Yet Another New Horse - It's Peach!

[Aussie_2020]

I found these pellets and they worked a treat for getting weight on my old guy that was on Prascend. He had been on Purina Senior but I switched to SafeChoice Senior. I also added Vit E. Haystack Naturals Premium Horse Feeds has formulated Special Blend Pellets is intended for horses of all ages that would benefit from a lower carbohydrate, high fat diet.

Ingredients: Sun Cured Timothy Hay, Sun Cured Alfalfa Hay, Plain Dried Beet Pulp, Flax Seed Meal, Canola Meal, Canola Oil, Heat Stabilized Rice Bran

[Paint_Party]

Poor baby. I’m sure his foot is still very sore, yet glad he’s on the mend. He sure is a flashy, good looking guy. Definitely my kind of horse (says the woman who just bought a plain bay mare).

[Heinz_57]

We’re peeling the onion layers here.

This morning a bit of grumping and fits were had because I was TOO SLOW! at dumping breakfast. See here his half-hearted attempt at warning me off because I was taking pictures and getting too close to the food.

Time will tell if he’s just got a wee bit of food aggression to work through or if he’s got tummy troubles that we need to deal with (wouldn’t be a shocker). Either way, I reassured him that I have no interest in stealing his food and gave praise and wee scritches for offering a more relaxed expression as I moved around him.

[Heinz_57]

An unexpected treat:

https://youtu.be/KiC13nKlv7M

Peachy went out with more friends. I’ve had two (Fern, the other blond & Cooper, the bay potato) out in this pasture this week, and wanted to put Elmo out there with them for a bit because the shade is better and it’s high 90s (feels like ~110) this afternoon. Can’t leave Peach alone and he gets hot too, sooo… guess we’ll integrate. He’s relatively sound now and has a good bond with Elmo-the-boss, who runs interference when Fern gets too pester-y.

I’m not exactly sure galloping laps is good with a treatment shoe on, but it happened so here we are. It has good traction so I wasn’t concerned with him slipping, but I didn’t actually expect them to go tearing around. It’s hot and they are fatties, usually more concerned with eating than running.

[cayuse]

WOW!

[SillyHorse]

OMG the “Take THAT, you whatever you are!” at around the 20 second mark is hilarious!

[Heinz_57]

That’s the evil tree stump He’s not one for kicking at things normally, so I don’t know if it surprised him or what but he sure showed it who was boss.

[Heinz_57]

This is the face of a young man who has yee’d his last haw and has officially started ground work boot camp for baby OTTBs today.

Now that he’s putting on weight and his foot mostly doesn’t hurt, naturally he’s acting more like the 4yo TB that he is. He was locked up for the passing of hurricane/tropical storm Beryl yesterday, and by the time he got to go back out at dinner he was ready to dance - I had to fly this wee kite out to the paddock with lots of jigging and spinning and leaping, all up in my personal space.

I certainly don’t blame him; that’s likely the only way he’s ever been handled, and his manners would be considered fine on the track. It’s just time to learn the rules of this new world.

And, he may or may not be acting slightly ouchy on the other foot now. Hard to tell. Fingers crossed it’s not abscess round 2.

[jvanrens]

@Heinz_57

Fingers crossed it’s not abscess round 2.

Hopefully the hospital plate you already have fits the other foot if needed.

[Heinz_57]

Don’t get me started on that thing… I didn’t notice until we got home from having it put on, but they put a regular open-heeled shoe on under the plate which leaves a big gap at the back for stuff to get in, instead of the bar shoe it was supposed to be. I could’ve hauled back and had it fixed, but thought maybe I could work with it because I didn’t have time for another trip. The plate protects from sharp rocks or whatever, but it doesn’t keep anything from getting in there. In fact, despite my great efforts to pack the gap and block it, it’s continually getting dirty. I’m about ready to pull the shoe and just put him back in the boots. At least I know I can keep his foot clean and reasonably dry that way.

And to top it off, two of the bolts are stuck today so I haven’t been able to clean it out. Hopefully DH can muscle them into compliance tonight.

[jvanrens]

That is a total pain. I wish you and your DH’s muscles luck!

[Heinz_57]

Well, I figured out a good packing strategy that keeps stuff out of the shoe, but…

now the shoe itself is loose. I think we need to go a different way.

Peachy pic from this morning. Still a few pounds to go but he’s filling out nicely on the alfalfa and TC Sr.

[cayuse]

Peach is turning into a handsome man. I can visualize him all tacked up and ready to go.

[hoopoe]

did you ever do radiographs of the bad foot?

[jvanrens]

He’s not my favorite shade of red, but he is a handsome one.

[Heinz_57]

We did rads of both front feet, yes. Nothing exciting found. He was a little off balance and palmar angles were basically 0, soles weren’t as thin as we anticipated but I wouldn’t exactly call them “thick”. He just has crappy walls from the months (or years) of malnutrition.

@jvanrens which shade of red would that be? I think the only one I don’t have is a liver.

@cayuse he sure is pretty to look at. Good thing, because that’s pretty much his only job right now

[hoopoe]

i was wondering about the possibility of foreign body, but as you say, this may simply be a case of rebuilding a difficult and slow growing area

[Heinz_57]

No foreign bodies! Just an abscess, with a large chunk of sole missing that I have to protect and keep clean until it grows back in. He’s not lame on it anymore. I asked the farrier who put on the hospital shoe what his experience is re: the timeline for growing sole, and he basically just shrugged. Some grow fast, some grow slow, don’t be surprised if he grows slow since he’s been malnourished for a while.

[jvanrens]

@Heinz_57

@jvanrens which shade of red would that be? I think the only one I don’t have is a liver.

I like a shade like my mare Dancer, in my avatar, her granddam was a liver.

[Rackonteur]

Thank you. My idea of heaven.