freedomnjustice
Active Member
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- Jul 18, 2013
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Hello, my husband and I got two mini horses yeterday and I have tons of questions. I've been reading books, the internet, etc. over the last several weeks and it seems that if one article says one thing, the next says the complete opposite. Here's a little history of what I know about the horses: they are not registered, they are a father/son pair, 4 yrs. and 2 yrs. old, and both are still studs. They have been pastured together the whole life of the baby and the previous owners report no problems between the two. I had the vet come this morning and examine them, deworm, and give vaccines, etc. We were concerned about the baby because previous owners stated that he recently started favoring his back leg and would limp and then at other times be fine. Vet said minis are prone to "flimsy kneecaps" for lack of proper term, and the more exercise we can give him the stronger his leg will be. She did think the baby had some mild gas colic because of his belly sounds and he was biting some at his side. She said to give some gas x, which I didn't have, so I have a dose of pepto. He seems fine now. The dad, however, is now limiping on his front leg and he wasn't this morning. I thought maybe he could be sore from the vaccine since its the same side?? We currently do not have a barn (we will at the end of July) and we do have a lean to to provide shelter from the elements. The horses were on pasture 24/7 at their previous place, so we thought we could do the same here. Our pasture is almost an acre and it's just an area that we mowed up until now. We did have a cow last year for about 5 months there.
Anyway, I need some help. Please do not tell me to sell them or give them away-I want to learn how to properly care for them and things to watch for. Here are my questions:
1. Can we keep them turned out on pasture with unlimited access to grass? If we shouldn't, would it be best to somehow stall them or would grazing muzzles work? I bought two grazing muzzles today, but not sure if I can make them work, as they are full sized. How do they work? Can the horses still drink water with them on?
2. If we limit grass, we have to give something in its place right? I've read that horses need to basically eat all the time to keep their digestive tracts moving properly.
3. It is possible the dad horse could be sore from the vaccine? Any other ideas of what could have happened with his leg? He does put weight on it, but it's a visible limp and he's not moving much at all. He is up and not laying down.
4. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Like I said, I want to do right by them. They were only fed corn once a week other than the grass. They gave a half gallon of corn to each horse yesterday, so the owner said that might be what the vet heard. I didn't know that beforehand, and I called him after the vet visit to get some more info. I don't think a lot of vet care was given, but they weren't necessarily neglected either. I do believe they had someone come to take of the hooves as the vet said the hooves didn't look bad. Vet said to only give a handful of feed...so I'm assuming he gave them too much yesterday???
Thank you all in advance. I'm sure many of you are just a wealth of knowledge and I can use all the help I can get. I'm going to try to post a picture of them.
Anyway, I need some help. Please do not tell me to sell them or give them away-I want to learn how to properly care for them and things to watch for. Here are my questions:
1. Can we keep them turned out on pasture with unlimited access to grass? If we shouldn't, would it be best to somehow stall them or would grazing muzzles work? I bought two grazing muzzles today, but not sure if I can make them work, as they are full sized. How do they work? Can the horses still drink water with them on?
2. If we limit grass, we have to give something in its place right? I've read that horses need to basically eat all the time to keep their digestive tracts moving properly.
3. It is possible the dad horse could be sore from the vaccine? Any other ideas of what could have happened with his leg? He does put weight on it, but it's a visible limp and he's not moving much at all. He is up and not laying down.
4. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Like I said, I want to do right by them. They were only fed corn once a week other than the grass. They gave a half gallon of corn to each horse yesterday, so the owner said that might be what the vet heard. I didn't know that beforehand, and I called him after the vet visit to get some more info. I don't think a lot of vet care was given, but they weren't necessarily neglected either. I do believe they had someone come to take of the hooves as the vet said the hooves didn't look bad. Vet said to only give a handful of feed...so I'm assuming he gave them too much yesterday???
Thank you all in advance. I'm sure many of you are just a wealth of knowledge and I can use all the help I can get. I'm going to try to post a picture of them.