After having Josh for 16 yrs. I made a very hard decision, and gave him away to another family so they could get 16 yrs of enjoyment with him..
He had also foundered in both front feet~! One coffin bone was rotated and the other just slightly. So for most part he was on r&r at my place and I don't know if he could be driven much anymore either,, so I made arrangments with a lady to take him and give him a good hime.. And btw he founded on HAY
Pure Alfalfa Hay that was way to rich for his system~! That was when I was living in AZ he did that and was getting soooo very little of that hay but he foundered anyway...And I do know it was the hay because he was with me at that boarding stable and I did the feeding~! He never had gotten out to get into the grain or anything like that so it was the hay for sure~! Now I also should say that Alfalfa out west is very very high in protein~!! We had it checked once and it tested 27%~!! That is very rich~! As the hay out there in AZ is irrigated and cut at the precise time to maintain high protein and that is about all you can get is Alfalfa~! So you now know my thoughts on feeding any Alfalfa hay
I just won't do it~! I contract for only grass hay and if it mixed with a little Alfalfa I will buy it but surely not straight alfalfa...And I did have this confirmed by Dave Olson...And BTW he does not like Alfalfa hay for horses at all himself~! Horses were meant to have grass not that rich green alfalfa hay.. Well time to get off my soap box,, but it sure was hard to see Josh develope founder on something that could have been avoided....He was one real special pony that would do anything I asked of him and I don't think I shll even have another one like him..I bought him from a pony breeder in Southern Wisc. that ran pony rides at WI Dells~! And Josh was too small for her needs BUT the good news is that JOSH is what got me started in the mini's~!!! Because he was small only 39-1/2 inches so very close to a B mini that I decided to get into mini's~! And Josh only cost me $175 And at that time mini's were very high in prioce and this way not only did I find out that I liked to work with the smaller critters I got ont a pony almost as small for such a low price and then waited for the mini prices to get lower,,And when the mini prices did come down I bought my first mini mare for 350 and that is the one that I have in that picture of her in the car~!
