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My Spotted Tennessee Walker critique

36K views 250 replies 63 participants last post by  tinyliny 
#1 ·



What do you think?She is the best horse I have ever owned!:D
 
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#68 ·
I stayed in Grundy years ago at the Comfort Inn. New at the time as I recall. I also recall small helicopters in the parking lot.. they were used to check the power lines and power line corridors. I have been in the dollar store/Safeway food store whatever it is now I do not know. Very rugged country.

I was taking photos of trains.
 
#70 ·
I do care about my horse and I do not abuse her.The rice bran costs 35 dollars for a 50lbs bag it lasts for 2 weeks and two 50lbs bags of triple C is 25.00 it lasts for two weeks as well.The hay is anywhere from $3.00-$7.00 a bale,$300-$400 is what was paid for 100 bales of hay at one time for my friends horse.The hay is really expensive in the area.I cannot find a job because most places want college educated people.I have been to college I lost a ride and had to quit.I am going to go back to college though to be an accountant and store manager.I will be working toward two college degrees.I do not and would not abuse my horse never.
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#73 ·
I do care about my horse and I do not abuse her.The rice bran costs 35 dollars for a 50lbs bag it lasts for 2 weeks and two 50lbs bags of triple C is 25.00 it lasts for two weeks as well.The hay is anywhere from $3.00-$7.00 a bale,$300-$400 is what was paid for 100 bales of hay at one time for my friends horse.The hay is really expensive in the area.I cannot find a job because most places want college educated people.I have been to college I lost a ride and had to quit.I am going to go back to college though to be an accountant and store manager.I will be working toward two college degrees.I do not and would not abuse my horse never.
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Lucky you. I was paying that in the '70's. Now we pay $18 + per bale.

Lizzie
 
#77 ·
I'm with Shoebox. If you cannot afford hay, you cannot afford a horse, and not even talking about all the other issues. Feeding something that doesn't fit horses' primary physiological needs and digestive system IS abusive, no matter how much you love her. Please, try to look outside of your box and be reasonable.
 
#78 ·
I'm beginning to get thoroughly confused.

The OP, has a spotted TWH.
She has been feeding her some very questionable feed for a long time and the filly looks dreadful
She considers $3-$7 for a bale of hay expensive and so far, over many days of being told, the filly still doesn't have good hay.
She has put she says, $50,000 into this filly, but doesn't have a job. Seems to rely on a 'friend' for much. Maybe it is the friend who is feeding her all the myths about horses.
The filly even looks as though it is kept in less than desirable surroundings.
The OP is considering breeding later.
The OP is going to go to college.
She has asked here for the name of a good trainer, yet doesn't have a job. Maybe her parents will pay for that? Maybe the 'friend'? I don't know. She hasn't said just who foots the bills for everything or how she affords to live.

Truly, I'm not trying to be nasty here, but so much of everything on two ongoing message threads, just don't ring true. The OP seems to be a nice person but a little lost in all this and maybe is in over her head?

Lizzie
 
#79 ·
sorry I just got done reading all 8 pages and will throw my two cents in.
$3-7 a bale is a steal if its good hay!!! im paying $22 a bale for alfalfa right now!!

I had a mare I rescued 3 yrs ago who was a 3 yr old. I found that some good orchard/alfalfa mix hay and some purina ultiumn growth grain a coffee can full put the weight on her within 2 months max.

not going to put you down or say anything negative. But you have a phone and clothes and food?? I had lost my job last year and I sold all my stuff and even went without electricity and food just to feed my horses. I out ad uo for mowing lawns and cleaning peoples houses. even when to the labor ready place and would sit there for a hr waiting to go out on a job then wld go and try to find work if I didn't get anything. not trying to tell my life but theres things you can try to get some money so u can at least by one good bale of hay and good proper grain for a growin horse.

There is : Triple crown growth, purina ultiumn growth, equis generation and many more grains made for growing horses. I wld wean her off the rice brain and that grain u have and try to get her a grown grain and soak a handful of beat pulp and add it to her grain. maybe get her some vitamins and minerals and that will help with her eating the dirt. I hope you can get her some good hay and grain and wish u and her the best of luck she has some nice color
 
#83 ·
life will be cheaper if u quit the grain..and get a huge round bale so she has pasture and hay at all times!!, young horse dont need grain..and now weight gain is a must..you will have way more vet bills with an underweight filly, and when she gets older due to being underweight as a filly.

you may need to get a dental check for her, since grain "from what i read" can sharpen teeth alot quicker.

i wouldnt be surprised if all the grains just going straight thru her.

i see the results of what young horses poo looks like on alot of grain, from working at the stables..looks like spinach LOL they are also fed luceren (possably alfalfa) is what u guys call it, that also goes straight thru them if given to much and too often with grain, you really need to measure how much this filly is getting.
it may be alot of food, but with no nutritional effect, you wont see a healthy weight in a horse

hay also helps the digestion of food..
 
#86 ·
Look up Grundy, VA on Google maps... a big round bale would be in serious danger of rolling... and rolling.. and rolling... and rolling...

PrincessBarbie:

On this forum you have some very experienced horse people and some who are not so much. ALL of them have said to stop doing what you are doing (feeding the wrong feed) and feeding your horse HAY. Good hay. Not junk.

Abuse can take many forms. Starvation is abuse. If you feed a horse something it cannot digest and utilize nutrients from, the horse will starve to death. Rice Bran is not good feed for horses for this reason.

I am certain you do not go out and beat your horse.. and I am sure you do not do anything intentionally mean to your horse. I am certain from the photos you posted that you ARE starving your horse and that IS abuse.

I really do understand the limitations where you live. For your own good, you need to take action for yourself and for your horse. Find a way to get your horse in a better situation FOR HER SAKE (yeah.. sometimes life sux).

Next, get on line and start applying to 4 year colleges out of your area. Talk to them about Student Loans and GRANTS. There are some really good schools in that area. Take out a loan and get thee hence to a 4 year college. Bust your TAIL and get top grades in whatever your major choice is.. and then go and make a career (which is different than a job). It all takes time but if you make your foundation work (just like training a horse) you will make the money to own a place and more than one horse.. with proper land and buildings.

YOU can do this.. but do the first thing.. the hard thing... the grown up thing.. and find someone who can afford to feed this horse to take her and to feed her correctly.

There is more to the world than Grundy.. and there are other horses besides this filly.
 
#87 ·
Elana-if you put the round bale flat, it will not roll......and is better than what this filly is being provided. Many folks live in hilly areas and use round bales. It is simply one suggestion. The rest of your post I agree with totally, but this is how the cycle continues. OP has to WANT to leave the area, her family and what is familiar.....that takes determination that many do not have. Many folks cannot step outside their comfort zones.

OP-there is an equine program in BSW VA in Bristol. ABout 75 miles from you. Perhaps you could look into that? Not sure what other programs they have, but maybe accounting too! Who knows. Here is the link. You might even be able to take your filly!
Equine Studies and Teams - Virginia Intermont College's Equine Studies Program and Equine Teams | Virginia Intermont College | Private Liberal Arts College in Bristol, Virginia
 
#90 ·
Elana-if you put the round bale flat, it will not roll......and is better than what this filly is being provided. http://vic.edu/equine-program/
Oh I know.. but having had a hilly farm for 20 years and 1800 pound round bales for 10 of those years.. I can recall getting bales out to the pasture.. ready to move the round bale feeders over them (I would feed in a new place every time and then use the spike on the loader to lift the feeder and put it over the new bale). the cows would invariably spot the bales and come running and no matter that they were flat.. the would get to rubbing on one and flip it up and roll it.. sometimes to a place I could not get a bale feeder over it or retrieve it from!

To them it was fun. And it was funny to watch.. but... it was also a PIA.

I think where that filly is there are also cattle. The area in the photo and the fence and what have you have that "look."

I also understand how hard it is to move out of the "always done it like this" or out of the mind set of "ain't never done that before." I would be remiss not to encourage.

It is easy to tear down when a horse is starving. It is much harder to build up. Prefer the latter. It probably will do more to help the OP and the horse. Or at least I can hope.
 
#91 ·
Elana, you are just building the case for my firm belief that cows are EVIL...

For me, I think I'm just getting frustrated that the OP has been given consistent advice to feed her filly hay but hasn't yet - and that she's complaining about the cost of hay and yet is looking for an $125/hr trainer, fancy shampoo and has bought a new computer. Even if she is being badly advised by her friend (which I sense is the case), she still has no excuse for not having bought hay back when she was first given that advice. She has the money, she has the info...
 
#93 ·
Our feed prices are really high where I live thanks to shipping to the island so we are very limited to what hay we can get, usually we pay $12 for an okay bale of hay that weighs 20kg (around 44 pounds), but the people that have hay up here has run out of little bales of hay so they are getting a round bale of hay which is not that great quality but better than nothing that costs $94 and that weighs around 40 pounds.
Hard food for my slightly underweight lactating shetland pony mare plus supplements are as follows:
$20 for conditioning cubes (another mare gets this too so last less than a week)
$31 for Alfalfa Chaff with oil
$35 for her weight gain supplement that lasts about a week and a half
$28 for her Vits and mins supplement.
So that makes our monthly feed bill for one 250kg (550 pounds) shetland pony around $333 if I feed square bales. Did I mention I have 12 all on different diets and one need near constant vet treatment and medicine.

The food might not be all that expensive compared to some in America but they are much more expensive then on the mainland of Britain.

This is my mare in these photos she is very skinny she has put weight on now so you can't see her ribs or her spine. This is her first foal who is huge and we have had this mare since she was 5 months old and she is now 5 years old.



I would get her teeth checked if I was you, we had a two year old that I sold last month who teeth were in terrible shape and because the vets up her are the only ones and are very busy they annoyingly took 2 months to come and do his teeth, we pumped him full of high quality high calorie food and 24/7 access to hay put until he had his teeth done he get dropping weight as he could eat much at all. A two year old on a diet of mostly forage/roughage he has quite a bad wave formation and he had very sharp points took the vet hours to do his teeth.
 
#94 ·
I have never used round bales, so a question or two please.

Do you cover your bales? Don't they get wet and moldy if left out? How long does it take one horse to go through a bale? I'd think the hay wouldn't be very good if left out, after a week or so. Is it difficult to keep an eye on just how much an individual horse is eating? Do the horses tend to waste a lot by dropping or trampling?

Out here in the west, we mostly get square, two or three string bales. We keep them under cover, out of the sun/rain/dust etc. and usually feed horses by the flake/s daily.

Lizzie
 
#96 ·
When you feed round bales to one or two horses yes a lot will get wasted or trampled on ect.... A hay ring or a net does help. As for mold.the way the bales are wrapped usually only the outside couple of inches are affected at all and the rest of the hay is perfectly fine. Still square bales are a more cost effective way to feed just a couple of horses.
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#98 · (Edited)
Ok, lets get down to the nitty gritty. The OP, if indeed she is not a troll (and what self respecting troll will ADMIT to being a troll?), and despite her previous claims in the monetary sense, sounds low on cash.

Or at least cash she is willing to spend on taking care of this skinny filly.

She mentions she cant get a job, is in debt etc, and relys on her "mean" friend for hay.

She has been told she needs hay as of yesterday, and the price of hay is relatively cheap, but she continues to wait for her friend. Tell me, what is wrong with buying a bale or five to tide that horse over?

No one can tell me she cant find or borrow the cost of a single bale of hay! Or even find a couple bucks buried in the couch!

OP, my crazy hoarder mom used to walk like ten miles a day picking up change from the streets. instead of getting a job, thats how she fed me as a kid. I skipped a few meals, but I will tell you I looked 100% healthier than that horse you claim to love!
 
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