Shire skin and bones

[Firefall]

There is a gorgeous black and white shire gelding just down the road from me. He lives at a rescue place. He is fourteen yrs old and could be so pretty. I thought he was a Clydesdale but they say shire. Anyway, I offered to buy him since he's been there at least a year or two and some of their horses don't look so great. I hadn't seen him since winter and he looked thin then even with winter hair on. Saw him a couple of days ago and I was horrified. They even have him in a small paddock up front for all to see. They claim that he had a cap break off and he got a bad infection, that they are working with the vet.

But this couldn't have just happened, are teeth infections really that hard to clear up?

By the way, they won't sell him and say he is so sweet and pulls a wagon and works with the disabled and elderly. Ya cause he probably has no energy.

I know I shouldn't judge......................just wanted to vent, he has been on my mind for a long time and I was so shocked when I saw him again. My hay guy takes hay there too and said how bad the horses looked so I went over there.

 

[crponies]

It is too bad that this "rescue" does not seem to be taking care of their horses properly. However, I knew a pony that was very thin for a while until the vet found she had an infected tooth so it really could be the cause of that horse's weight problem. Perhaps the other horses have underlying health issues too.

 

[SilverDollar]

The Appendix QH I rescued five years ago had a horrific tooth infection. A pre-molar was cracked and had abscessed very deep into his nasal cavity. It took about two months to clear up the infection after the tooth was extracted but he was able to gain weight during that time (his body condition score was a 1.5-2 on the Henneke scale). The key was that we had him on a pellet mash of senior feed and hay pellets along with antibiotics and vitamin supplements. He's now 30 years old and has been on a similar pellet mash for the past five years. He's in excellent weight and does well without hay (he does not have enough matching molars to properly chew hay).

It's possible that this shire does have tooth problems but if they are still trying to feed him hay, that could be the issue. Fourteen years of age is not old at all and this horse should be in good weight. Could you talk to these people? Do you know the treating veterinarian? I don't think you are being judgmental; you are simply being a concerned citizen. If you are not able to talk to them will your local animal control go out on a welfare check for these horses? They could also verify with the treating vet that what they say is true (about the health issues).

Please keep us posted. This horse needs you.

Thanks for caring.

Rebecca

 

[Firefall]

Thanks, I felt like I should be minding my own business. Since they are a rescue it really suprised me that this horse looked so bad. But it must be on the up and up since he's still out front of their place for all to see. It did strike me as funny though that he didn't have hay in front of him 24/7 to get his weight back up.

Maybe now that they know someone is watching that maybe he will get back up to par a little more quickly? I was dissapointed though that they wouldn't sell him. I told them I would take him if they changed their mind. Never got a response back on that.

I will just keep an eye out and hope he gets well soon. Did drive by last night but not close enough to really see him but looked like he was eating.................

 

[uwharrie]

Just because they profess to be a rescue does not mean they really are. What is the condition of the other horses/animals in their care? If he is the only one that is thin, then it probably is something related to just him, but if others are thin as well I would seriously concider having AC check them out. I can direct you to dozens of stories of "rescues" that have gone really bad.