General question: Abler and other alternative sources of omeprazole?

[BoyleHeightsKid]

@quietann

Best of luck! I just am not set up to have a horse (or a small herd, really) at home. My mare did have free choice hay during the “Snowmageddon” winter of 2015, when she was living outside with a shed. And she did get a lot calmer about her hay once she realized that it would always be there. However, as the weather warmed up and she continued on free choice hay, she got very fat. I know that going for long periods with nothing in her stomach is bad for her, but have not come up with a solution.

Are you able to use a small hole net in your situation? That would be an excellent way to keep hay in front of her all the time.

[quietann]

@BoyleHeightsKid

Are you able to use a small hole net in your situation? That would be an excellent way to keep hay in front of her all the time.

I’m using 1 inch and 1 1/4 inch nets for fairly long stemmed timothy/mixed grass hay.

They don’t slow her down much. E.g. all the horses get 2 flakes of hay around 4:30 p.m., about half in nets, and by 7 hers is gone while most of the other horses are still nibbling on theirs. (They get 2 more flakes around 9 p.m. One of the things I love about this barn is how generous they are with hay.)

(Amusing side note: there are 2 geldings across the aisle, both elderly and hard keepers. They get richer, second cut hay, but the silly things stick their heads out into the aisle while chewing, and drop a lot on the aisle floor. Where poor Feronia can see it all night, but can’t get to it!)

[vxf111]

@quietann

Best of luck! I just am not set up to have a horse (or a small herd, really) at home. My mare did have free choice hay during the “Snowmageddon” winter of 2015, when she was living outside with a shed. And she did get a lot calmer about her hay once she realized that it would always be there. However, as the weather warmed up and she continued on free choice hay, she got very fat. I know that going for long periods with nothing in her stomach is bad for her, but have not come up with a solution.

We don’t use it anymore but at my barn they set up this hay pellet feeder thing on a timer. Every half an hour it would drop a handful of pellets. They fell into one of those slow feeder buckets with all the nubs in the bottom that the horse really has to WORK to pick around to get the food. That was a pretty effective way to keep a little food in the horse 24/7. I don’t think I could personally rig something like that up, I’m just not that mechanical, but clearly it’s possible!

[quietann]

@vxf111

We don’t use it anymore but at my barn they set up this hay pellet feeder thing on a timer. Every half an hour it would drop a handful of pellets. They fell into one of those slow feeder buckets with all the nubs in the bottom that the horse really has to WORK to pick around to get the food. That was a pretty effective way to keep a little food in the horse 24/7. I don’t think I could personally rig something like that up, I’m just not that mechanical, but clearly it’s possible!

The commercial version from simplefeeder.com would cost close to $500… ouch. But what an intriguing idea!

[BoyleHeightsKid]

@quietann

(Amusing side note: there are 2 geldings across the aisle, both elderly and hard keepers. They get richer, second cut hay, but the silly things stick their heads out into the aisle while chewing, and drop a lot on the aisle floor. Where poor Feronia can see it all night, but can’t get to it!)

Poor thing, that must have been torture ;)

I have a welsh pony that I need to watch very carefully. She’s IR and right now she’s in at night with hay and out during the day with a muzzle. Poor thing, she whinny’s at me cuz she hates the muzzle, then whinny’s at me cuz she wants to be out with her boys. If I put her hay on the floor she hoovers it up, but if I put it in a net it lasts her all night.

I’ll tell ya, I think it’s tougher having a fatty than a hard keeper.

[vxf111]

@quietann

The commercial version from simplefeeder.com would cost close to $500… ouch. But what an intriguing idea!

Someone built this. It’s homemade. Well done, but clearly homemade.

[Feathered_Feet]

@quietann

I’m using 1 inch and 1 1/4 inch nets for fairly long stemmed timothy/mixed grass hay.

They don’t slow her down much. E.g. all the horses get 2 flakes of hay around 4:30 p.m., about half in nets, and by 7 hers is gone while most of the other horses are still nibbling on theirs. (They get 2 more flakes around 9 p.m. One of the things I love about this barn is how generous they are with hay.)

(Amusing side note: there are 2 geldings across the aisle, both elderly and hard keepers. They get richer, second cut hay, but the silly things stick their heads out into the aisle while chewing, and drop a lot on the aisle floor. Where poor Feronia can see it all night, but can’t get to it!)

Sounds like you’re doing everything right, and just wanted to add another option - probably a bit of a headache for whoever feeds, but maybe try layering the hay nets? I’ve used this before when I really needed to drag out each feeding - put the hay in a regular (but small hole) hay net, then put that into a small-hole hay bag. Sounds like your mare is quite the magician with a net, but perhaps the layering will help at little? Or put the hay in a hay net, then put that in a porta-grazer.

[Goforward]

I use two different vet’s from different practices and they both offer compounded Omeprazole products from trusted American pharmacies. I’ve used both products with good results.
Is there a vet you can ask about a compounded product?

[vxf111]

@Goforward

I use two different vet’s from different practices and they both offer compounded Omeprazole products from trusted American pharmacies. I’ve used both products with good results.
Is there a vet you can ask about a compounded product?

My issue with the compounded version is there’s no buffer/enteric coating. Unless the compounding pharmacies have improved since I last checked?

[quietann]

@Feathered_Feet

Sounds like you’re doing everything right, and just wanted to add another option - probably a bit of a headache for whoever feeds, but maybe try layering the hay nets? I’ve used this before when I really needed to drag out each feeding - put the hay in a regular (but small hole) hay net, then put that into a small-hole hay bag. Sounds like your mare is quite the magician with a net, but perhaps the layering will help at little? Or put the hay in a hay net, then put that in a porta-grazer.

Alas, she is quite effective at chewing holes in nets. She’d just get more aggressive with a double net. This is part of the reason I use NibbleNets – they take her a long time to destroy. It’s a good thing that she’s pretty, and safe; she’s such a PITA in some ways!

A net in a Porta Grazer might work though…

[candico]

Just wanted to post that I put in an order from Abler on Monday and got it today, Friday. Was quite impressed since I’ve ordered other items from overseas early this summer and it took nearly two months!