Shane – 10/31/09

Shane is a 13yo Thoroughbred gelding, about 16.1h, who came to us from a college student in Clarksburg. 

He’s a sweet, easy going guy who loves attention and is supposed to be wonderful under saddle and kid-safe.

It’ll be at least another 250lbs before I try and put a saddle on him.

He has only had pasture and hay for awhile, so I’ll start the reintroduction to grain slowly.  I gave him 1qt beet pulp and 1/2qt equine senior before putting him out for the night and will keep that up for the next few days, three times a day, and see how it goes.  I’ll throw in corn oil, a little rice bran, and Source tomorrow.  Doc is hopefully (that man is soooooo busy!) coming out next week to geld Buddy and Quill, so I’ll have him float the fangs that Shane has in his mouth as well. 

Timmy – 10/30/09

Timmy is a 17 year old Thoroughbred stallion, about 16.2 hands.  He’s about 400lbs underweight, but his blood work checks out okay so the only thing he should need is food and farrier work.  His feet are dry, cracked, and overgrown, and he’s lame on his right front with heat radiating down from the outside of his ankle down to his hoof.  He’s got an old ankle injury there, but since he was sound two days ago and the heat in his hoof is only on the lateral quarter, I’m hoping all I’ll find is an abscess.

Timmy was checked out by a vet in Virginia before he was brought to Horse Haven Holler.  The vet said his teeth are fine and the blood work came back mostly normal, with a few moderately high levels that the vet said were probably no cause for concern.  At the time of his rescue, Timmy was not strong enough to make the long haul from Virginia, so he stayed where he was for a week and grew stronger on a diet of just grass and hay. 

I’ll be starting him out on five feedings a day.  He’ll get Strongid C to gently take care of any worm load, Source for additional nutrition, and corn oil for added calories and to shine up that dull coat.  He’ll start out on 1/2qt beet pulp and 1/2qt senior feed at each feeding.

I’ll be applying Hoof Heal to those feet every four days, and if he’s strong enough to stand for the farrier next week, he’ll get a much needed trim.

 

Hopefully in a few weeks he’ll be strong enough to be gelded -- which will also help pack on the pounds!

Lilo – 10/27/09

This might just be as good as it gets for Lilo.

The ribs are still there, they’re just slowly being covered by her winter coat instead of a layer of fat. 

I think her barrel is sticking out just a touch more to each side than it was when she got here, but that could just be me doing some wishful thinking.

She’s just wishing I’d go away and stop taking pictures while she’s eating.  Poor mare… she won’t eat if I’m standing too close to her or paying any attention to her.  She’ll just stand over her bucket instead, head held high, just waiting for something awful to happen.  She will only want attention once the food is gone.  I sure wish she could tell me exactly what’s happened to her in the past to make her such a nervous girl.

I’ve done some more diet changes since last time because she’s such a picky eater! 

2qts Purina Strategy pellet, 2qt Purina Equine Senior, 2qt pelleted rice bran three times a day.

She stopped eating her food if it had corn oil, Red Cell, Weight Builder, or Source in it.  I wonder when she’ll decide she no longer likes Strategy or Senior?