Day two with the auction colt

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Thanks for your continued good advice on helping Lio to get settled here at the sanctuary. Today would have been a great (sunny) day to try washing his poor filthy coat, but this morning he seemed a bit "off". He did nibble hay and grain, and did drink, but he seemed a little slow, like he wasn't feeling a hundred percent. He also had a temp, so we decided not to mess with him too much. The vet will come out tomorrow to give him the once-over. The colt is a very passive, sweet boy. He already is becoming more curious about us and less afraid, and has decided that the brushing and snuggling is not so bad. The sun melted some of the frozen crud on him, so I was able to make some progress brushing one side of his body. He is a beautiful reddish color, more red than gold. And he is quite bony and thin, but is built well. He moves nicely and seems comfortable, no lameness or sore spots. He has a darling little baby face with beautiful, gentle eyes, and he doesn't mind that I smother his muzzle with kisses whenever I'm out there. I'm completely in love with this guy! Count on me to keep you all up-dated until you get completely sick of hearing about him. :)

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), January 13, 2002

Answers

Here's the picture again...



-- chuck in md (woah@mission4me.com), January 13, 2002.


Wow Shannon, That is going to be one BIG horse.

-- Susan in Northern Michigan (cobwoman@yahoo.com), January 13, 2002.

Thanks again, Chuck!

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), January 14, 2002.

Hi Shannon,

I've worked with starved horses on several occasions and here are some tips:

1. Water. Horses sometimes don't like the taste of water at a new place they are moved to. Or they think its too cold. Monitor his water intake. Pull a little bit of skin away from his neck and see if it goes back flat immediately. If it doesn't then he is dehydrated. Offer free choice loose salt and if he doesn't eat some right away then put salt and water in a turkey baster, dip the end in something sweet and squirt it into his mouth.

2. Feed. He should be offered free choice hay of the type of hay he has been eating (probably a grass hay I'd guess). Then start giving him several pounds of alfalfa per day working up to 1/2- 3/4 of his feed being alfalfa until his weight is back to normal. Don't give hardly any grain until he is eating hay normally and ALOT of it. When you do start graining start out with a pound over 2 feedings and only go up by 1/2 a pound every 3-4 days to get him used to it until you get up to 7-9 pounds over 2 feedings.

3. Worming. He could be loaded with worms. If you give him alot of wormer right off it can cause colic as the dead worms hit his system. I would start with a pelleted wormer ok for babies then a paste wormer about a month later.

It concerns me that he appears to be off his feed. I'd like to hear what the vet had to say. My gut says he has a mild colic going on due to a change of feed. I always keep milk of magnesia around and turkey baste it into the horse, about 8 ounces, if they are colicy. And I did run that by my vet.

Good Luck

-- Stacia in OK (OneClassyCowgirl@aol.com), January 14, 2002.


Shannon, Sorry to hear Lio is under the weather. Please let us know what the vet has to say. Good luck!

-- cowgirlone (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), January 14, 2002.


Definately have the vet check him for illness, but it is not uncommon for a horse to be off their feed when first moved to a new home. My Morgan and new pony were the same way, as are some of the race horses that come through. It took them a few days to settle in. Your 'little' guy is adorable, congratulations on finding him! I hope he works out well for you!

-- Epona (crystalepona2000@yahoo.com), January 14, 2002.

I believe you said that he had just run in a field with other weanlings (I wonder if he is a PMU baby?) so just being in contact with different horses at the auction put him in contact with "nasties". He probably picked something up from them especially since he's running a temperature, plus it takes a little time for a horse to adjust to a new place. The water tip was spot on, many horses take a little time to adjust to new water. I'd give him free choice grass hay (alfalfa may be a tad too rich right now), free access to water, and limit grain for right now. He probably isn't used to grain and that can cause problems with colic, diarhea, and possibly, laminitis. I'd deworm just as soon as his temp drops to normal with Strongid (x2) or Ivermectin, both are effective safe dewormers and he's sure to be carrying a parasite load. After he's dewormed he'll feel better, and gain weight better. From the picture it doesn't look like he's horribly thin, but he does have a nice thick winter coat so it's harder to tell without touching him. I have a tendency to keep mine on the fat side during the winter.

Good luck to you, I'm glad he's settling in and seems to be taking to being handled very well.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), January 14, 2002.


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