Any horse owners?

[Smoke Jaguar]

Sounds like the way to go, Kazzo - little and often is gonna make him happy

[Livinthedream]

PRM,
If he has plenty of good pick in his paddock, why don't you cut out the chaff and up the gumnuts?
If you want to add calories and bind the soymeal to the gum nuts, add ricebran or canola oil to bind it (1/2) cup per feed. The oil will also add calories.
Chaff is a bit of a waste of $, it really only bulks out feed.
Some people swear by speedi beet or maxisoy for oldies, readily digestible, low gi, laminitis trust approved and good for hind gut function (contain large amounts of water-like grass). Although not all horses find them palatable.
But upping the gumnuts alone should do the trick.

[Miss.September]

That's a good place to start, livinthedream. He loves the gumnuts and digs through the chaff to get to them. Sometimes the most obvious doesn't register in this tired brain of mine.

[Smoke Jaguar]

If you feed it out about 3 or 4 times a day, rather than increasing each feed amount, he'll still get more and he'll metabolise it better. If he likes them then leave it at that, and if you need more weight on then investigate supplementing it with the beet pulp to see if he likes that. Heaps of people around here using both

[Miss.September]

He left half his breakfast behind today (and that was only one bucket's worth). He hates the soy. Mixed it through with his gumnuts and he left it so I went and got some Old Timer. Gave it to him tonight, mixed with some chaff and left out the soy and he licked the bucket clean.

[Smoke Jaguar]

Do you think he's trying to tell you something? Pesky horses!
I bought hay the other week and the ponies here won't touch it. They'd rather pick through the meagre grass offerings between the weeds in this paddock! Can't wait till the paddock gets sprayed and proper grass grows in it again...but then, that will mean a return to muzzles for these fat-prone things...ach, well

[Joeve]

Yummy old timer!! My little oldie comes running for it!

[Miss.September]

Well the Old Timer is working! We're going through one bag a fortnight and the difference is showing. He's getting 1/2 bucket of gumnuts plus 1/2 bucket of lucerne chaff in the morning, then 1/2 bucket of Old Timer and 1/2 bucket of lucerne chaff of a night. I took a photo of him at the start of November and then one today and compared the two - the difference is remarkable. I'm so happy we're finally winning this battle. His coat is starting to look really great too, starting to get a shine to it again. Spirits are up, he trots up for food and he's a lot less aggressive. But that's probably because I'm all over him daily lol.

I've got him in our smallest paddock so he doesn't have so much room to roam around in. He's got about three acres there instead of the whole property. Plus having him there keeps him away from the dingbat neighbour who likes to think that he belongs to her. She told me she feeds him carrots and apples daily and when I quizzed her on whether she cuts them up because he has no teeth so can 't manage them and could be a digestion issue, she said nope - but admitted that he splutters and has trouble eating them. She went on to tell me that he would be fine. She's also wrapped felt around his rug buckle because she thinks it rubs (yes, he has a bald spot on his chest from the rug, but it's from the corner of the canvas, not the buckle and he wears a bib). I'm glad I found that before he tried to eat it as it wasn't tied on, just wrapped. She can 't really get to him while he's in the small paddock so I think he might just mostly stay there.

[Joeve]

Good news!
I really think it's the reason my oldie looks so great. We had the vet here the other day as she has a cancer on her eyelid (whole other thread that I can't write yet ) and he kept saying what great condition she is in.

[Country_Mum]

Horse owner here.. Atm in between horses.. Had the most gorgeous Standy.. Was a rescue, we just recently got our own little acreage and lovely dream house, then a horse gets dumped in our paddock.. I'd been saving for a while to buy my dream horse (qh) and instead I couldn't see the poor thing suffer so I spent all my savings on keeping him alive..

He was vicious.. My partner couldn't go near him without being struck, My wrist+hand was broken in 3 diff places because he got stroppy and booted me one day (lesson learned, move quicker). So it was just a lot of feeding him to gradually build up his weight (he was severely underweight), then out in the paddock everyday with him, getting him used to me, trusting me and then working him. Teaching him how to lunge, how to stop n start when I wanted him too, and to move without words on the ground..

Month n a bit of having him and I was in absolute love, so were the kids, he was a real charmer and becoming a smooch. Then one day I come home to a empty paddock.. Since he still had his rug on I thought he'd gotten out somehow.. So I was ringing the ranger, vets etc.. Then I found out that a vet had just been out to a horse of the same description, he was going to contact the person who he'd performed the vet check for.. I then later found out that the owner had come and taken him back, deciding that since I had been working with him that he was worth selling, but the buyer fell through and so he had him shot. Police requested that he at least return my rug (there wasn't much they could do about the horse, as I obviously had no proof of ownership) else I could file for theft, so he dropped the rug off at the station and it was returned to me.. Wasn't the outcome I wanted though

Anyhow, we managed to get some justice, after much research, chatting with lawyers and advocates etc, he was charged for severe negligence, all other horses were removed from his property and he was banned from racing.. Doesn't get my sweet boy back, but at least I was able to give him a small chance at happiness..

So now I have a project horse lined up, palomino QHx, all I need to do now is try and get a float organised down this way, so hard with the show seasons though!


Horses though, I've been in love with since I could walk.. I have shelves full of figurines, statues, books, dvd's, I have pictures filling my hard drives.. Also currently I have neighbours horses in my paddocks making sure the grass is kept down lol..

[Kazzo]

Sounds like your old boy is going great PRMG. Some people just don't think properly. When we first moved here both paddocks next to us had horses. I made the girls ask our neighbours if we were ever allowed to feed their horses and what they could have.

Joeve, .

Hi country mum, what a rotten person that guy was. If anything that horse got to see some kindness and compassion for a short part of his life. Good luck with getting your horse and working on it. My goal is a Buckskin QH or QH x.

[Miss.September]

Big hugs, Joeve.

Country mum, that's a rotten story. I'm glad he got a bit of peace with you. Good luck with your new recruit!

Kazzo, I have no issue with her feeding him carrots and apples, but if she can't cut them up, then she should just leave him alone. She's a bit strange but that's a whole different story! How are you after the fires?

[Country_Mum]

Rotten to the core

My youngest was so devasted when he came home and he wasn't in the paddock, he cried all afternoon, Even told me that he (the horse) ran away because he didn't like him.. Heartbreaking..

DF actually knows the guy, he was furious when he came home and I was upset, he almost went to knock on his door..

My dream horse is a Bay or Buckskin with blaze and socks, QH of course. Else a Clydie/Shire or Brumby (I've been doing a lot of work with brumbies and have fallen in love with the breed).. Whatever horse I get I like them nice and stocky, mind you, riding the clydies makes you walk a lil funny after when you've been riding slimmer horses lol..

Of all you lovely horse owners, how many of you have ridden whilst pregnant?

[Mildez]

Country-Mum I rode with my first daughter in the state championships at 12weeks but almost fell off in the mud so didn't ride again. Then with the other 2 my husband forbid me to ride. What a horrific thing to go through. Definitely rotten to the core.

I myself have several Clydesdales. 3 pure's although I am only half owners in 1 of those 3 (a lovely bay stallion) my two mares are pregnant and due in March. Milly I bred to Kaa but my other black Clydesdale I brought already in foal to a different Clydesdale stallion. I am so excited about them having their babies but also really scared something will go wrong. They will be outside my bedroom window when they are due with foaling alarms on and the vet on standby. Milly is a maiden and my other new mare lost her first foal at 5days so I am worried for both of them. Seems so much can go wrong. My dream horse is a dark Clydesdale (black or brown) with my prefix. My mother owns my new mares 2nd foal a black filly so I would love her to have a pair to match her (pretty good chance when they usually have a blaze, 4 stockings and both parents are dark)

[Country_Mum]

Country-Mum I rode with my first daughter in the state championships at 12weeks but almost fell off in the mud so didn't ride again. Then with the other 2 my husband forbid me to ride. What a horrific thing to go through. Definitely rotten to the core.

I myself have several Clydesdales. 3 pure's although I am only half owners in 1 of those 3 (a lovely bay stallion) my two mares are pregnant and due in March. Milly I bred to Kaa but my other black Clydesdale I brought already in foal to a different Clydesdale stallion. I am so excited about them having their babies but also really scared something will go wrong. They will be outside my bedroom window when they are due with foaling alarms on and the vet on standby. Milly is a maiden and my other new mare lost her first foal at 5days so I am worried for both of them. Seems so much can go wrong. My dream horse is a dark Clydesdale (black or brown) with my prefix. My mother owns my new mares 2nd foal a black filly so I would love her to have a pair to match her (pretty good chance when they usually have a blaze, 4 stockings and both parents are dark)

I love the Clydesdales! Their such a beautiful breed! I love the local shows around here because they have such beautiful displays of them.. Good luck on your dream Clydie! I would love a lovely bright or rich blood bay, Huge blaze, white socks

Update on my end. No longer getting the Standy as the owner has decided to keep her, The Palomino QH x, he needs to be put down as his front legs are crooked, they have tried corrective shoeing but there's no improvement, so he will never be sound and after much consulting with handlers, vets etc I have decided against getting him.. I do have the sweetest friend who may have just found me the perfect QH, Now to try and find someone willing to float as all the local float services around here are booked out with show seasons etc.. So fingers crossed..

Still uncertain about riding this pregnancy.. I did with my first, but I never knew I was pregnant until the later months. My doctor says as long as I don't plan on falling off and feel comfortable I should be fine, and one of his relatives actually competed in show jumping (whatever the top grade is, I'm not one for show jumping hehe) until 2 days before she gave birth (and rode the morning she ended up giving birth!) no dramas.. Even came off her horse during a show jumping course and no damage was done to her or her baby..

DF is a little uneasy about me riding still, but is happy for me to handle horses on the ground (even the ones who like to bunt and try to run over the top of you) O.o So it's a little confusing.. For me to decide it will probably come down to what horse.. There's a few that I would jump on happily and ride without a second thought, and there's a bunch I won't even go near at all..

Ahhh decisions decisions!

[Miss.September]

Does anyone have any experience/opinions on stabling an old horse? I'm thinking about bringing the old boy in at night during winter. He suffers through winter and I want to try and keep him warm and get him to hold his weight as much as possible. This past winter wasn't good. I've asked on another forum and have mixed replies so was wondering if you ladies had any thoughts. He's 34 this year. Thinking about it now so I can get the shed prepared and try to get him used to being in there.

[Mildez]

PacRak is he normally rugged in Winter? So the stable would be extra? I guess the biggest thing with him been stabled if you want him to gain weight or not loose any is to ensure his not stressed and has plenty of food in with him. I was advised to stable my mare overnight to prevent her eating as a way to reduce her weight (so allow her to graze for 12hours) then only give her a biscuit of hay overnight. I never did it and she is still a little too fat.

[Miss.September]

He is rugged over winter. I've just bought a better quality rug for him but I don't know if it will be enough. Plan would be to put him in there last thing at night and let him out first thing in the morning on those cold rainy nights. He gets the shivers when he's wet and cold, even with a rug on, and his weight loss over this past winter was more than I've ever seen him lose. I'm finally getting on top of it, but this is month four of hard feeding - quite a large amount for a retired horse. Having food in there overnight could be my problem as he refuses to eat hay (always has.).