When Sadie got here from the Sugarcreek Livestock Auction back in October, we had no idea what kind of training she’d had, or what kind of health issues we might end up with in the end. I shoved grain down her throat all Winter, but she still wouldn’t fill out the way I wanted. She was a terrible cribber, and was on again, off again lame on the left hind where the vet had said there was some arthritis. This Spring she dropped a bunch of weight and increased the cribbing to the point where she was as bad as Indy. I kept increasing her feed, but the weight just kept coming off. Doc came out and diagnosed Bronchitis and gastric ulcers, and had me change her over to a low sugar diet consisting of rice bran, rolled oats, and corn oil. No more sweet feed for Sadie!
And you know what? The cribbing stopped IMMEDIATELY. The lameness went away completely a couple of weeks later, her coat started to shine, and the weight is still piling on. She became more active and less lethargic, running and playing in the pasture with Jewel and the youngsters.
Indy had done the same thing. I knew he had ulcers when he came here, but having little experience with ulcers, I didn’t put two and two together with the increased cribbing and weight loss in the Spring when the grass started to grow.
Lesson learned?
Cribbing + unexplained weight loss most likely = gastric ulcers.
Low sugar diet = happier horse.
Sadie could still use a little more weight, but she’s so much better that Anne and I decided on Friday that it was time to put her on the lunge line and under saddle to see what she knows. It was obvious right away that she knew quite a bit! She wasn’t herd bound at all and as soon as we walked her away from the herd and out to the back pasture it was like she knew it was time to work. She was a pro on the lunge line, so I tacked her up with my synthetic all purpose English saddle and hopped on. This mare has been well trained! She knew exactly what I wanted when using leg aids and had a wonderful head carriage that screams either hunter or low level dressage training. I didn’t ask for collection since she’s so out of shape and only rode her for about 10 minutes. Then Anne got on for just a couple of minutes of walking around on her mare. It would have been great if either of us had remembered to bring a camera up to the barn, but… well, you know how that goes by now.
It’s going to be a lot of fun polishing her up and getting her into shape. I hope Anne decides to keep her, but if not I’m sure she’ll be easy to place in a new home.
1 comment:
Dang, and to think that she would have been on a plate if we hadn't gone to Sugarcreek on that particular day! She is most definitely a job well done. :)
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