My First Rescue! New Pics!, added post #27!!! Options

[glm0711]

I got an email from a girl I new when I had my horses boarded at another barn, about a horse that was looking very thin. This horse in particular ended up at that barn through a connection I made between the horse's owner and the manager of the barn. So I felt some responsibility for the horse. The horses owner couldn't come get him and having some serious financial issues of her own told me I could have him if I wanted him. This horse use to be a super fancy hunter on the A circuit then was used at a college on their equestrian team. So I felt that someone should do something and it seemed the only one willing to do anything was me. So now I'm the owner of a cute 16h black TB gelding. He's about 16. And the skinniest horse I've ever dealt with. Had the vet out yesterday and he gave me some good advice. On to the pics!

Trucker when he was part of the equestrian team (not me in the pic so no comments please!)


Trucker when he stepped off the trailer at my barn Saturday


Side shots:



Butt Shot


Poor long toes:


His halter has apparently not been off in about 6 months. His poor face!


I'll try to get some better pics. He is such a nice horse, I hate this happened to him.

This post has been edited by glm0711: Nov 6 2009, 10:38 AM

[iluvspots]

That poor boy. I'm sure you'll have him back in form in no time. Bless you for taking him on.

[wannabeatrailrid...]

Bless you for taking in this horse! I've been helping out some rescues for the humane society here in Texas (seized for cruelty by the sheriff). I am not an expert, but here are a few things I learned.

First, good for you for talking to a vet straight away. Just remember that not all vets have experience in rehabilitating starving horses, either, so don't be afraid to continue to ask questions, including calling reputable horse rescue groups in your area who have lots of experience in safetly bringing them back to proper weight.

Second - SLOW AND STEADY! It's so tempting to over feed to get the weight back on quickly, but that will almost surely bring on colic or founder. For the rescues we've been working with, we started with grass hay only for a day or two, then very gradually added grain. First just a couple of handfuls for a day, then up to 1/2 scoop for several days, then 1 scoop, then 1.5 scoops, etc. Only increasing about every 5-7 days.

Third, "pre-cooked" pelleted feeds with lots of roughage built in seem to be safest. One example is Purina Equine Senior (regardless of horses age). You can always switch them to your preferred feed later once they've gained weight.

Fourth, be careful about worming. It's also tempting to want to worm right away and frequently, but wait until you're sure their digestive system is functioning well ( lots of poops and of a good consistency and color) before worming. For our starved horses, we had to wait almost a month.

Hope that helps! Good luck.

[glm0711]

Thank you wanna!!! Very helpful info! The people I took him from claim they were feeding him 2 scoops of senior and 1 scoop of rice bran twice a day. I don't totally belive them though, I mean why would he look like this if that were true??? I did ask the vet to run a blood panel to check and make sure nothing else is going on and I guess he could have an ulcer?

Here is what I'm doing with him now (today is the 3rd day I've had him):
1/2 scoop soaked senior feed 3X a day
1 c. corn oil divided in the three feedings
2 flakes of hay 3X a day
Water

I'm realizing I may have started him on too much grain too fast. Though I did think he was getting grain sporatically at the other place.

Should I back off the grain?????

Also he is in paddock with a stall. I did hand graze him for about 15 minutes yesterday and I'll do it again today.

[fieldstonefarm1]

good for you for taking this poor horse. keep us updated on his progress.

[Cheadle Chick]

No I don't think 1/2 a cup of senior feed 3x a day is too much. You might want to consider giving him free choice hay or adding some soaked alfalfa cubes to his meals.

What a pretty boy! It's hard to believe that someone let him get in such bad shape! He'll be gorgeous when you get him fattened up again!

[glm0711]

Thanks again! Someone else suggested alfalfa cubes. i have alfalfa pellets i give to my other gelding, so i assume its okay to use the pellets with this guy instead of the cubes?

and he really a beautiful horse. the vet seemed to think he'd make full recovery!

i feel a little overwhelmed, i knew when i agreed to take him on it was going to be time consuming and finacially hard, but i think i made the right decision. the ppl that had him before are just so ignorant. they claimed they were feeding him and "he's just old and impossible to keep weight on". he's not old! and i have my doubts about the other reason as well...

[equinitis]

Good for you for taking him on! It appears that he used to be quite the horse so here's wishing you success in bringing him back!

[ExtraHannah]

Awww, good for you! That's great that the vet was optimistic. Looks like you'll have an amazing horse when he's back in shape. I would personally just up the grass hay if he'll eat more. Maybe give him extra the last feeding of the day, so he has plenty over night. Free choice grass hay is pretty safe and that's a good place to start. That and what you're giving him may be all it takes.

[manesntails]

Soak your alfalfa pellets so he won't choke on them and gradually add them to his feed. Three times a day feeding is good. Give him all the highest quality hay you can get. Timothy with some alfalfa in it if you can, and free choice.

Be sure he drinks alot of water. This time of year they don't think about drinking alot since it's not hot, so it's important to feed him wet grain or beet pulp and alfalfa. The hay will put weight on, the grain gives him energy.

You can also buy Weight Builder. It puts weight on fast, and supplement him with Sho-Glo to help him rebuild his coat for the winter.

He looks like a very nice boy~!!!

[mydakota]

Oh man, he sure is a pretty boy in his "before" pics! A couple of months of good TLC and he should be good as new.

As long as his teeth are good, he should be able to have as much grass hay as he can eat. Free choice, 24/7. You can start slow with the grain and work up. On my foster this year, I started with about 4 lbs dry weight, fed over 5 feedings a day and worked my way up slowly, as she could take it. By the time the weight was on, she was eating 12 to 14 lbs dry weight a day! This was a mixture of 45% senior feed, 45% beet pulp, and 10% alfalfa pellets. I fed it soaked into a mash, and she loved it. She was also anemic, and had ulcers, so she also received red cell and ulcer meds in this. It is common for starved horses to have ulcers, and it slows the appetite and the weight gain, so if you think he might have them, it is good to treat them.

I will be watching for update pics. He is a beautiful boy!

[CowgirlUp5707]

Hes a cute old guy, good luck with him, and keep the pics coming as he progresses! :)

[chele]

Good for you for helping him!

[Ivory Annie]

first i want to say congrats for taking this one home with you, but my concern is, you say this horse was at a boarding facility correct? well isnt it there job to make sure the horses are well fed? i understand that the owner fell on hard times, BUT does that give the boarding place the right to not feed him? i dunno ive worked at barns before and sure ive ran into these situations but how could the barn owner just stop feeding him? maybe im a bit confused on how you got this horse but im concerned that ppl who do that shouldnt be taking care of horses at all, specially others horses....


also i trick that i used on my old man when i got him as a bag of bones was corn oil...it helped my guy along with the good grain and hay and water....and i dont think it hurts them at all....start out a lil at a time then increase, i found you can increase the corn oil fairly fast without any side effects beside gaining weight which is a good thing

im not trying to be mean im just concerned is all...maybe you could explain the situation better?

[Running_Free]

first i want to say congrats for taking this one home with you, but my concern is, you say this horse was at a boarding facility correct? well isnt it there job to make sure the horses are well fed? i understand that the owner fell on hard times, BUT does that give the boarding place the right to not feed him? i dunno ive worked at barns before and sure ive ran into these situations but how could the barn owner just stop feeding him? maybe im a bit confused on how you got this horse but im concerned that ppl who do that shouldnt be taking care of horses at all, specially others horses....

Not if it's a self-care facility.

[Ivory Annie]

for lack of sounding stupid ive never heard of one of those before....i mean we dont have any around here

so your saying some places you board your horse there but you got morning and night to feed and clean stall and all that.....just seems crazy to pay someone board when your doing everything....

like i said i guess i jsut dont understand fully the situation....

i guess if all other places are full care it would make sense that there are self care as well......

[Running_Free]

I've heard of full, semi, and yes self care facilities. Some boarding facilities will provide 100% of feed/care and others will provide the facilities only. So yes, in the case of a self-care facility the owners come out on a daily basis to water, feed, and care for their horse. The money pays for keeping the horse on the property and use of the facilities.

I'm not aware of the situation either. But there are boarding facilities that leave all the care up to the owner.

[Sprite's Mom]

Around here, full care board costs from $250 on up depending on the facilities. Self care costs $100. You may or may not have a stall. Shelter may be just a run in. You provide your own feed, hay and care. If you have friends there, it can actually work out well. One can feed in the morning b4 work, the other in the evening.

My daughter's pony has heaves, and he lost a bit of weight. We were able to get his heaves back under control. He has free choice hay, and we were feeding him senior-but he wasn't putting the weight back on. I was given a coupon for a different feed. (Can't remember the name of it now, I'll check.) It's made by Blue Seal, and is an extruded feed. He's been putting the weight back on. Right now, he's due for worming and to have his teeth floated. We're hoping that once he has those 2 things done, he'll put on the last little bit he needs.

For this horse, w/the time of year we're coming into, you may want to get a blanket if you don't already have one. This way, less of his hay will go towards keeping him warm.

[glm0711]

Sorry I haven't been back sooner to clear things up!


First thank you all for you input. I have him on free choice grass hay. Soaking the senior feed, slowly adding the alfalfa pellets in a little at a time. Someone else told me to try corn oil as well so started that. I'm thinking about putting a little salt in the grain simply b/c i don't see him drink as much as I'd like.

Back to how I got him: I use to have a working student position at a barn, I'll call it by its initials: WCEC. While working at this barn BO mentioned that she really needed some nice schooling horses for her lesson program, did I know anyone who might be willing to free lease to her. I contacted the lady that was the coach of the equstrian team at the college I went to and asked her. She emailed back and said in fact she is no longer coaching and did have 3 horses not being used at all. She was willing to trailer them to WCEC (she lives 8 hours away) and the arrangment was WCEC would take care of all expenses for the horses, and horses could be used in lessons or on farm leases.

Fast forward a few months. The longer I am part of this barn the more I realize I do not want my name linked to this barn. Very drama filled and more importantly I really did not agree with the treatment of the horses. So I find another place to move my horse, but before I leave WCEC or even tell the BO I was leaving I called coach to tell her I was leaving and that she would need to deal with BO concerning her 3 horses, but my advice: don't leave them there!!! Coach is able to place 1 horse with someone else, take one horse back but has no where to place the 3rd and can don't afford to drive 8 hours to get him and take care of a horse that is just going to sit in the pasture and do nothing. So coach talkes to BO after I leave BO says she wants to keep the horse, she's using him in lessons and taking him to shows, and just b/c I left didn't mean anything. So I leave and don't give it any more thought.

Fast forwars 3 months. I have heard nothing from or about WCEC in months, I am so happy with my new place, just loving my new stress free life. Get an email from a WCEC rider that knew I was the connection between BO of WCEC and owner of this horse. Tells me she is concerned about him, he's getting thin and when she asked BO about him BO says "his owner will not come get him!" so i forward this email to coach who responds back "i've not heard anything from WCEC about this horse, not one word!" coach continues to tell me she can't come get him, she can't afford him back at her place anyway, asks if i know anyone that would buy him. i said no (please note: at this point me nor coach have seen the horses, we are both assuming he's just a little thin at most) so coach tells me if i want him she'd just give him to me. i'm excited b/c i know what a nice horse he use to be. so i arrange to have the horse moved to my barn, WCEC BO is upset that I'm taking him then I get emails that say "we were feeding him/he's old/impossible to keep weight on/he's mean/bites everyone/etc" horse steps off trailer on Saturday and i am shocked at his condition. obviously been neglected. WCEC BO says she didn't have money for a vet visit, but does that explain why he has halter scald? why his feed haven't been trimmed in 12 weeks? why he hasn't had any vaccinations? why he hasn't been wormed in months? i think not. i had the vet out who seemed to think nothing serious is wrong, he's just been neglected for the last few months. i don't know why...i sent the pics of him to coach and she was also socked and so so angry about what happened to him.

anyway thats the story.

[glm0711]

Also wanted to add, his teeth need to be done, but they are not so bad as to explain his condition, vet said the teeth can wait. also will be doing a panacure (sp?) power pack dewormer with him at the end of the week.

vet also mentioned the ulcer possibility. suggested ulcergaurd (or something like that), but i am going to wait on that for now. see if he can gain some weight first and he has so much other stuff going on I don't want to do too much at one time. so maybe in couple weeks i'll give that a try.

[Ivory Annie]

i figured it was something along those lines, well either way hes much better off now!! good luck with him!

[glm0711]

but how could the barn owner just stop feeding him? maybe im a bit confused on how you got this horse but im concerned that ppl who do that shouldnt be taking care of horses at all, specially others horses....

The people who run the place this horse came from should not be running a barn!!! There is no excuse to let a horse slowly starve to death on your property and do nothing about it.

I've called animal control and am having them investigate the property and check on the remaining horses.

[Trail-Rider]

First off bless you for taking him in, sounds like you doing a great job with him. You might want to put a plain white salt block out for him, any farm store carries them and that should help him with drinking more water. Good luck and be sure to keep us updated - he's sure a nice looking guy

[paintpony1]

do you mind my askin, what school he was on the equestrian team at? i think he looks gorgeous in that first pic! surely a diamond in the rough :)

[BobbinAlong]

So glad you decided to take Trucker. I don't know how whoever had him could let him get in that condition.

I can't wait to see him in pictures in a couple of months. Keep us all posted.

[spacytracy]

That is disgusting. So many red flags with that place.
She should be shut down. If she can't keep the horses in her care in decent condition, then she has no business giving lessons and making money off of them!

My other issue is - self-care or not, if a horse was on my property I'd at LEAST keep an eye on it! Doesn't mean I have to feed it everyday but if I don't see the owners on the property and a horse getting skinny, I'd at least investigate. Good for you for calling AC.

In this situation it didn't really matter because the BO was the one neglecting the horse herself. Sick.

So glad he is in your care! Sounds like you and the vet have a good game plan in place. It might be a little bit harder with winter on its way - if he were mine I'd be blanketing him as soon as the temps dipped to help him conserve those calories! Maybe one of those layered ones so you have lots of blanketing options?

[glm0711]

Here are a few more pics of Trucker I took yesterday. I also got in contact with the lady who owned him before he was part of the equestrian team (at East Carolina University) and she sent me some "before" pics for me to use in the case being built against the lady that did this to him.



Even his poor face is skinny


Sad eyes. :-(




Before I left last night I looked up and this is what I saw. It gave me hope for him and made me feel like I'm on the right track.


Trucker with his previous "mom"


Show. His name was Plan B


Jumping a fence

[Cheadle Chick]

Wow he was (and will be again!) a gorgeous horse!!!

How can people honestly not notice that their horse has dropped so much weight. Your hard work will be worth it when you get him fattened up.

[MidMopaints]

wow the differences in his eyes make my heart break. Hopefully you'll get that sparkle back into them.

[Kina Kat]

Woof; he does look drained. I'm sure you'll get him back in shape, though, and he'll be sparkling again. Bless you for taking him in and for seeking help to rehab him the safest, best way.