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The Care of an Emaciated Horse

60K views 54 replies 31 participants last post by  horselovinguy 
#1 ·
My friend and I, both experienced horse people, have recently been involved in the rescue of two badly emaciated horses. We have learned thereby that there is more to horse rehabilitation than giving them some tender loving care and access to green grass. A modern domesticated horse which has been discarded reacts badly to neglect not only in physical condition but also mentally.

The first essential when bringing the horse back into care is to carefully inspect the animal in every respect. The vet, the farrier, the dentist and the physiotherapist all have their part to play in the assessment of what the horse will need in order to recover. It is a good idea to keep records throughout the process of rehabilitation of the condition of the animal and to take photos for reference purposes. Worming is a must as is the treatment of any sores or wounds and the horse should be vaccinated. Any emaciated horse is vulnerable to infection, so special care must be taken if the animal is to be housed with other horses.


After getting the horse home it should quickly feel safe in its new and unfamiliar environment. Routine is the key to giving security. A fearful horse can lose weight just by fretting. The animal must also be protected from the elements. According to the season some type of rug be fitted, be it thin, medium or heavy weight. It is necessary to help retain the animal’s body heat during periods of inclement weather so there is no point in feeding the animal only to lose the benefit to the natural process of the horse keeping warm.

A priority is to give the animal restricted access to fresh grass when in season but care must be taken since an abundance of fresh green grass can kill a emaciated horse either through colic or via laminitis Whenever the horse is brought in from a grassy paddock and taken to a stable then it should be provided with a hay net or a net of low calorie chaff to keep the horse‘s metabolism working over every twenty four hour period. Most healthy horses choose to eat little but often.

The horse should be groomed thoroughly but gently every day and its coat should be kept clean permanently. Care should be taken not to put the horse back out into a field with a wet coat after being washed. The use of sweat rugs made of absorbent cloth helps in reducing the time taken for the horse’s coat to dry thoroughly. What the groom should be working towards is a soft, silky, glistening coat which is a sign of good health. The mane and tail should also be combed. A side benefit is that the act of washing the animal helps to introduce it to the touch and voice of the new owner.

If after a week or so the horse’s belly starts to drop and balloon up, then this is a danger sign. It would then be advisable to cut back on the grass and to increase the chaff which has a low energy value. Giving food only will generate body fat but the horse will also need muscling up through regular exercise. Mixing mineral supplements with some hard food will help to offset any existing deficiencies induced from poor grazing. The vet will usually want to see a rib or two showing through since being over weight might present other unwanted health issues To start the rebuilding of muscles, work in hand is desirable preferably on a regular basis at the same time every day. Eventually the horse should be lunged when care must be taken not to exhaust the horse with too much effort too soon. Little but often becomes the rule. Watch out for undue sweat or tripping and the slightest hint of lameness.


Eventually, perhaps a month or two down the line the handler may consider mounting the animal but only when it is apparent that the horse’s back is in a fit condition to take the weight of the rider. The spine and hips should be covered with flesh and muscle. The saddle must match the shape of the horse’s back but nevertheless it is advisable fit a thick numbnah. Once backing is feasible then a slow but regular build up of exercise in a controlled environment can be introduced to the regime. It is important at this stage to watch out for irregularities in the horse’s action.

A constant and regular routine is imperative for the animal.. The horse must come to expect work every day. It is not just for physical exercise but to give the horse a sense of purpose. Learning to handle a horse from the ground is as much an acquired skill as riding or training it. Any horse should come to accept the fitting of the head collar and to follow the handler willingly at the shoulder on a loose lead rein.

My friend and I came to the conclusion that whilst we could repair the physical damage, the mental damage represented a far greater issue. Horses are born wary with an instinct to run rather than to stay and confront. If they are neglected for any length of time without adequate food and are given minimal attention then they can become anxious. Domesticated horses have as much in common with wild mustangs as we humans have with cavemen. We decided to put our rescued horses into individual paddocks but ones which were divided in such a way as to allow contact with other horses over the fence.

We do not have any wire fences on the premises and prefer to use broad banded electrified tape attached to wooden fence posts. Introducing a new horse into the herd is always a sensitive process. If there are signs of aggression or fear then the rescued should be separated from the aggressors but it is unwise to leave the new comers alone without companionship of their own kind.

On the whole the system worked well but we found that when a companion horse had been moved out of sight for exercising, the rescued horse often went into panic mode. One of the rescued horses at first showed signs of severe stress whenever left on its own. It would stand fretting at the gate for hours. Gradually this very obvious sign of distress began to ease up but it quickly became obvious that we had to be careful not to take this mentally damaged creature out of its comfort zone. Eventually under a carefully balanced diet and regular work in the training arena, the horse gradually came back into condition indeed she looked pretty good. She seemed happy enough in her new surroundings and slowly she became used to the lifestyle but any change for whatever reason in either routine or rider had to be approached with care.

One horse wanted desperately to belong to our family but our plan had always been to pass her on when she was ready. The job had been to rescue it and to bring it back to health but not necessarily to provide a long term home for it. Finding the right owner proved to be difficult but eventually a suitable woman came along who fell for this pretty creature and finally it went off to a new home ready to rejoin the outside world. We knew there was a lot of horsey expertise at the livery yard where it was to be kept and all appeared to go well in the transfer. Our spending too much time at the new home with the horse after the changeover would have been unsettling.

A domesticated horse which has been starved and left out on barren ground unattended for any length of time will undoubtedly become distressed. No two horses react the same to deprivation but it would be foolish not to take into consideration the possible impact on a horse‘s temperament. Some riders have a natural rapport with horses than others but even empathy does not replace knowledge and experience. Nowadays many new riders are looking for horses with a calm disposition but a frightened and skittish horse does not fulfill that role. Horses have long memories. The probability is that a ’project’ horse will often appear to be cheap to acquire but it can be expensive to maintain over the long term. Overcoming innate fear in any horse calls for patience and understanding but as such these are qualities which the novice rider may not have yet acquired.


For me, watching the skinny bag of bones horse regain its health and happiness was undoubtedly a rewarding experience but handing the horse over to the care of a third party proved to be a soul searching exercise. I suppose it must always be a sensitive time when sending a protege out into the big wide world. I have deliberately kept my distance from the horse and her new owner but I would have been told if the little horse is not being well looked after.

Let us hope it is.
 
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#4 ·
Actually, that is a good idea. I've taken in some bad cases and I've always worried that someone would report me as an abuser. Fortunately, my other horses all looked great so I can justify the difference.
 
#5 ·
Yeh, you can rob a liquor and have all kinds of due process going for you, but abuse cases tend to always be guilty until proven innocent. It shouldnt be that way but it is. One phone call, a photo holding a newspaper in the shot with the horse, or a dated bill of sale, or something that can cover you if you are falsley accused can save you a bunch of headaches.
My area's sherrifs dept and animal control are a bit gun shy over the issue after being embarrassed nationally over refusing to act on the Vick dog abuse issues, and then again on refusing to act on a private socalled rescue that had dead horses laying in the field until the News traffic helicopter did a fly over and put the pictures on TV.
 
#6 ·
Thank you for caring for these horses. We don't have enough good horseman out there right now to do this for all those that need it. I am the founder and acting president of our local rescue network, SVERN and we hope to educate more to do the right thing by these animals. Keep up the good work.
 
#7 ·
I've never tried to care for a genuinely abused horse. However, both of the horses I have now had some rough treatment prior to arriving, and I didn't understand at the time how much TIME it would take for them to recover mentally.

Mia had been used for some endurance racing, then not ridden for a year, then given to a charity, and sold as a horse for a 12 year old girl. She is a very dominant mare, and she was placed in a pasture with a bunch of other horses, including a few that weighed 1500+ lbs to her 900 lbs. She wouldn't give in, so she was beat up regularly by the herd. She also had no desire to be ridden by a 12 year old, and a few months later she was returned to the charity with bite marks and 150 lbs lighter. And she was sold to me, a newbie, as a good horse for a beginner rider!

We already had a horse, and she had been Mia's corral mate for 2 years prior to being donated - odd chance, but we figured it would all be hugs and kisses right off. Lilly thought so too. She was dancing around before we got Mia out of the trailer. So we turned Mia loose...and she darn near tried to kill Lilly!

We hastily build a new pen for Mia, and let them get reacquainted - first with a 5 foot gap between corrals, and then over a common fence. A month later, they were pals again. And Mia gained her weight back quickly. But for 4 months, she would break into a heavy sweat just standing still. She had multiple bouts of colic eating the same feed regime her original owners used (she had papers, and we had the name of the original owners from that. They were shocked when we emailed them pictures.)

Meanwhile, in my ignorance, I started riding - a brand new rider with very limited experience followed by a 30 year gap without touching a horse. And I rode English. Until she bolted during a dismount, and I landed back first on some rocks. 3.5 years later, my back still hurts 4-5 times a week.

It took at least 6 months for her to get over most of her anxiety. Maybe a year to get back to feeling fairly confident. The problems I have with her now are caused by my lack of riding skill, but I've been working that issue hard for close to a year. In Nov she will get a month of training by a professional who has helped my family enormously, and by Dec I hope my riding skill and her mental worry level will match well enough to resume riding after a 9 month break. If so, then only 4 years of work and riding will have gone into it...

Trooper was bought from a ranch in Utah owned by an old friend. However, it took 6 months for us to get a place ready & arrange transport for Trooper, and he was loaned to a ranch in Colorado that promised my friend to feed him and ride him regularly.

Well, they did. They also spurred holes about 2" diameter in both sides, wore a hole in his withers with a bad fitting saddle, used him for cutting although that was the only restriction my friend had made on his use (at 800 lbs, he's a bit small for it), and our farrier is certain he was roped and thrown for shoeing - for no reason. My friend offered to cancel the sale, but we went ahead.

And yes, when his sides healed, we rode him. Which was OK as long as he didn't think he had done something wrong. If he thought he did something wrong, he would panic and try his best to dump his rider.

Eventually, I gave up and stopped riding him. I started looking to see if anyone would be interested in taking him on. Both our trainer and farrier thought he was potentially the best horse we owned, and we would have given him away to a good home, but no one wanted him. He went 8 months without being ridden - just lots of handling, or sitting on the fence and talking to him.

Since no one wanted him, we sent him to 5 weeks at the trainer's place. She started him over at the beginning, treating him like an unbroke horse. It was 4 weeks before she mounted him. One week later, he was ready to come back.

He was still nervous, so he went on the "You can do no wrong" program. Lots of short rides. He could trot as much as he wanted - that being his way of being nervous. At first, most rides started with 15 minutes of trotting. Then 10. Then 5. Eventually we did walks followed by trots. My youngest daughter started taking lessons on him.

A year later, he is an outstanding horse. He's in the process of teaching my daughter-in-law and I how to canter without bouncing. His goal in life is to understand his rider, and do what his rider wants. My youngest daughter rode him last week, supposedly because she wanted to try cantering. Trooper refused to canter, although he loves it. When I asked my daughter later, she confessed she got nervous and didn't REALLY want to try cantering. So Trooper cantered with me, refused to for her, then cantered with my daughter-in-law during 3 sequential, 20 minutes each rides. He picked up on what my daughter REALLY felt, and behaved accordingly.

As I look back on it all, I've decided that if I ever buy a horse again, I'll start by giving the horse a vacation to get used to his surroundings and the other horses. Maybe a month, maybe much longer.

If he had been genuinely abused, maybe 6-12 months with nothing more from me than handling, and maybe some easy round penning near the end. A horse that has been treated badly takes FAR longer to get over it than I had imagined. But they CAN recover. With time. LOTS of time.

BTW - the previous owner of Mia & Lilly had taken Lilly in from abuse as a one year old. She said Lilly was afraid of humans, so she just spent time talking to her and handling her. For 5 years. They had other horses for riding. When we got Lilly, she was a super sweet, eager to please Arabian mare - ready for training. In the time I spent riding her, she never tried to buck, didn't bolt, and gave every sign of enjoying the time with a human.
 
#11 ·
Barry this gave me hope since unfortunately I have to leave my horse for a year due to family stuff, though he is in absolute wonderful hands. Reading your thread, it was like you were describing the journey I had with my horse, down to the anxious troubled mind and having to be there on a daily basis just to let him know that he wasn't alone and he has a meaningful life and not everyone out there is out to get him.

I'm glad someone out there understands. Thanks
 
#12 ·
Good story to hear- I think a lot of the time many people are happy to be there for a well adjusted, happy, healthy horse and just give lip service to the idea of rescuing an animal. In my experience there are quite a few people who don't understand what coming back from trauma is like for anyone human or critter.

This thread makes me want to head down to see the guy I ride and have a squishing session involving a few carrots!
 
#13 ·
Good story to hear- I think a lot of the time many people are happy to be there for a well adjusted, happy, healthy horse and just give lip service to the idea of rescuing an animal. In my experience there are quite a few people who don't understand what coming back from trauma is like for anyone human or critter.
You are absolutely right, and it can be so difficult especially if you've never been in a traumatic situation yourself.. then you have a very hard time helping the creature to trust again and feel safe in their own skin. I would pass down all the well off horses so long as they found homes, and open my heart to those that really need my help.

I love seeing the difference going from scared of the world and paranoid, to safe and confident and glowing :) And lucky me, I see it all the time in my Sky
 
#14 ·
rescuing horses

I never asked to be a rescuer but have been. I live out in thewoods and someone
moved 9 horses across my dirt road out in the middle of no where minis to quarter horses they fed them twice a week 1 bale of alfafa and they fought over it. many of them were a 1or 2 on the scale. after feeding them some hay the person called the cops on me. then started the procedure of having them confiscated.
heart wrenching and so rewarding all were placed in loving homes. with the last one going right after xmas.
we can not turnn a blind eye or think someone else will take care of it.
I don't know how some can justify their actions.

god puts things in our path for a reason.
macho`s mama
 
#15 ·
this was both depressing and encouraging to read.

i received an email from a lady to whom i sold my first pony to two years ago this month. she asked if i wanted to buy her back for what i sold her for. i said sure i'll come take a look - i assume she's in good condition just like when i sold her? "well she had a founder scare but we put her on grass and she's fine now." O_O

fast forward to me finding a horse with obvious muscle atrophy/wastage, cranky and horribly off in the back/hips/hocks. they didn't see anything wrong with her - "she's not skinny she gets three flakes of hay a day!" not to mention "she teaches lesson kids how to jump (willingly)" <-- yes the willingly was in there, i didn't add that.

would they give her back to me as she's an obvious rescue case? nope. so i swallowed my anger and handed over money. i pick her up on friday to take her home. it's so sad to see a pony i know and loved for so many years, who loves people like no other, definition of "pocket pony" - who now wants nothing to do with people. "oh she's just gotten cranky in her old age". old age my ***.

*sigh* i hope she can be turned around.
 
#22 ·
I liked your post so much, Barry. I'd like to add some things I've picked up here and there if it helps anybody. I've learned there is no one size fits all protocol, and not all vets have enough experience with rescued animals because their client base simply doesn't offer up the experience, and things can take a wrong turn with the best of intentions and professionals sometimes. A really good vet is priceless.

Vaccinating: I found depending on how compromised the horse is, vaccinating may be best withheld if possible until the horse is healthier; deworming protocol same thing, depending upon the exam. It isn't rocket science, but yet it's not a piece of cake either, is it?

I don't know if anyone here is familiar with Bach's Rescue Remedy (some people think it's airy-fairy) but I've used it for traumas, and even some gas and stress colics along with some acupressure work, and it's pulled a lot of them out without the need for banamine. I'd say colic's one of the #1 concerns with the newbie rescue. I'm also a very big fan of microbials, that gut balance is so so critical.
 
#23 ·
Caring for a neglected, emaciated horse if a full time job both physically and mentally. 4 weeks ago I brought an old gelding home who was a body score of maybe a 1. We did our best but after 3 weeks his heart and soul were strong but he just didn't have the strength to go on. It takes a lot out of a person caring for these animals but the rewards are great no matter how long (or short) they are with you.

There is a lot of great info in this post. Thankyou for sharing.
 
#24 ·
So glad to see others take in a horse in need of rehab once in a while. Some people look at me like I'm crazy when I bring home a bag of bones every couple of years. I just feel that if the budget allows it and I have enough free time, why not? The total after 10+ years is 4 rebounded, 1 unable to recover. So sad, but too much major organ damage. I just put the 'unable to recover' guy down a week ago. It sure was tough to admit there was only one more kind thing I could do for him, but reading these other stories and thinking about the others I've successfully rehabbed has made me feel alot better!
 
#25 · (Edited)
UC Davis has a starved horse feeding program that is hard to follow(your heart will hate the restrictions) but works well. We rescued a starved 4 year old stallion who looked like a 2 year old gelding(both his testicles had ascended into the groin above the sheath). We had documentation of his condition and all the horses on the property are in good health and great shape, but still placed him in a box stall with solid walls around the turnout where he could not be viewed. He has impeccable breeding and has recovered but may never reach his full potential as he was neglected and starved from 18 months to 4 years of age.:cry:
 

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#26 ·
The UC Davis refeeding protocol is a nice article and I think it lends itself well as a jumpoff guide, but one thing that worries me a bit is that the article seems to have become a popular "one size fits all" one page protocol. Someone with good intentions but not knowing could, for instance, misinterpret their description of how much alfalfa to feed by weight and frequency after a two-week period, stating it's then safe after 10-14 days to offer free choice hay; they don't say alfalfa but it is implied, and that could be harmful if someone following what is written in that article then lays out the alfalfa buffet and winds up with a foundered horse :(

Something I've done - again, depending on the individual horse - is to provide small amounts of grass hay too, the gut is waking up and remembering and wants to get busy, and I've found that small amounts of each provide more activity for the gut, and the horse is happier to have a little grass hay to nibble between alfalfa feedings which of course picks up those spirits.

Your stallion looks just great, bless your heart :) Did his noogies drop?
 
#27 ·
You are absolutely correct, the program is geared for experienced horse persons. With more than 35 years with horses myself and over 75 collectively as a family, it was a daunting task for us and not one I would recommend a novice/beginner undertake. Too many risks and the possibilty of failure is high. Yes, his "noogies" have returned and he is definitely aware of them now. Fortunately, he is double registered AQHA and PBA, his owners have graciously given me his papers. Not sure he will get to use them even with his really outstanding breeding ( Skeeter Chex X Mojave River Ruby (Peppy San)). The current economic climate makes it unconscionable and irresponsible to contribute to the glut of horses in the market. Too many being neglected, abandoned and slaughtered even the good ones aren't safe. Thank you for your kind words, it is so rewarding when you are successful in restoring one of God's most beautiful creatures to health.
 
#29 ·
It breaks my heart to see neglected and abused horses. The stable I ride at brings in and rehabilitates rescues for a local charity and there has been some ugly stuff going through. The worst I think I've ever seen is a horse named Pearl. (Warning, graphic picture) She sufferend blunt force trauma to her face but despite all she'd been through, turned out to to be the sweetest mare and was able to find a forever home where she will be loved. I give anyone props who takes on rescues and I've actually decided to be a volunteer at my stable with their rescue foundation come spring once I've finished school for the semester.

Atthezookeeper - beautiful stud.
 
#30 ·
emaciated horse 2

HI,
My husband and I have 3 horses on our farm that belong to a friend. I haven't paid much attention to them, as the owners always respond that they are ok. Today I went outside to go and feed them some apples, when I realized that the newest of the 3 horses is very emaciated. I told my husband that this can't go on, we need to do something.

So, with that being said, as not an informed horse person, I am trying to figure out where to start to bring this horse's weight up. I am working on other fronts to clear out the land, and get bales of hay myself to support them. But I am desperately seeking suggestions in helping to care for these horses--and possibly get them into better shape--both socially, and physically.

Any suggestions would be loved.

Victoria
 
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