Honest critique wanted: 2Yr old filly with dubious past

When was the last time she was wormed?

Her belly looks a little round.......do you know if she was with a stud?

Super Nova

She's been wormed a couple times already, and again this weekend, but of course that is after these pictures were taken.

As to her being with a stud... I just had a mini heart attack there, because the honest truth is, I don't know for sure! When I visited her at the facility prior to adopting her, the fillies were in a separate pen to the colts... but that is all I know. What happened before and when they were separated, I cannot actually be sure of.

I will speak to my vet about that possibility.

I have noticed her pot belly, but I thought that was just the way she was gaining weight, first the tummy and then the rest. Could it still just be a hay belly?

While it does seem you've been deworming her frequently, what has she been wormed with and was there an FEC done to identify the parasites that you needed to target? If she is carrying a parasite load that is not addressed by the product(s) you have used you are just throwing away money on a "cure" that doesn't address the ill

Somes times horses develop a pot belly when there protein is not high enough......in other words if you have a low quality hay that is coarse this could also create a pot belly.

Super Nova

It's not the lack of protein - it's simply poor quality hay that doesn't process through the system.

I am late on this train, but I personally think she has a lot of potential. I love that light coat. It always makes a palomino look a little more magical. She definitely needs some more time and patience and needs some more on her bones, but she looks SO much better than her first pics.

And I have to say...I'm very curious about the "dubious past" part. Haha

OP, she looks like a different horse, you have done a wonderful job with her! She's still a baby and still looks a little gangly, she'll be a nice horse once she's done growing.

In response to the following:

I agree somewhat with this statement and I'm glad you brought it up Dreamcatcher. Firstly, (barring major conformational flaws of course) most people are unlikely to truly require a conformationally perfect horse. Unless you are riding competitively in the mid to upper level echelons, or you are riding long and hard on a regular basis, minor conformational faults generally bear little significance to the average horse owner. Minor faults are unlikely to have much effect on a horse's ability to be a wonderful mount.

However, it is useful to know what those faults are, as in many cases the appropriate strengthening and/or training can have immense benefit to the horse, and therefore to the horse/rider combo. Getting the most out of what you have so to speak. So I think that honest critiques can be very useful, providing that the person receiving the critique is prepared to be objective about their horse, rationally assess the information and possibly undertake a course of action that will complement the faults that are highlighted.

To anyone that has fallen out of love with their horse due to a few conformational flaws - fall back in love cos trust me, most of us have less than perfect horses (we just don't like to admit it ).

I equate low protein with poor quality hay......although it is only one factor.

Super Nova

Yes, that is great advice... thanks so much! I haven't done a fecal for her, I will admit, and have only been deworming with the type of dewormer my vet suggests to me for the time of year etc. But it has been on my mind, and I will definitely ask for one now.

This could be a problem, as I am not sure about the nutritional content of our hay at the moment... we don't have as many options of hay, it seems, as you get in the US... in fact I think there are only two main types, of which Teff hay is the most popular. Anyway, I digress. I am about to make my next months order of feed and hay this week anyway, so I will ask if they can give me a breakdown of the nutritional value of it.

Thank you! I also prefer the lighter palomino's to the darker ones, but I think its probably because I'm biased towards her a little bit... ha ha!

I was thinking I should mention her shady past, just for clarity, so here's a summarised version: (I find it quite hard to talk about, so I think I tend to avoid it as much as possible)

She's from a local facility that breeds a batch of horses each year to be used for medical testing... specifically, vaccine testing. The youngsters were usually sent to slaughter after they were used, so there were really no efforts made to ensure the horses would have futures as riding horses: they weren't trained, handled properly or anything like that. Due to public pressure, they started releasing the horses to the public to be adopted; have stopped breeding apparently; and are making efforts in eliminating using live horses from their program altogether.

I'm not sure if I can/should post links or state names here on this forum, which is why I've been kind of careful about it. But if anyone is interested in knowing more... just let me know.

Absolutely wonderfully said! I really feel like there are so many people who would benefit from reading this, as I have...

Thank you so so much!

Well now, I feel like I made this thread awkward and scared everyone off when I explained where she's from, ha ha! (awkward laughter)

So... I'm just going to post a link here... and everyone can just read up about it if they want. I feel like no one believes me when I tell this tale, but I know it sounds pretty unbelievable I guess, IDK.