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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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#32 ·
Victoria -- you are entering into a minefield for which sadly you are unprepared.
What you need is some advice from an independent advisor and not just in the matter of what to feed.

A British saying :"fools rush in, where angels fear to tread" comes to mind.

Thinking about your predicament, I think I might approach a local horse rescue organisation who have experience in such scenarios.

Horse care is often as much about what not to do, as to do, even in good faith.

Before proceeding much further, I'd be inclined to ask your 'friend' for permission to proceed and, if you own at least 5 acres of well fenced grassland, then I would seek to take legal ownership of the animals, recorded by a written agreement. But take care, people become agitated when they are accused of neglecting pets.

But as a start, read through this thread - it is full of the advice you might need as and when you have a legal right to go ahead.
 
#35 ·
i have taken in lots of malnourished horses and found them good homes and i know some don't always come out of it and have to be put down what people don't understand is horses will use all there fat first and then there muscles go which cause organ damage and they have no antibodies to fight infection so the first thing to do is get it to the vet and he will let you know if it is going to make it but still then its what you are willing to spend on one. I had one come through that because of its starved condition developed liver problems and became sun sensitive and she had to wear a mask all year around and she would loose all her hair during the summer here in louisiana. I did find her a home in tennessee and as far as i know she is 27 years old and still going i got her for free and gave her up for free because of her problems but it takes lots of money and time to get them back and you don't know what you have till it is fat enough to ride but ground working them to build muscle mass back helps, i have placed at least 7 horses into new homes that i keep up with i mainly give them away just so i know they aren't going to slaughter. i guess iam dumb for not asking anything for them but to me they came here free and i send them out free. good luck to all who do this and a hint red cell in there feed help their anemic state, and be careful with founder too.
 
#37 ·
Feral v Wild
As per Collins Dictionary:
Feral: 1/ animals existing in a ‘wild’ or uncultivated state
2/ savage, brutal
Wild 1/animals living independently of man; not domesticated or tame
5/lacking restraint or control

At weekends I used to regularly ride as an assistant guide for a trail riding centre located in the Brecon Beacons. A group of keen riders, some from cities in the UK and even Europe would ride out on trails over the bracken covered mountains for four hours or so. My regular trusty mount, William, was the best trail horse that I ever discovered in my riding career. A Welsh Section D X Hannoverian, he was strong, sensitive, and fit. He presented as a well schooled horse who would yield to his rider obedience, courage and performance. He was no slouch and neither would he suffer fools.

On one particular outing, a group of trail riders was in the process of negotiating their way around the base of a steep hillside when I espied up on the hillside a small herd of Welsh Section C Ponies. In that part of the country they are released out onto the moorland hillsides so as to fatten up ready for sale as edible meat stock. The small feral herd comprised of four pairs of mares and foals and one obvious stallion. Amongst the mares was one notably lively white/grey pony. She was very obviously the dominant mare Suddenly, whilst I was watching, the stallion split off from the group and cantered down the hillside and directly towards us. Meanwhile the pony mare had moved to the rear of her family group and had started to chivvy them up. She wanted them out of reach of the humans and the domesticated horses.

The small stallion was coming straight for our us and he had adopted a very belligerent posture with teeth bared, ears back and tail raised. Suddenly several of our horses started to show signs of stress and it was very questionable whether the townies who were riding them would have the ability to keep their horses under control and in line. If the line broke, then the chances were that the horses might whirl, bolt and scatter. The little stallion could well have caused havoc. There was a real risk that one or more of the trail riders would come off and that location was no place to be injured from a fall off a horse. We would have had to call in the air ambulance helicopter.

The trek leader managed to take charge of the line of riders from up front. He hustled them up to canter and thereby separated our group from the pony who by now was getting close. It was time to act and I took my crop out of my boot and urged my trusty steed William around and towards the stallion. William did as he was told and with a lot of waving of my free arm and the crop and some loud cries of ’get away’, William and I managed to divert the stallion away from our group. Much to everyone’s relief, no one had fallen off.

Suddenly the stallion looked back and he could then see that his small herd was out of harm‘s way He turned away and cantered back to his ‘family’. No harm had come to anyone and it had all been a good experience for horses and humans.

In that part of the National Park feral/wild ponies were left to fend for themselves for months until later in the season when they were rounded up and shipped off to market. Whereas my trusty gelding William lived a relatively pampered life amongst a group of well schooled trail riding horses - all of which were geldings. Once noticed, any little minor behavioural issues would be quickly schooled out of him. He had a regular daily routine which included two meals a day. He was groomed and inspected for injury regularly. He had shelter and grazed on rich green grass. When you went to catch him, he would stand and would doff his poll to accept the head collar. He would respond readily to a trained rider‘s soft hand. William had made a deal with humans.

I would hope that there is a lot of difference in behaviour patters between my domesticated William and that feral pony stallion. Their instincts will have diverged from the day they are born,. A well looked after riding horse should, through routine and constant care, come to trust we humans, whereas that little stallion has good reason not to.
Horses aren’t stupid,. Some come to knowingly accept which side of their bread is buttered.

BG
 
#38 ·
Back in November 2009 I started a thread entitled 'Anger and the matter of the carrot or the stick. By the time the viewership fell dormant it had attracted 229 posts and 12,368 viewings. Three and a half years ago the active and regular readership of HF was a little different from that of today.

But the subject of how to treat a horse with the expectation that the horse would come to respond to 'kindly' treatment was discussed in detail. What was written remains valid to this day. The thread starts off with some confrontation because some members held the view that horses are animals -
my view at the time is that they are better described as potential companions to man and as such should be treated kindly.

If we humans give the horse shelter, food, water, grass and routine then with time most horse will come to serve us humans.

A feral/wild/undomesticated horse is indeed in a physical sense very similar to the animal we seek to ride as amateurs but its mentality is very different from that mentality we should have developed in the pet horse.

And I confess I accept that horses have a thinking brain which we riders ignore at our peril. The problem we face from day one of meeting a horse is communication with a different species of animal.

But I also admit that I have never managed to meet closely with what I would classify a feral/wild horse such as a mustang. In the UK all we can meet with
classifiable as 'wild' - is the meat market stock or the neglected and discarded waifs which in most cases have been subjected to abuse by humans.
The emaciated horse presents different problems - as we have already discussed.
 
#40 ·
Sun Rider, Take your time You have to earn the trust of your refugee, The animal will be frightened and will be missing what was constant in his life.
Keep your voice low; get him used to your touch; wear the same clothes so as to make your smell recognisable.
Always be with him when the farrier, the vet, the toothman calls. Massage his back. Keep his feet picked out.

Work him in hand off the ground before you go to mount.
Make sure the saddle fits, well enough and is fitted over a thick saddle blanket. Remember his shape will change as he becomes fitter.
Use a mild bit - or maybe better a hackamore.

Establish a daily routine and keep it constant.
And, dare I say, - reward him with tidbits.

Be patient, and Good Luck

Barry
 
#41 · (Edited)
Those of you who have taken the time to rescue a hose have my utmost respect. This year on Christmas eve Ms.Piggy was delivered to us. She came in as a bag of bones in horrible condition. Information on her can be found under the horses section. The first image is her backend on December 24th 2013. The second is her rear end now. She is very pregnant in both pictures. She has been quite the blessing. Even with her heart problems. I just wanted to add that one excuse I absolutely abhor for an underweight horse is "Oh they are old" Old does NOT equate skinny or emaciated. This mare is 20+ yrs old as is her pasture mate. I have only had her for 4 months. A round of psylium,wormer,basic vet care including shots and floating now look at her... and she is pregnant!
 
#44 ·
Blue Eyes.
Remember the horse you rescued needs very careful husbandry.

Certainly before being worked she must be exercised - gently - on the lunge.
She'll need some muscles.
Her feet will need trimming.
Food is not enough but too much food can be dangerous.
The foal may need supplements to compensate for the lack of condition in the mare.
Keep a daily diary in which you stick some photos.
A local nutritionist will make some suggestion regarding diet. Phone the local feed blender and ask for advice.
Have the teeth rasped.
Ask the physio to run her hands over the back.

But remember you'll not be home and dry until the mare trots along after you, on a loose lead, at the shoulder, with foal trotting along at heel.

Take care with rich green grass - hay is safer.

and if you are going to think of riding her English, then first have the saddle fitted by a qualified saddle fitter. Check with the physio before you ever think of buying her a saddle.

There mare many rewards in saving an emaciated horse - as hopefully you will discover.

Barry G
 
#45 ·
I appreciate the advice Barry.

I agree she needs some muscles. When she came in she had virtually none. She has since developed a bit. I have not worked her hard. I have in actuality been letting her make her own pace. I will not be pushing her at all until she has had her foal and she is ready for it. Currently her exercise is mostly jogging around the pen when it is feeding time. ( she does this of her own accord).
As for her feet they are trimmed regularly but grow very slowly. My farrier is due out tomorrow morning. Her feet have been quite the challenge. She is sound on them but they are loaded with cracks that are taking forever to grow out. When she first came in the bars on her back feet had grown and started curling in on their selves. She had a heck of a time walking with them in that condition. It was a week after she got in before I was able to get the farrier to her (Christmas week makes it seriously hard to find one even when yu have a regular one). She stills has a lot of cracks but they no longer reach up so high. It is just taking a while to grow out.
As for the feed I agree completely. I took it real slow on moving up her feed amounts. I did this in conjunction with my vet. We have also had her teeth floated since she came home. The feed choice she is on has a lot to do with her dental situation as she is missing a fair few of her molars. Her feed is all soaked to essentially a mush.At one point we had attempted to work her into some alfalfa cubes but she does not react well to alfalfa regardless of how slow you try to change her to it. Even now a small handful will have her colicing. We did a heavy round of psyllium as well as a power pack when she came in. I have never seen a horse dispose of such a heavy load of parasites in my life. The pen is cleaned regularly(as in a couple times a day) to be certain to remove all poo. Our biggest worry was getting her back up to par without overdoing the feed. She was not gaining at all but barely holding steady until we came to the feed mix she is now on. She is now holding steady at her current weight and not really gaining anymore. She has no access to green grass. She is in an 80x80 pen that is essentially a dry lot.
Ms.Pig is about the most in your pocket horse I have ever seen.Her only vice so far is food. We have been steady working on food aggression which while I say aggression she is not mean just insistent. She is learning to wait now for us to set her bucket and back away before eating otherwise it is removed until she calms down.This has worked well as now she is no longer pushy. I would not go so far as to say patient but she is getting there.
I will not breath easy until the foal is on the ground,healthy and so is she. Currently we are on foal watch. She has been bagged up for a while now but only recently started waxing. Her ligaments are super loose and her vulva is starting to elongate. No mucus as of yet and no huge lengthening to her vulva but has gotten noticebly larger and relaxed over the last day or so. When we got her we had no idea she was pregnant. I had planned to have her palpated but given her age and condition.. and he no stud around we did not imagine she would be pregnant. We put the bloated gut up to a belly full of sand and worms. (she had a lot of both in there). She currently does have access to a mid quality coastal bermuda hay. Not cow hay by far.
I do not have access to a physio here. I have gone by my vets recommendations. She wil not be ridden English. She will be ridden western. I have already gotten rid of the tack she came with as none of it fitted her properly. I have yet to purchase a saddle for her as I will be waiting until well after she has foaled so that I can be certain it is a correct fit. The one saddle I have at the moment is fitted to her pasture buddy Sunny. Which is rather amazing as it fits her(Sunny) like it was made for her.. and we had it prior to getting her from a previous horse we owned.Sunny was a little under with bad overgrown feet but otherwise healthy feet ( You would think we sprinkle miracle grow on the things! have to trim at 4 weeks on the nose)
As for my rewards.. I got them the day we found out she was pregnant..not because of the foal but because of what the vet said. He told us flat out if we had left her where she was she would have already been dead. He has seen her through every step of the way. I would by far pick him over any other vet any day of the week. He is not about the money but about the animal. SO many vets in this area are not like that. ( don't get me wrong I always pay my bill at the time of service). I have only gone through roughly 800 in vet bills on her since she came in. I count that as lucky since I know it could be much much more.
Ms.Piggy has me wrapped. My biggest fear right now is the possibility of losing her as neither us nor the vet are certain as to how her heart is gonna handle the birth. It may sound cold but above all else I want her to make it through. Not that I do not want the foal but she is my first priority. My vet knows this.

In all truth Barry I sincerely appreciate all the advice.I take it in the manner it was meant. Helpful advice from one horse person to another. If I had this to do all over again I would do it again for her in a heartbeat. My joy with horses comes from the act of taking care of them. I have had so many people ask me why I put so much time and effort into two old mares I didn't know from adam. My response is as follows " Old does not mean useless. It just means they need me more"
 
#46 ·
Well, Blue Eyes, it seems you are on track. Some horses show tremendous resilience and come through despite all the odds. It makes you wonder as to how she got pregnant.

It will be interesting to hear how she copes with the foal. Remember the first year of the foal's life is learning how to live like a horse (as against live like a human's pet) but much will depend on the mare's attitude - will she act motherly?

As I wrote the other day - the big reward is for you - you'll learn a lot over the next few months about horses. Well done so far.

Keep us all posted as to how it all works out.

Barry G

PS We rescued a stray cat a few weeks ago. She was meandering across a country lane along which we were driving. She weighed 2 kilos - say 4.5 lbs. Suddenly we realized the animal was blind. Obviously some b**tard had dumped her alongside the highway. We've watched and learned bit by bit as to how she copes with being blind in a fresh environment. It's fascinating to see how Mother Nature copes with adversity. Poody Tat is now doing well and putting on weight. She has been innocculated and tested by the vet. It seems she is about 10 years old. The dogs have let her into the household without any aggro.
I only wish I could learn how to inhibit her miaowing. She could sing an anthem .
 
#47 ·
Blueseyes, some horses, like people, do lose weight with old age. At 27 my gelding began to lose weight, just a little but noticeable. His diet was altered in my attempts to get his weight back up. He'd gain some then lose it. He wintered well but continued the gradual weight loss. It didn't matter what he ate, the weight wouldn't go back on. One has to realize the organs aren't functioning as they should. That fall, he was thin and there was no way I wanted him to try to endure our very cold winters so he was put down.
 
#48 ·
Saddlebag- I was not intending to insult anyone. You said yourself that his organs were no longer functioning as they should. That is a part of old age. I can understand the weight loss in that situation. The only point I was trying to make is that it seems an acceptable excuse (age that is) for being very underweight. I do realize that some do indeed waste away the same as some people do. I most likely should not have generalized that statement in regards to weight. I have just heard the excuse so many times, to excuse neglect. ( I am not by any means saying you neglected your horse from what you say you did everything you could for him/her and then had the mercy to put him down instead of let him suffer).
I consider it obvious neglect when the horse is bones,matted, and you can see a lack of hoof care. These are the situations that I get upset with when someone says "Oh they are just old". I am not a person to pamper the living daylights out of an animal.Again I am sorry if you took offense to what I said. I was wrong to generalize like that. I just get so sick of the assumption that all old horses must be bags of bones.
 
#49 ·
Rescue Part 2

A few years ago I rescued a horse that, at the time I couldn't even tell what kind of horse he was. I just paid the guy to quit abusing him basically. I was a long road of one our vet nor I thought he would survive but my nephew was very attached to him so we kept trying. He named him Superman. Really his transformation reminds me more of Captain America.

I recently acquired another rescue. At the time of purchase I didn't realise she was in need of rescuing but I think God works in mysterious ways. I went to see her at dusk and being white, winter and covered in mud, it covered most of her issues well. She appeared a little thin but not as bad as she was. Come to find out she hadn't been being fed and was apparently abused because you can't even approach her in a stall. Though she is a BLM mustang her owners prior to the ones I had bought her from had shown her in 4H for years. These people, who thankfully didn't have her for long, left her in a pen with no shelter, water, food and mud up to her knees. There was wire on the ground for her to cut herself on and she is covered in rain rot and lice. I named her Battle Born since she is from Nevada and it is the state slogan.

I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this or not but I always have the chiropractor out to check them prior to riding any rescues.
 

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#54 ·
Yes and I am not at all pleased with the forum software offering “recommended reading” that is so old:poop:

I thought the gurus were working on this issue. I’m growing weary of checking dates(n)(n)
 
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#55 ·
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