Hutch the Halfie **The Last Chapter on Pg. 18**

[duckluck]

Quote:
Don't take her vet's word for it, is my best advice...if you can get a vet you have hired to do an exam before you take it, that would be your best bet. Too many people out there right now trying to dump problem horses...don't get taken on something that will cause you huge bucks and heartbreak. If there's any way you can take the horse to a university for an exam before taking it, that would be even better. I have allowed purchasers to take horses to large clinics for prepurchase exams, it's done all the time.

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
Aw, geez! I'd tell her she HAS to send pictures! You never know just what is going to show up otherwise! No way I'd let anything in this gate that I haven't seen yet. If she's willing to bring the horse, she has to get you some pictures, or I'd be just plain worried! I'm worried now and I'm not the one getting the horse!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Whoa, I hope you have not contracted for anything sight unseen. "Just giving away" can be just as dangerous as asking money... people will sometimes do a lot in order to reduce their hay bill, plus which an awful lot of people in the world have TOTALLY different ideas of what "sweet", "well-mannered", "quiet" or "sound" mean. To put it politely.

I would not enter into any contract on a horse, ESPECIALLY not a free horse with a known medical problem, without at least GOOD VIDEO of the horse, both conformation-type and movement-type AND FOOTAGE OF THE HORSE BEING HANDLED AND RIDDEN (or just of being handled, if you will never ever want to ride it). Or spend an hour or so with the horse (preferably on several occasions) before deciding.

The thing is, once the horse is yours, you may have a hard time unloading him on anyone *else* if he turns out to be more than you can handle or can afford. So even (especially!) with "free" horses, you still want to do due diligence to make sure you're making an INFORMED decision as to whether it's something you wanna get into.

(e.t.a. - please be aware that a not-uncommon cause for abdominal hernia in middle-aged horses is as a consequence of colic surgery. While some horses have colic surgery and then go on to live happily for years and years, the majority have a much poorer prognosis)

JMHO, good luck,

Pat

 

[welsummerchicks]

NOBODY brings a horse over to my place before I see up to date vaccination papers and a negative coggins - and I'm sure that coggins is for THAT horse. Don't EVER let anyone even drive into your driveway unless you see a Negative Coggins on that horse.

And I know the horse has been wormed with ivermetctin, pamoate and moxy in the last month, and and everything else.

Color the experienced of the world as died in the wool skeptics. Mostly because we've been through it already.

Free buys an awful lot of trouble sometimes!

 

[Bossroo]

That "FREE" horse with a medical condition will have at least a $1500 down payment, then routine and emergency medical payments for the next 10-15 years. I have seen many, MANY similar cases over the last 50 years... my dad was a Vet. and I worked my way through College working at a University Teaching Veterinary Pathology Department and I bred my own horses for over 40 years [ I just sold 31 head over the last year]). The original owner made the smart decision. The current owner is smart to unload it and is looking for a bleeding heart sucker !!!

 

[Msbear]

I understand what all of you are saying.

The horse is free but, Im not focussed on the "good deal" and realize there will be cost. The horse is in a bad situation and Im trying to help. I have no other horse to transmit a disease to.

I do appreciate all of your concerns and know I don't have the experience to make the best decisions concerning a new horse but, was hoping that the no other horses part will help me focus my attention on him without risking the health of another horse. This may be a big mistake.

Please, can we just hope for the best. I know all of you have much higher standards than I do... that's fine.

She's bringing him tonight. I have yet to see a picture and Im starting to get a little bit of a sinking feeling

This may be an "i told ya so" thread... we will see...

 

[Msbear]

He's home

His name is Hutch. He is seriously underweight. The gal who had him (for maybe a couple months) said he's already put on a lot of weight in the time she's had him so... Im thinking he was in very sore condition. His mane and tail have been chopped as they were loaded with burrs... he looks like he may be a hair older than 13... but, I don't know. Im having my vet come out here next week and check him out. He does drop a lot of feed when he eats. The lady (I don't want to drop names on here) said he has points on his teeth that will need to be filed. His feet look awesome! which I am very thankful for. He hopped right out of the trailer and dived into the grass... She didn't have any and neither did the previous owner so... we'll really need to watch that especially with the hernia, as Pat has already mentioned, may be due to a previous colic surgery. I have him in a small corall and plan to keep him in there for a good while to watch him.

What are some early signs of colic... I will google too... just thought y'all could share so I can keep tabs on him. Or, is it something that comes on fast and is too late once it starts?

Good news- He's super sweet and my son was on him after 15 minutes of being here on the lead line. The pony did not bat an eye at anything we did; chickens and guineas going nuts cause her boys were chasing them, Rusty moving the big farm gates around, lugging the water trough over, fire station siren going off in town... so, Im very happy. My husband thinks he's really ugly.. .I think he's spectacular

I can see a beautiful horse in there.. somewhere. He has a sway back that Im hoping will fill in a bit with weight and he's very dirty. I can easily notice the bulging hernia but, it is not sensitive to the touch. He's had it for a very long time. I would like to get it repaired but, if it isn't causing problems, Im thinking may be leave well enough alone.

She was feeding him medium protein pellets mixed w/ whole korn... like (2) 3lb. scoops daily. Any suggestions?

Pics tomorrow

 

[()relics]

Sounds like he may be a good horse for you...Good thing to have the vet check him over though...sounds like he needs his teeth floated if he is dropping feed....I would be Very careful about giving him too much/any grain until you have had him for a while and sure he is OK...lots of hay and water...let the vet look him over and ask him/her what type of ration/diet they recommend to bring him back up to an acceptable weight...Colic and hernia are usually a sign of some previous digestive "troubles"....Too much feed will send him flying down the wrong road, quickly....LOTS OF HAY...NO GRAIN...until the vet gives you the OK. I would say to use a dewormer on him, but with his previous issues and the potential for them to reoccur, I would again wait for the vets OK, then aggresively deworm him. Probably a mineral block would help him out as well....If he isn't used to free choice mineral you may have to control his intake for a week or two, he may be salt starved and overdo the mineral...JMO

 

[patandchickens]

Please get a good book on horse care and read the health section thoroughly several times, if you are unfamiliar even with the basic first signs of colic. This is really really important if you're going to have a horse at home.

If this horse is thin and has not had access to grass in recent memory, I would VERY STRONGLY suggest giving him ABSOLUTELY ZERO access to grazing right now. Let him settle in for a few days or a week (just on free-choice excellent-quality hay, and possibly a small amount of concentrates) and then start him with literally like 10 minutes of grass per day for a few days, moving up 15 minutes at a time every 4 days or so. This is most easily done, in the early stages, by hand-grazing him on a leadline. Once he is up to a few hours of grazing per day, you can add grazing time a little more rapidly if you feel lucky, but really, it should take you from six weeks to a few months to work him up GRADUALLY and safely to all-day grazing.

If you give him too much grass too soon -- and right now, *any* is probably too much* -- you are seriously courting colic and/or laminitis-and-founder.

As relics says -- his main nutrition right now should come from free-choice excellent-quality hay.

Pics?

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Msbear]

Thanks guys. We had him on a lead and he ate and ate and put him in the corall and he ate and ate. (probably 30 minutes total) I didn't realize how dangerous just small amounts would be. He's tucked in his stall now. I will limit his intake from here on out and look into a good book on horse health basics. Thanks. I did read up on the signs of colic and they are pretty obvious.