I always feed hay before grain. I like the horses to have some forage in their stomachs and hope that it will keep them from gulping their grain. Especially Curly, who is prone to choke.
Freedom will have none of it. He always comes up to the gate, but stands with his back to me, ignoring the nice flakes of second cut hay that I’ve tossed to him. While Zelda and Curly will happily start their morning with a hay snack, he waits until his grain is delivered before he turns to nicker at me.
To me, grain is a treat. Hay is a necessity. I’m right on board with you, hay is absolutely first…but what are you going to do with Freedom??
Can you give him just a LITTLE grain, just to make him think he’s won? I wouldn’t cut it to the bone right away, but I’d give less and less grain and then after he’s finished his hay, then give him some more?? I bet this comes from him being a racer…the trainers wanted gas (in the way of high octane grain) in his tank for the morning, not ballast , like hay.
At least, it works for one of my cats who is an easy keeper. The siamese has a hot metabolism and a tiny, show cat background stomach (they’re fed 6 times a day, tiny servings) and goes through cat food like crazy, whereas Diamond, that tabby will get fat on a morsel. So Sable the Siamese gets a lot, and Diamond gets a treat. So far it’s working, but only becuase cats don’t seem to understand quantity. They can count kittens but not tablespoons.