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dianneS
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Thanks everyone! I hope he continues to get better and better!WhiteMountainsRanch said:
He's a great horse!
Do you think he's improving?
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He's a great horse!
allbyme
Exploring the pasture
I can see some progress for sure. One humungous help for him would be a dental by a qualified equine dentist. There are a lot of vet that offer this service but most wouldn't be as specific or detailed as for they have many vet areas to cover compared to the equine dentist study a lot more solely on the mouth of a horse.
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dianneS
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Thanks, he's been seen by a reputable equine dentist, as are the rest of my horses. He really didn't have any issues, just needed his routine maintenance.allbyme said:
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dianneS
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Drumroll please..............
Here he is! Its been 15 months since this big skinny boy came to us (the first six months, painfully slow progress) and I think he's 90% to where he should be!
This time next year he should be perfect!
We had a little bit of a weird shed-out again this spring, but nothing like the previous year. His skin, coat and hooves are tremendously improved, he's gaining weight and muscle.
He's getting half the amount of feed that the rescue had him onand still gaining! No more sweet feed, no more concentrates or pellets, we're all natural now. He's been on oats, BOSS and alfalfa pellets topped with Cocosoya, Dynamite vitamins and loose minerals (he won't eat minerals free-choice at all, so I have to top dress his feed a few days a week). He's been making progress by leaps and bounds since we adopted this program over six months ago.
He had hay in front of him 24/7 all winter and he's on pasture almost 24/7 unless the weather is severe. He's now only getting 2 lbs of his grain plus supplements and still gaining and building muscle!
I think he's ready for a good conditioning program. He's only being ridden lightly and I think he's finally ready to bump up his training program.
I'm so pleased with this horse! And so relieved that he's not a hard-keeper after all!
Compare the "before" pics of his skinny rump! What a difference. Oh yeah, some of the topline development is due to daily stall exercises and horsie yoga.
Here he is! Its been 15 months since this big skinny boy came to us (the first six months, painfully slow progress) and I think he's 90% to where he should be!
This time next year he should be perfect!
We had a little bit of a weird shed-out again this spring, but nothing like the previous year. His skin, coat and hooves are tremendously improved, he's gaining weight and muscle.
He's getting half the amount of feed that the rescue had him onand still gaining! No more sweet feed, no more concentrates or pellets, we're all natural now. He's been on oats, BOSS and alfalfa pellets topped with Cocosoya, Dynamite vitamins and loose minerals (he won't eat minerals free-choice at all, so I have to top dress his feed a few days a week). He's been making progress by leaps and bounds since we adopted this program over six months ago.
He had hay in front of him 24/7 all winter and he's on pasture almost 24/7 unless the weather is severe. He's now only getting 2 lbs of his grain plus supplements and still gaining and building muscle!
I think he's ready for a good conditioning program. He's only being ridden lightly and I think he's finally ready to bump up his training program.
I'm so pleased with this horse! And so relieved that he's not a hard-keeper after all!
Compare the "before" pics of his skinny rump! What a difference. Oh yeah, some of the topline development is due to daily stall exercises and horsie yoga.
eekranch
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Great job you have done with him! I have helped several people along the way with resue horses. It makes me mad to see them suffer, they just don't deserve that. Just a suggestion, you meantioned he still had some difficulty shedding his winter coat and has some skin issues as well. Have you possibly had his thyroid checked? Sometimes due to malnutrision the thyroid can suffer. Just a thought. Good Job again. Oh yeah how old is he? I didn't read everything back. sorry just curious.
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dianneS
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He is 17 this year.
We've had his thyroid checked. All good there.
My other rescue took a good 2-3 years (and he was just a baby) to have a real normal spring shed.
This guy had very minor issues this year, I expect him to be 100% by next year. I think he may have some damage to his skin from an ill fitting saddle in the past. He had the weird skin/shed issues right where the saddle would have been rubbing his high, skinny withers as well as the girth area.
We've had his thyroid checked. All good there.
My other rescue took a good 2-3 years (and he was just a baby) to have a real normal spring shed.
This guy had very minor issues this year, I expect him to be 100% by next year. I think he may have some damage to his skin from an ill fitting saddle in the past. He had the weird skin/shed issues right where the saddle would have been rubbing his high, skinny withers as well as the girth area.
