Horses??? Calling all horse people!!!

Hey..

Well, were moving again...
And our new place has a horse on the lot.
I went to visit him today, he looks in rough shape.. I didn't see any water in his pen, he looks like hes only eating hay .. No veggies or any other feed anywhere in sight.. I'm not sure what horses are suppost to get in their diet, like vitamine supplements or what types of Fruit and Veggies they are allowed?

The owner of the horse (our future landlord) said we can feed him whenever we want, and take care of him too, *he'll pay for everything tho*. He said we can ride him or walk him when ever we want to as well...He hasn't been riden in over two years, and the last time someone rode him he bucked them off because he got spooked...

The firstt hing I noticed about him is that he looks sooooo sad :(.. His eyes, somthing about them just made my heart ache... His maine has matts in it, and he has a few weird looking sores forming on his legs... He also looks very overweight.. He also has no where to go for shelter, other then a few pine trees at the bottom end of his pen.. *I dont know if thats ok for a horse to have no shelter?? Shouldn't he be put in a stable at night or somthing??

I have no Idea on what intales with owning a horse, or what I can do to make his life better... Any ideas??

Thanks

here is a pic (in attachment) of what he looks like..



(except hes fatter, and has a bit more white on his face... I will take some pic of him next time we go up to the house).

His name is Fineous.

Give him an apple for a treat, but just one. Hold your hand flat with the apple balanced on your palm, so he doesn't accidentally nip your fingers.

Talk quietly to him, and don't approach him from behind. Just stand at the fence and talk quietly to him, let him get used to you. He may be easily spooked, so take it very slowly. Does he have a halter or bridle on him? Once he gets used to you, you may be able to lead him around a bit. Don;t rush it though.

He looks like he could use some exercise. He doesn't need a stable at night, depending on how cold it gets where you are, but I would definitely have a vet look at those sores. If he ONLY gets hay, he could use other food to supplement, nutritionally. Oats, etc, but ask the vet. How old is he? And is he shod, or not?

No he doesn't have a bridal or anything on him.
He hasn't worn one in over two years the lady said.. So he might not approve on wearing one right away...

I am going to try giving him an apple. I heard before that you arn't suppost to give them the seeds in the apple? Should I remove the core?? I just want to make sure I don't make things worse lol. I figured out the growths on his legs are actually horse chestnuts? or horney growths?.. I read that they are normal, once he gets used to me I am going to rub cream on them till they soften up a bit, they look painfull...

Thanks for replying Karen :)

Spend a few weeks letting him get used to you before you try putting a bridle on him. Have an experienced person do that with you the first few times, as you don't want to spook him, or accidentally hurt him.

Have you had any prior experience with horses?

You don't want a dog to eat apple seeds, but I have never heard of them harming a horse! They will probably pass right through, no harm done. We never cored any apple before giving it to a horse.

Well just for some info, chesnuts are not painful, they have no feeling at all, horse have one on each leg. They are like fingernails, they are dead tissue, no pain. They grow long if they aren't peeled when groomed but even when long it poses no issue for the horse. Horses don't eat fruits and vegetables, they eat hay and/or grass. They ONLY need grain supplments if they are working hard and/or undernourished. If he's overweight, he needs nothing else for a supplement.

If he has trees for shelter he's doing fine. Horses can live even in winter with no shelter or blanket, although it would be best for him to have a lean to to go under to get out of the wind, they do not need to be stabled at all. My horses live outside 24/7. They have a lean to but they are healthier (respiratory wise) and happier living outside, rather than in stalls.

The horse should be fed twice a day, morning and night, if he's only eating hay. If there is pasture grass he probably doesn't need the hay in the summer/fall, only winter. He needs a clean water supply daily, a large trough filled with water that is kept full and dumped and cleaned out at least once a week.

I would not recommend riding him or doing anything else with him without an experienced horse person to help you, you will probably get hurt otherwise. You can pet him and get him used to you but I would refrain from doing much else with him until you get someone to help you.

Apples are fine, the seeds are fine, but honeslty he doesn't need much else. If you want to feed him something give him a carrot or two as well to "make friends" but he doesn't need any supplemental feeding if hes already overweight.

He would probably just like company and maybe some brushing if he's not scared of it but again, since he has not been handled much, get someone who knows about horses to come help teach you what to do so you are safe. It's really easy to get hurt. Good luck!

Oh how sad!
Sure sounds like he's been forgotten about. :(

I hope you can make friends with him so he's not so lonley.

I'm sure brushing him and giving him carrots or apples once in a while will help to build your friendship quicker! ;)

Sounds like they should find him another home. Poor horse. Personally, I'm against feeding 100% hay as its nothing but dead food with a few wasting nutrients. Is there at least some live grass in his pen? Are the pine trees big enough to provide shade and a good windbreak?

Well most food horses eat is "dead" unless they are on pasture, and pasture is actually NOT always good for horses. It all depends on the grass in the pasture, whether or not it has weeds and other poisonous plants as well, or if it's been rotated with other pastures and the soil reenriched to actually provide adequate nutrients. Just having "grass" won't do anything for the horse unless the ground has been rotated and is the proper kind and fertilized with the appropriate things.

Not to mention, an already overweight horse is at risk for laminitis if they eat too much grass in the spring. To safely put a horse on pasture they need to be gradually introduced to the grass in the spring and not allowed to graze too long as they are coming off winter hay and it can actually do permanent and even lethal damage to them if they are a single horse and allowed to eat all of the new grass. A larger herd will prevent any one horse from eating too much most of the time but some horses can NEVER be on pasture due to risk of laminitis. Horses like that are only able to eat grass hay to prevent permanent damage or death. A properly cultivated and fertilized hay field, cultivated at the proper time and put up without moisture actually has plenty of nutrients in it if it's fresh that year. Obviously old or moldy hay it not nutritious but that shouldn't be fed to them anyway.

Here is a link to how to properly maintain a pasture to actually feed a horse and maintain nutrition. There are also many other factors to take into consideration.

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/...rsepasture.htm


Here is also an article from Viginia Tech about avoiding pasture induced laminitis.

http://www.ext.vt.edu/news/periodica...5/aps-506.html


In any event, I hope you are able to enjoy each other's company and if he's going to be living there it would be great for you to spend some time with him, I'm sure he would appreciate the company!

Vela- Thanks for all the advise! You are very knowledable.. Its good to know that eating hay alone is ok. I had no idea otherwise so, Its really a relief for me to knwo that much.. I am going to feed and water him everyday like you said - once I move in. Also I will indeed use the apples and carrots to bribe the friendship a bit lol.

I have to also say that I am sooo sorry about Ginger passing, I had no idea!!! poor baby :( I am really sorry... I hope your ok..


Karen- I actually have no horse experience, I have only ever riden one once during a trail ride with my family.. Other then that I have only gased at them from afare...

I will not try to put a bridal or sadle on him without help from my boyfriend (He has lots of horse experience, he used to break them as a carrier).

6 or so months ago I was in a very similar position. We have a pasture and stables behind our house that we weren't using so we decided to board horses. I knew very little about horses, I'd been around them a little before, but I never really knew much about their care. In the past 6 months I've learned quite a lot and we really enjoy having the horses here. I hope you enjoy having a horse on your property as much as we do.

Tikayas mom - I see from your picture that you live in Canada somewhere cold. Now is not the time to let this horse out on pasture unless you have a halter on him and can hold him for ten minutes in a.m and in r.m. More than that and the horse will founder. At this time of year the grass is too rich and all horses have to be started very slowly for the first month. I looked at his picture and his feet are in pretty rough shape, he isn't even balanced . This horse hasn't been ridden in two years and doesn't need anything but fresh hay and water,grain could founder him or colic him. He needs to lose weight , not gain. Watch the amount of carrots and apples, they also contain lots of sugar and could founder him.
Not being ridden for 2 yrs has probably turned him barn sour, in this case, paddock sour, and with no experience you should get to know him from the other side of the fence. If he's bucked someone off, chances are that he'll buck again. First thing you should do is ask the owner when this horse was dewormed last, a horse needs to be dewormed 4X a yr. Could be the reason his belly is so huge. I can bet my last dollar this horse hasn't been dewormed in a long time.
Learn to read the horse before approaching him and try to learn a bit about his past. Don't rush this intro to the horse or you could get hurt pretty bad, he might be rank and the owner won't say. Is he a stallion or gelding? These are all things you need to find out before going into his space.
Let us know how the two of you get along and I'll give you more hints.

Some more issues to worry about:

1) Floating of the teeth.

Horses need to have their teeth checked/filed down at least every 6 months to prevent sharp "hooks" from forming. If a horse does not have its teeth floated it presents all sorts of problems, the number one being unable to chew food completely. The tongue and inside of the cheek can also get cut up from sharp points form on the molars and tooth loss will follow.

2) Sheath cleaning.

If this horse is indeed a male like you've implied I'm sure he needs a good sheath cleaning too. As embarrassing/gross as it sounds male horses that are not sexually active need to have their male parts washed to prevent "smegma" from building up. If they aren't washed and smegma is allowed to build it up causes "beans" which are very hard balls that range anywhere in size from a pea or bigger. Beans block the urethra and make it extremely hard and painful to urinate. A good indicator if a male horse has beans is if it stands awkwardly while urinating, if the penis doesn't fully drop down out of the steath, and a lot of them actually groan/moan in pain. A weak stream of urine is another sign. It's a rather nasty part of owning male horses, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I've done it hundreds of times - kinda icky and first but then you get used to it. I've pulled some very big beans out of a few horses (back when I worked at the horse camp), the size of quarters, I felt so bad for them. This job is definitely not to be done by anyone inexperienced, seeing how kicking/bitting/panicing are high factors unless the horse has become used to the ritual.

The vet is normally called in to perform teeth floating & sheath cleaning.

I know the picture you posted is not the actual horse that's on the property- please try to get some real photos on here. That way we can better judge what's exactly wrong with the horse.

As far as the horse being in a cold region such as Canda, the horse is going to be acclimated to it and will survive. You have to be worried about young foals and senior horses that do not have a lot of insulating body fat to keep them warm. Of course when the weather dips down in to the extremes, you have to be worried about any domestic animal - but for the most part- they'll be just fine. Also, leaving a halter on a horse that's constantly out to pasture- unsupervised/unchecked for a long amount of time is a big no-no. That's very dangerous, an accident waiting to happen. It can get snagged on something and lead to injury. Most halter buckles will snap under extreme force to allow the horse to escape, but it's better to be safe than sorry. It's also rather uncomfortable for the horses and will eventually cause bald spots where the halter is in constant contact with the skin.


Sounds like this individual should not be owning this horse if they do not step up to the plate and take better care of it. Hopefully you can get this guy some much needed help and make him happy!! :)

If you plan on riding him don't give him carrots,apples or any treats.
It will make him fatter and hyper and out of control.
I really advise you not to ride him, I'd even be weary of riding him and I'll hop on anything and am experienced.

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Well most food horses eat is "dead" unless they are on pasture, and pasture is actually NOT always good for horses.

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Ther person who owns my barn had to put a horse muzzle on her min pony because he was eating too much of the grass and formed some kind of problem (I forget what it was) but it's deffinatly not good if you have a horse that just eats and eats.

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Sounds like they should find him another home.

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Why? He's being taken care of and just put to pasture. There's is nothing wrong with that and most retired horses or horses who can't be ridden are put to pasture.

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I will not try to put a bridal or sadle on him without help from my boyfriend (He has lots of horse experience, he used to break them as a carrier).

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Sounds like you have some good help then. What did he break them for?

You have lots of great advice here :)

So exciting. I hope the situation works out in a positive and beneficial way for you and the horse.

A lot of good advice here so far.

The rough condition of the horse, I'm not sure what you mean, but if the horse is in good condition and has been wormed regularly and has gotten any necessary vaccinations for the area, it's very likely he's just rubbing his neck and mane on trees to get a nice itchy spot and that makes the mane sometimes get sticky and twirl up into zillions of 'granny knots of the century'. You can work some of the bigger knots out with your fingers, then use wide tooth comb and then comb water through it to get it to lay smooth. This is a project that can sometimes take days and you need to realize you have all the time in the world. Be patient and careful.

Don't know about the bits on the legs that you mention as that seems a bit vague. But horses have these crusty scab like things called 'chestnuts' on the legs. They are natural if they look similar to this:
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto...-main_Full.jpg
article that goes with that is here:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2091482_trea...chestnuts.html
I would advise that you not worry about them if they are chestnuts. You could get hurt trying to do what the instructions say (your degree of experience foremost in my mind) as it is really just a cosmetic thing in most cases.

HOWEVER, his feet are an area that may need attention. The owner can probably advise on that and may be able to teach you how to halter the horse without getting hurt, how to lift the feet, pick them out and to check for hoof condition, and also show you how to give a tube of wormer without breaking your neck if the horse fights it. If the footing is naturally rocky, and the horse has good conformation and good hard feet, then the feet will tend to wear down normally and not need extra attention. If the ground is soft however, you may need to find out about having the feet trimmed a few times a year which incidently are also times when he can also be wormed.

It is some work to have a horse there. Realize that a horse accident can put you into the hospital so you should not try to do anything without having good guidance. (eg, do not go barefoot or in open toed sandals around horses, as your toes might get crunched). Don't stand too close to the rear of a horse as you might be close enough to be kicked accidently.

Learn to read the horse's ears. If they are 'watching you' then so is the horse. Watch where the ears go and how relaxed or tense they are. The eyes and mouth can also show tension or relaxation. Horses have nice itchy spots on the neck and withers that you can scritch with your fingers. And they usually blow a soft greeting into your breath if your body posture invites it. (dirty fingernails are a way of life for me around horses, :) )

Manure pick up and other things too, may need to be considered. Flies clan make life with a horse property take another dimension.

Just for kicks, here's a pic of our boarder's minihorse and her new foal.
http://cobankopegi.com/my/howdy2008.jpg

I didn't mention the teeth floating, farrier, shots, worming, or sheath cleaning because none of that really has anything to do with her, it's the owner's job to deal with that; however, all of those things are considerations that need to be taken into account if you DO decide to have your boyfriend help you ride in the future, as all of those things can affect how the horse feels and behaves.

I hope you find this situation to be a good experience for you all. I enjoy just sitting and watching them eat sometimes, listening to them chew their hay. Yes, I'm weird =x LOL