to support gut comfort and reduce feed-related stress. These are naturally present in things like Chicory, Dandelion, Seaweed, Oats and Bananas amongst others!

If your horse still refuses a well-formulated product, consider reaching out to the brand’s support team. Many offer flavour samples or palatability guarantees and might be able to offer guidance on how to get your horse to eat a supplement.

🔁 What Not to Do

• Don’t starve your horse into eating a supplement—they may associate it with further stress.
• Don’t mix all medications and supplements together, especially if bitterness builds up.
• Don’t reuse feed – if your horse refuses a feed, bin it. The feed will start to break down as soon as you dampen it and it will be much less palatable 12 hours later. Start again with a small amount of a fresh feed you know they enjoy eating.
• Don’t give up after one try—horses often need 5–7 exposures to accept a new flavour.
• Avoid over-flavouring, which may backfire if your horse is sensitive to sweetness or herbs.

Patience, experimentation, and consistency are key. Look for supplements with natural ingredients as a base – these are likely to include plants and herbs that the horse may have encountered before and will be more accepting of. A tub of white powder and artificial flavourings may not be appetising to your horse – and possibly not that good for them either depending on what’s in it!

📝 Real-Life Tips from Horse Owners

• “I mix my mare’s supplement into warm soaked beet pulp with a dash of cinnamon—she loves it!”
• “My boy can be a fussy eater, but Im thrilled he’s eating Equell Gut Food with no issues. It smells lovely and I love that it’s made with all natural ingredients!”
• “I offer her supplement separately, like a treat, after exercise. It’s become a reward instead of a chore.”
• “We had to rotate through three different base feeds before finding one he liked—now I use soaked grass pellets every time.”
• “Hand feeding the first few times made all the difference—he just needed a little confidence.”
• “My horse can be fussy eating new supplements but he eats Equell Ulceraid fine and even licks the bowl clean!”

🐎 Consistency = Results

Equell understand that a supplement is only effective if your horse consistently eats the full daily serve. Whether you’re feeding for joint support, topline muscle up, hindgut health, or calm and focus, your results depend on daily intake.

By using gentle introduction, palatable carriers, and horse-friendly feeding strategies, you’ll not only improve their appetite —you’ll also build trust, reduce waste, and support your horse’s overall wellbeing.

A strong body starts with good nutrition. Horses need a balanced diet with essential vitamins, minerals, and high-quality forage. Natural supplements, such as herbs and prebiotics, can support digestion and immunity.

Equell offer a range of equine supplements with gut health at the fore. Utilising herbs, botanicals and superfoods in every product, from horse calmer and gut balancer, to respiratory supplements for horses and supplements for stiff joints – every blend contains carefully selected digestion products for horses. They also clearly know how to get a horse to eat supplements as every product is backed by a palatability guarantee, having been tested on a wide range of horses and ponies in field trials!

 

📌 Final Checklist

✔ Introduce slowly over 5–7 days
✔ Mix with a tasty base (e.g. beet pulp, apple sauce)
✔ Try soaked feeds to improve texture
✔ Offer when the horse is relaxed and ready to eat
✔ Monitor intake and adjust strategies as needed
✔ Consult your vet or nutritionist if refusal persists

Look for feeds that are backed by a palatability guarantee – like the Equell Range!