Another New Horse - It's Bo!

Apologies if it’s upthread someplace, but do you know his age? Or a ballpark of his age?

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Somewhere between 10 and 30? That is a point of much contention :rofl: When I had him in to the vet, she said “over 20” which she seemed to base mostly on the fact that he’s missing a bunch of top molars and a millisecond look at his front teeth. We have debated it here, and there are pics of his incisors in the #20 post here, plus additional pics that show the chewing surface (as best I could) in a thread on the Horse Care, where nobody seemed to think he was more than a teenager. My trailer should be fixed in another week or so and I will have him seen by the dentist at the other clinic I use… he will have a more reliable opinion on age.

So basically, it’s a mystery for now! :woman_shrugging:

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Our vet some times looks at rib spaces.
He said it was not accurate, but helped when teeth or total body examination was not helpful.
Seems that some times the older the horse the wider/deeper the distance between ribs, starting with the last ribs and checking forward.
We checked it on registered horses, so we knew their age and where we could tell, some we could not, it seem to be close.

Ask your vet about it, some think is old tales, others say there are more accurate ways to tell. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Side question: do horses get longer as they age? My mare has gone from a 72 to a 75 blanket size and some 75s are now tight on her. And she just seems … longer, though much of that is because she is retired and has lost all her curves.

Would not know how to answer that, interesting question. :thinking:

As I was walking Bo today, it hit me. In his current state, with his no-tail and short back on relatively long legs, his slow-but-big way of moving, and the way he mostly carries his head and neck level walking around - he reminds me of one of these from Star Wars:

:rofl:

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Ouch! But may the Force be with him!

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Give us an update on Bo when you can. It’s heartbreaking to see pictures like his and can only imagine the suffering and then so heartWARMING that you took him in and now he has hope.

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Oh, he’s just chugging along. Nothing particularly new to report - he’s eating well and has been spending his free time quidding the grass, so at least he’s moving around. I get him out for walks a couple times a week either in hand or on the lunge line, where if he’s feeling sassy he might throw in a little trot. He appears to be pretty darn sound. There seems to have been a shipping delay on my FEC kits so still waiting on that.

The man himself, just now (eating, always eating):

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He looks so much better in such a short time. You are such a wonderful human being.

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So have you both agreed on a consistent diet then? :smiley:

I also look forward to his updates…
What region are you in? It looks warm-ish!

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He looks so much better already!!

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Central TX. Cold at night lately but still pretty warm during the day.

We have agreed on Purina Senior, and a dash of Renew Gold. The senior isn’t my favorite, but he wouldn’t eat anything else besides Ultium (which is not a complete feed). So it is what it is.

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I kept a senior Arabian for several years for a good friend. He didn’t have very many teeth. He lived on Purina Senior. Wouldn’t be my first choice either, but he was in good health and weight with no issues until he had a pasture accident (we think he had a stroke first but didn’t see it happen) and was put down at 32. They like what they like, just like us.

He looks amazingly different so quickly. I love sorrel QH.

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It’s amazing what 15-20lb a day of a complete feed can do in a few weeks :laughing: He’s really shoveling down the food now, I think he’s pretty close to maxed out on the feeding guidelines so now we just wait and watch the progress. I wish I had been able to get him on a scale at the vet’s, I’d like to know how much weight he’s put on once he’s healthy again.

In other news, that Nutrena ProForce Senior must be really terrible because even my fat ponies turned up their noses at it when I offered them a handful each as a treat today. :astonished:

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I’ve never had a horse yhat found Nutrena feeds palatable.

My dear departed Lucky, also a Chestnut QH, who lived to 35, very much enjoyed Purina Senior for the last few years of his life. At that age, I reckoned he could eat whatever the heck he fancied.

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WOW… he is really changed.

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He’s looking so much better! You are doing a wonderful job. :purple_heart:

Something you might want to try as a fat supplement is W3 from Madbarn. Horses love it! Unfortunately my boy didn’t live long enough to see if it would help him with his weight loss, but he enjoyed his meals even more with it added to his ration.

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Ok, it’s Monday which means weekly progress pics. However, it’s raining buckets today and I am not pulling blankets so you get pics from yesterday.

This is 4 weeks (minus a day since pics are from yesterday).

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He really does look like a different horse already. He’s got the legs to support quite a chunky horse, hasn’t he!

So how does he get that spot of mud in the same place on his tail every week :)?

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