older gelding needing home

[chandab]

Now, I'm new to minis so I have ZERO idea if they tolerate Bute or what the dosage is but among the horse communities I circulate in, it's more and more acceptable to give a low dose daily of bute for chronic pain. Hopefully, Dr. Taylor will weigh in on this. My big pinto mare had foundered before we got her. She had no rotation of her coffin bones but does have some sinking and as such, has very thin soles in her feet. Top that off with arthritis and she has some pretty uncomfortable days. She is otherwise spry, alert, engaging, and in good health. We feed her grass hay that has a small amount of alfalfa in it, a hay balancer and Biotin. She gets no pasture but will get the occasional nibble of grass but she is NOT cushings. anyway, what I am getting at is that we will give her a low dose of bute daily with her hay balancer made into a mash. A soupy mash and we precede it with hay... so her belly is not empty when she gets it. So far, after 2 years of on/off dosing, she's doing GREAT and is back to some trail rides.

I don't know if any of all that blabbering will help you but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Bless you!!!!!

Minis seem to be very sensitive to bute, I think its more of a dosage issue (I've used bute with no problems on my minis, but I'm very careful with the dosage), many give too much.

For my foundered mini mare, when she has flare-ups, I give her B-L pellets (can't give to pregnant mares), it works quite well and isn't as harsh on the stomach as bute. [if she's having a really tough time, then she does get bute for a few days to get it under control, then the B-L pellets keep her comfortable.]

 

[chandab]

UPDATE!!!

My horse hating hubby found a spot in his heart to let me keep him!!!

I told him the situation and he said "NO WAY" he will go to the animal control and who knows what happens to him. So Arnie will be living out his days in my back yard. I will be contacting his current owners tomarrow with my good news and inform him I'll do my best to make sure hes happy, healthy, and loved till the end. I went to work and thought about him all afternoon and even asked other horse owners/lovers what they think... and all agreed with all of you here! So if $$$ get tight, I'll sell either my cart or his (pending which one I like) and all funds will help keep him here.

Wonderful news. Congrats!

You said he gets sore with warm weather, is he also getting new grass at that time or just sore with the warm weather? If he's getting new grass, then its probably the grass more than the temps causing his issues. With his issues, you will probably need to drylot him with hay, no or very limited grass. [some use a muzzle, so the horse can still go out to pasture with his buddies. But, some are good at getting too much grass through the muzzle.]

 

[MindyLee]

Nope no grass here yet PLUS all my pastures are dry lots, well mud lots right now. He gets really sore when the weather starts to warm up. When I 1st meet him this past summer, he could'nt even walk. he took small painful baby steps and you could tell it really hurt him. As far as him being lame on his rear foot now, I notice it dose it during the warmer weather like 30 degrees and up. He was totally fine all winter and soon as it got warm a couple weeks back for a few days, he started getting sore on his fronts. Then it dropped down cold again and he stop looking so sore. Then it got warm again 2 weeks ago and now that rear foot is sore. I tuch his feet and they are very warm to the tuch so I took him from his stall and put him to pasture in the snow to cool them down and thats where he has been since. On top of all that, hes soaking wet from sweat and drinks 5 gallons of water per day but never shivers. Like I said, Ill do my best and keep him conferable and also got some advice yesterday about his feet from a friend who is pretty knowedgable with the founder and rotating coffin bones, so she gave me some tips to help out too and will continue to anytime I need it. The vet said NO BUTE!!! so I will stay away from it.

I do have to agree that it is weird that he hurts more when warmer out then colder BUT thats him and I guess ill learn more along the way with having him here

Thanks everyone!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

UPDATE!!!My horse hating hubby found a spot in his heart to let me keep him!!!

I told him the situation and he said "NO WAY" he will go to the animal control and who knows what happens to him. So Arnie will be living out his days in my back yard.

That's wonderful!! Hug your husband for us- he may not love horses but it sounds like he's a good man who is properly outraged at the thought of casually sending an elderly animal to an unkind, uncaring death. I can think of no larger betrayal then to just toss away a life because it is old despite the fact it got that way serving us to the ends of its giant heart.

Of course caring for them is hard! So is the work we asked them to do for years.

Sorry, pet peeve.

Good for you, good for your husband, and I'm sure your new friend will be a blessing to you for every day he may have left. When the time comes he will be allowed to pass with dignity and love, surrounded by friends. He could ask for no better.

Leia

 

[MindyLee]

I do want to add here that the older couple who is giving him to me do very much love him. They are not aware of what animal control could and would do to him as they are super nice folks who believe what they are told. So they are not bad folks just I cant tell them the truth of what could happen to their horse if he was to go to the animal control. They are getting up there in their age where doing chores and stacking hay is to hard for them. They love Arnie dearly and only want the best for him. So it when animal control tells him "oh yeah, we can find him a wonderful new loving home no problem", They truely do believe it. Thats why I stepped in after the fact I told him I really could'nt afford another mini and stepped up to the plate and said, no he stays here!!! So the owner is soooooo happy for his old man to get a great home where other minis live.

OH that reminds me, also good news for Arnie is... All his life he has never been near other minis or horses for that fact. Only a couple of goats yrs back. SO with addation of getting a new home, he now has new friends of his one kind for the very 1st time in his life! The folks who are giving him to me have raised arnie ever since he was a weanling 30 yrs ago and adored him all theis time, just never got another mini, so not only will he live his days out here, he can do it with surrounded by his new friends.

 

[Make A Wish Miniatures]

I am so glad your husband is letting you keep him. You are doing a great thing for an old horse and also his owners,they will know their horse is in good hands.

 

[champsmom]

What a conundrum. If he is cushings and has foundered, he needs to be on a LSC diet. At his age and with his medical conditions, it is not very likely you'll be able to find a home for him. I hate to sound grim but I've spent the last 4 years doing equine rescue and most (if not all) of the country is horse poor right now. I can't find homes for well trained, well bred young riding horses right now. If he didn't have dietary restrictions, you MIGHT be able to place him as a pasture companion but he really needs to be kept dry lotted.

My gut reaction is that the kindest thing to do for him would be to euthanize him if you cannot keep him. The other option would be to take him and his goodies, sell the cart and use the proceeds to feed him. If he's otherwise fairly fit and active, you could probably keep him around for some time on what you could sell the cart for. Wish you were close, I'm in the market for a starter cart... and could probably find a way to house the old guy.

Makes me so sad to see a senior citizen horse looking for a home. It's not right that they should be in this position after what probably has been a good life of service to their human companions. I have a real soft spot for the seniors.

Editing to add: please, if there is any way possible, don't let Animal Control take him... poor old guy.

 

[champsmom]

Im so glad your husband let you keep him. I have such a soft spot for older horses that I wish I could do a rescue. Anyway, best of wishes to you.

 

[wendi leigh]

So glad he gets to stay with you!!

 

[drivin*me*buggy]

I am so glad that he gets to stay with you.

Angie

 

[MindyLee]

I took a pic of Arnie today. Its not the greatest but I want to share him with all of you.

Could someone please help me post it?

[email protected]

THANKS!!!

 

[Lori W]

Good for you (and your hubby, too)!

You'll be surprised just how loving a 'special needs' horse can be! I have a half-Haflinger with Cushings these last four years, and though at some point laminitis will get the best of him, in the meantime he's a happy pony . I love him so much but I know one day I'll have to unselfishly say goodbye.

Best of luck to you and God bless you for taking him on!

 

[Knottymare]

Minis seem to be very sensitive to bute, I think its more of a dosage issue (I've used bute with no problems on my minis, but I'm very careful with the dosage), many give too much.

For my foundered mini mare, when she has flare-ups, I give her B-L pellets (can't give to pregnant mares), it works quite well and isn't as harsh on the stomach as bute. [if she's having a really tough time, then she does get bute for a few days to get it under control, then the B-L pellets keep her comfortable.]

I haven't heard of B-L Pellets. Thanks for the tip. I'll look into this.

 

[LAminiatures]

Yes! good for you! Hoping for the best for both of you.

 

[chandab]

I haven't heard of B-L Pellets. Thanks for the tip. I'll look into this.

It also comes as B-L solution and B-L paste, I believe at one time it was called Bute-Less or Bute-Free.

Smart-Pak usually has good information on products, so here's a link to their page on b-l pellets:

http://www.smartpakequine.com/ProductClass.aspx?productclassid=4195&cm_vc=Search

Horse.com carries all three: http://www.horse.com/item/equine-america-b-l-solution/SLT120873/ for paste and solution; and for pellets: http://www.horse.com/item/equine-america-b-l-pellets/SLT700321/

I feed pelleted feed, so the B-L pellets are easy to mix in, the horse doesn't even seem to notice that I've added anything. [i do keep a tube of paste on hand, just in case they decide not to eat their feed, then I can be sure they get it.]

 

[Magic]

I am sitting here in tears thinking of this sweet old boy getting to stay with you and be comfortable to the end of his days, bless you!

 

[Hosscrazy]

Happy dance! Happy dance!!!!!

Liz R.

 

[susanne]

Thank you (and hubby, too) for giving this sweet old boy a safe, happy pace to live out his days, surrounded by love and friends.

Sometimes the fairy tale ending comes true!

 

[Miniv]

WONDERFUL NEWS

that you are keeping him. Just want to add -- We've also used BL Pellets with success. It takes a few days for them to go through the system. And we keep the girls on them for several weeks at a time. Then, when things have improved we give them a break until they look "owie" again.

We don't grain our founder girls, so I hand feed them the BL Pellets and they think they're getting a treat.

 

[Reble]

UPDATE!!!

My horse hating hubby found a spot in his heart to let me keep him!!!

I told him the situation and he said "NO WAY" he will go to the animal control and who knows what happens to him. So Arnie will be living out his days in my back yard. I will be contacting his current owners tomarrow with my good news and inform him I'll do my best to make sure hes happy, healthy, and loved till the end. I went to work and thought about him all afternoon and even asked other horse owners/lovers what they think... and all agreed with all of you here! So if $$$ get tight, I'll sell either my cart or his (pending which one I like) and all funds will help keep him here.

Thanks everyone for all the support!!!

That is so nice of both of you.. Good Luck... and keep us posted on how he does.