These guys are so much fun. We brought them home about a month ago. They were completely wild and untouched. One is younger and much more shy. The other is quieter, older, and accepts new things more easily. We kept them separate until they were easy to catch and halter. The younger one, Jeremiah, is 6 years old. He was caught at age 4 and kept in the holding pens since then. The other one, Marty, is 11 years old and was just rounded up in May. He’s the easier one to train. Go figure, lol! The good news is that he’s the one that is having health issues, so it’s helpful that he is easy to handle.
The younger one is very healthy and his coat has taken on a nice bloom since he’s been with us. We feed coastal hay, Equalizer, and a multivitamin. Marty, however, has not gained weight and his coat is still rough. He also has a cough. He was finally tame enough for a vet check last week. She heard nothing impressive in his lungs, but detected a heart murmur. She thought it might be endocarditis caused by an old infection, (from his gelding back in May or an old scar near his eye), so we’ve been giving him antibiotics for almost a week.
When I’m grooming him, I also hear a lot of tummy noises. He’s been like that since he came here. I’ve been around a lot of horses and several donkeys, and I’ve never heard so many tummy noises. His poop looks normal and he has a great appetite. The vet did say that he could probably use a deworming, but she was more worried about the possible endocarditis, so she thought it could wait. His cough has lessened over the past five days, but I think he’s continued to drop weight this week, and he does have a potbellied look. I had the perfect dose of paste left over from deworming our pony, so he got that today. Maybe it will also help. He was dewormed when he was rounded up, but that was five months ago and he has been in a lot of different holding pens between the time he left Arizona and the time he came to our farm a month ago. We clean the paddocks twice a day and I’ve never noticed loose stool. Despite the noisy tummy, he has never appeared to be in any sort of distress. I only heard one cough today, so I’m sure the vet is right about his endocarditis. I’ll let the vet know how he’s doing on Monday.
