Hi all, sorry for going MIA but I wanted to provide an update.
I received a PM from a poster regarding my thread, someone I didn’t know but who apparently had figured out who I was and knew my horse and where I was boarding. I was urged to check in on him a bit more and “pop in” to the barn throughout the day, etc.
I think I’ve said before that due to my life circumstances I had not been able to be at the barn daily. I was paying for full board and providing my own feed, meds, hoof boots, and shavings as well as anything else that might help him. I was paying for these extra services and being assured that they were being done. I have been at this current barn about a year and a half and we had had some problems off and on with barn staff not doing their jobs and/or walking off the job but if I ever addressed a dirty stall of scuzzy water bucket it was immediately addressed and everything seemed to fall back into line. I ASSumed those handful of times it was due to the staffing issues and that things, for the most part, were running smoothly…Boy was I wrong!
Over the course of two weeks I went out randomly during the morning, afternoon and evening. I have an entirely catalog of pictures on my phone of uncleaned stalls…stalls so gross and wet they “sloshed” when you walked in them. Horses fetlock deep in poop. Empty water buckets or buckets so gross you could smell them. I would put my horses feed tub in his grain bin, prop it up a certain way and when I went back the next day it hadn’t been moved. They were in, constantly…9am, 1pm, 6pm, 11pm…if they were going out it wasn’t for long.
The barn owner actually works for several large local barns in the area doing their stalls, etc when their between help or out of town and everyone loves her so I thought there had to be something going on…it just didn’t add up. Id inquire about the condition of the stalls “Oh, its just been so wet with all of the rain, they are all going out today and we are going to strip and re-bed, scrub buckets etc”. I heard that more in two weeks than I have heard in my 30+ years with horses. Twice I stripped his stall myself, by hand with a muck bucket, left it empty to dry, turned him out, came back 4 hours later, re-bed, re-filled his water, placed hay in his net and she actually texted me a picture of the stall I CLEANED and said “We got everyone stripped and rebedded today! I did him a little deep to try and help his feet, also gave him an extra flake of hay in his net”!. The two times I stripped my own stall are the ONLY times in those two weeks they were cleaned, by anyone.
The hoof boots I bought, sure they were putting them on if he went out, but not cleaning or picking his feet…so even when he was out he was still standing in urine and poop.
Basically everything I was doing to try and help him and there she was working against me…like trying to row up stream with one paddle in class 4 rapids.
I gave my notice, paid my board and left. I have a dear friend about 200 miles away with her own farm and she let me bring him there. He’s been there about 3 weeks and let me tell you the difference, holy cat! The look on his face has changed, his weight and coat are slowly improving. His feet…lord…she sends me videos of him galloping and squealing across the pastures. Is he 100%, no…but the improvement is crazy. No crazy voodoo tactics, just feed, clean stalls, turnout, and water.
The farrier comes today so I am interested in hearing what he has to say.
So, I just wanted to provide an update. While his feet did and do need attention, I really believe that the overall decline in his condition was due to the stress and drama in his home life. Not being fed, standing in days/weeks worth of crap, no water, constant commotion of “rescue” horses in and out…he couldn’t take it anymore. The vet kept saying “its his environment” but I guess I didn’t fully understand what she was trying to tell me. I can not believe I trusted her and let it go on that long…
