These are from today. I keep
posting pictures of her still wet from her bath, lol. She does love her food. I think you can really tell she’s gained looking at her from behind.
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Yay! Congratulations!
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Another YAY! from here!
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I kept thinking Matilda reminded me of someone besides “just a TWH or SSH. She reminds me somewhat of Bojangles who was the top stallion at McNatt Spotted Saddle Horse Farms, in Fayetteville, TN. They have been in gaited horse business for years and train mostly for pleasure/trail.
Bojangles passed, but Bojangles Junior, aka Snoopy, is still putting babies on the ground. They have a website and a FB page. I saw a couple of “Medicine Hats” on their FB page. Plus Matilda’s markings remind me of what I would see on the Get of Bojangles Sr, even though she has much more white on her:)
I still contend she is either SSH or TWH:cowboy_hat_face:
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The full side shot? The backend with short croup and high set tail along with an overall quick first impression when first scrolling down to that picture speak to me of Arab influence. IMO shes not going to be a tank. Oh, she could get fat but seeing a lighter bone structure here then in, say, Bo.
Perhaps your vet was not far off with the Pintarabian guess? That does make sense with what we know of her backstory. For some reason, IME, some people breed Arabs and assorted part bred variations to collect and breed more, not to train up to ride and/or compete. So they end up with few or no skills in bad places when these people have to disperse. She probably has produced a foal.
This poor mare is in bad shape and likely not feeling up to arguing with a rider whether she knows anything or not. Questionable choice for seller to “ evaluate” an unhealthy horse under saddle to determine manners and rideability/trainability. Its too weak to really care.
One real positive if she is an Arab is they are keenly smart as well as tougher then they look. She should bounce back pretty quick and be easy to work with…long as you remember just how smart they can be.
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I’ll bet she was being driven off the water trough as well as the food and was quite dehydrated when you got her, which would add to her miserable appearance. Nice to see her feeling better!
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Think the most disturbing photo is a head shot from the side…her face is “ dried out”, skin has shrunken down to the skull structure. Hollows above the eyes and down the side on either side of the nasal bone (or whatever that is called). Thats really a sign of a 1, not a 2.
But that does fill in with rehydration. If ever there was a horse that was a survivor, its her. No wonder she was hoovering water. Bet she knows what you have done for her and you will be her BFF for life.
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I wonder about Arabian cross as well. I emailed the pinto association with pictures to see if they know her.
She’s thin skinned and her hair actually reminds me of an Arabian, does that make sense? Sensitive and soft. She’s been in our round pen and before that she was in a nasty pen without shelter. She has rubbed areas on both of her bony hips that aren’t improving. We put ointment on daily and I’ve pulled down a large amount of the old round bale for her to bed down in. At this point, we’ve figured out how to get her in the barn to bed down in shavings at night. No nose to nose without anyone else. We use separate brushes because of her potential ringworm (which we’re still treating). She needs to heal up her skin. The flies are bad this time of year and the heat will add to her misery. She needs to go the next step and be spoiled like the others, lol.
We’ve noticed she also learns fast.
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It may not be pretty, but try sticking a piece of elasticon or other medical tape on those bony protuberances and they will heal up better.
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I’m not familiar with that. I’ve only seen vetwrap and you can’t wrap a hip easily. Is there something that would actually stick to her hair?
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Elasticon (or is it Elastikon?) will stick to anything dry. You might want to put a little pad of something (I’ve used a folded-up gauze wipe with some triple antibiotic ointment on it) over the wound itself. I also have some slightly less sticky tape which doesn’t leave as much residue to deal with. It’slikea heavyweight micropore, so more breathable. I think that one came home from the hospital to affix human wound dressings after one or other of the family’s “Dramatic Incidents…” I’ll have a hunt round and see if I can find what it was.
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We might have to resort to that if stabling her at night doesn’t show an improvement in her boo boos.
Your family has dramatic incidents as well? Ah yes. Hubby is a woodworker. He uses specific phrases to tell me he did something to himself and the degree of concern I should have.
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I understand that you’ve got her on a strict feeding protocol, but I wonder if adding some ground flaxseed and some vitamin E would help her skin heal? You wouldn’t need to add a lot of flax–maybe a half cup a day.
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These badly starved horses have been malnourished for a looong time and it will take time to reverse the damage caused to skin and its ability to resist irritation and heal itself normally. Plus missing a layer of body fat over the sharp “ corners” like hips leaves them prone to getting rubbed open repeatedly until they plump up some.
Patience. And some elasticon. Flaxseed sounds like a great idea or maybe some type oil.
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Our local TSC stocks Elastikon ($$$$ though), and it’s a small store. ValleyVet has a decent price.
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smartpak has it in a 4 pack - Valley Vet has the generic version in a single roll for $8 I think. Its amazing stuff that actually will bend and flex with the horse so it stays on while being somewhat breathable. Super for hock sores too.
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I am still scrubbing Elastikon adhesive off of my boy. But it is great stuff. I had to bandage my boy’s fetlock and I was nervous about making it too tight (triple antibiotic/gauze/vet wrap and elastikon to keep it up). My vet showed me how (with a friend) to unroll and stretch the elastikon, then re-roll. It took most of the stretch out and was very easy to use. It held up for about 3 days before I changed it, per my vet.
@moonlitoaksranch On her hips, you won’t have an issue with making it too tight…but Elastikon WILL keep a gauze pad on.
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She’s in for the night in a nice deep bed of shavings. I think she’s been stalled before, but she was nervous. She immediately checked the water bucket and grabbed a bite of feed before looking around anxiously. It’s dark compared to outside and I’m sure it took time for her eyes to adjust. We’ll check on her again later.
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Oh, and we ordered her a nameplate. 
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