Ulcers or just picky?

Ok, so there is an issue that has come up with Hampton. It really only surfaced in the past month or so. Here's his routine:

5 a.m.: Breakfast (hay and grain)
Between 5:30 and 6 a.m.: Turned out
9:30ish: Comes in from turn out
about 10:30ish: Lunch hay
noonish: ride (if ridden that day)
About 3 p.m.: Dinner (hay and grain)

During feeding, we feed hay first. Hampton might nibble, but almost always waits for the grain cart to roll around. Then he dives into his food. After he finishes his grain, he might nibble a little more on his hay, but soon gets turned out. When he comes back in from turn out (about 4 hours of eating grass), he still has most of his breakfast hay left. Then he gets another flake for lunch on top of that shortly after he gets back inside.

The issue I am finding is that when I come to ride or visit him around 11 or noon, there is still quite a bit of hay left in his stall. A few times I have seen him totally not interested in his lunch hay at all. Usually, by dinner he his picked through most of it. But it takes him a looooong time. In the mornings, there may be a little bit of hay left over from dinner, but not much. So here's my thinking:

• He might have ulcers or acidic stomach or some other issue. He has no problems eating his grain, although he does paw while eating and has always done so - ever since I got him. I have ignored it.

• Or, after 4 hours of eating grass (which is still pretty rich in our field), he comes in and is just FULL. I know horses are grazers, but they don't have to be eating 24 hours a day. He does eventually finish most of his hay by the time 5 am rolls back around.

His weight and coat still look good and he otherwise does not display any signs of ulcers ... but that doesn't mean he doesn't have them. I'm not sure if I should just start him on a daily supplement like neighlox, or do a gastroguard treatment ... or just assume this is normal for him. When he first arrived at this farm, it wasn't an issue because he was going out in the 1-3 p.m. turnout slot. I have also recently switched his grain from Purina 200 to the barn's grain, which is just oats with a small bit of corn. He gets a joint supplement, a multi-vitamin and farrier's formula, too. I also add probiotics every once in while.

Any ideas? Suggestions? I'm going to keep watching him closely for any signs of discomfort, but he is the stoic type so ... I dunno.

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Meanwhile, I'm going to share some totally unrelated photos. These are a small collection of photos pertaining to the Grateful Dead. I didn't take them (I was born too late, sadly), but I enjoy them nonetheless.