Thanks, Peggy Sue. She has actually mentioned it before. This truly is such a guessing game and trial and error. It takes so darn long to try one thing at a time to figure out what's going on, then having to change months later when we see no change!
A little history on this mare...she was a MESS when I got her. I went to buy a horse trailer, loaded it up, when the man said "Oh you have to take the horse to..." As I looked around at his mansion up on the hill with nothing but woods around it, I couldn't image where he would keep a horse. He said he was getting out of horses because his beloved roping horse just died and his daughter was no longer interested in horses. He called out her name, I nervously awaiting this bag of bones to come out of the woods. BUT I got a nice surprise...she was the most beautiful TWH I have ever seen!! Her mane ws thick and hung past her shoulders, her tail dragged onthe ground... he admitted she hadn't been ridden or messed with in about 2 years but had been a show horse before they got her. They had her on 10 % sweet feed and some nasty hay. She had HORRIBLE ground manners and was very nervous. He attributed that to really no human interaction except to throw out some feed and to put out a round bale.
I had to take her home...she needed me and I knew it. From there our journey began. Got her on some better feed (Kool and Kalm pellets) and great hay. Got the chiropractor out to realign her (the little girl admitted she had a horrible fall during a playday on her and that's when she wanted nothing to do with horses. Ruby went down on her left shoulder), got her a message, farrier came out to shape up her hooves (the man had been doing her hooves himself....enough said), got her to the vet for bloodwork, shots, and a new coggins...none of which had been done the entire time this man had her. Worked for months with groundwork, which she responded to with grace and dignity. It's like she was longing to be used again. I sent her to a trainer for 2 months to finish the job. Only one problem... if she can't see me or another horse in sight, she literally freaks out. This never changed even after 60 days and hundreds of miles on her alone. I started looking into the food situation...I've changed it 3 times from Kool and Kalm (she actually got worse on this, to Triple Crown low starch (no change at all), to now SafeChoice (which we now see a little bit of relaxing). I have a good friend that only does the natural thing with her horses over to help me with muscle testing. There are several herbs she tested positive for needing. (Rasberry leaves and wild yam) That defintiely helped her as she is VERY marish. I need to get her back over to do the Valerian root. Just like people, some horses need some "help" to relax a bit....It's like she is so scared to ever be alone again. It truly does look like a panic attack...
This is where we are now. I've had her for 7 months now. She's done a complete turn around except for that one behavior... even my vet is dumbfounded by her behavior. We had bloodwork done, all came out in normal levels. Got a nutritionist that is helping with the feed, supplements, etc. I like the looks of the Tribute though and have sent it to her. I will now send her the ration balancer and see what we can come up with.
Sorry for the long post. Just wanted you guys to know where we've been and what has been done to help this mare! She's so loving and wonderful. I just want to help her out with this!
