Horse Feeding and stall injuries
Hey guys =]
I'm so excited to find an active horse community! And I was hoping you guys can help me out (and hopefully I can contribute to here as well!)
My horse recently lost a lot of weight and received some injuries from struggling in his stall and I'm not sure how to treat either.
I have a 5-6yr old adopted mustang named Solitaire aka Sol. Just to clarify I've had him since he was 8 months old, so this isn't a rescue case exactly.
Anyways, background story. He got an impact colic over a week ago because his water froze because he could drink it, and he was treated for it but it weakened him and he lost his appetite for a bit. When he colicked, he laid in his stall for a day, the vet told me it was ok and to let him eventually get up on his own and he did.
But this monday he went down again, but his poop was soft, he wasn't acting colicky, and he's always slept laying down so I semi-brushed it off. I couldn't call the vet because honestly, I was entirely broke from a previous horse-emergency on top of Sol's, so I had to wait until the next evening when I got funds and the vet told me due to the cold and him being down so long there was nothing he could do but give him banamine, and if Sol didn't get up by Wednesday, he wasn't getting up again. Sol was in good spirits the whole time but the most he'd do is roll up on his chest occasionally. Thursday rolls around and thanks to the holidays I got help and Solitaire is now on a system of straps and pulleys, he's strong enough to support himself now and he's very alert and himself.
However he's lost a lot of weight from laying there for almost 4 days, plus he's always struggled a tiny bit with is weight. He is currently NOT active, & he destroyed the fence so he can't be on pasture. I'm scared to death he'll go down again. He also has large "scrapes". They're a good 4+inches long and wide, they're warm, and it looks black leather where skin should be.
So my questions are
1. What can I feed him to get his weight up? I googled, and looked thru memories.
I know everyone has different opinions but I'm trying to get a good, general idea. My old instructor said "Give them lots of cracked corn", one vet said senior feed, someone told me more fat content, more sweet feed, and I really don't know what to listen to. He's currently on Dumor Equistages and sweet feed.
I read around here that beet pulp is good but I can't seem to find it around here.
Is the Weight Gain powder any good? I'd really like to find something to give him the strength, energy and weight needed to recover. Oh, and right now I'm kind of limited to anything from Tractor Supply...the area I live in is pretty much dying and I can't find a feed mill, since the few I knew of closed.
2. What should I put on the scrapes/leathered skin? The vet didn't seem to think he'd ever get up again and told me not to worry about his coat, and I was told by someone else "you can't do anything for that". The last thing I need is for them to get infected and cause him more problems. He was laying on them for 4 days so I couldn't see them to tend to them sooner.
Thanks so so so much for any advice and help!!
I'm so excited to find an active horse community! And I was hoping you guys can help me out (and hopefully I can contribute to here as well!)
My horse recently lost a lot of weight and received some injuries from struggling in his stall and I'm not sure how to treat either.
I have a 5-6yr old adopted mustang named Solitaire aka Sol. Just to clarify I've had him since he was 8 months old, so this isn't a rescue case exactly.
Anyways, background story. He got an impact colic over a week ago because his water froze because he could drink it, and he was treated for it but it weakened him and he lost his appetite for a bit. When he colicked, he laid in his stall for a day, the vet told me it was ok and to let him eventually get up on his own and he did.
But this monday he went down again, but his poop was soft, he wasn't acting colicky, and he's always slept laying down so I semi-brushed it off. I couldn't call the vet because honestly, I was entirely broke from a previous horse-emergency on top of Sol's, so I had to wait until the next evening when I got funds and the vet told me due to the cold and him being down so long there was nothing he could do but give him banamine, and if Sol didn't get up by Wednesday, he wasn't getting up again. Sol was in good spirits the whole time but the most he'd do is roll up on his chest occasionally. Thursday rolls around and thanks to the holidays I got help and Solitaire is now on a system of straps and pulleys, he's strong enough to support himself now and he's very alert and himself.
However he's lost a lot of weight from laying there for almost 4 days, plus he's always struggled a tiny bit with is weight. He is currently NOT active, & he destroyed the fence so he can't be on pasture. I'm scared to death he'll go down again. He also has large "scrapes". They're a good 4+inches long and wide, they're warm, and it looks black leather where skin should be.
So my questions are
1. What can I feed him to get his weight up? I googled, and looked thru memories.
I know everyone has different opinions but I'm trying to get a good, general idea. My old instructor said "Give them lots of cracked corn", one vet said senior feed, someone told me more fat content, more sweet feed, and I really don't know what to listen to. He's currently on Dumor Equistages and sweet feed.
I read around here that beet pulp is good but I can't seem to find it around here.
Is the Weight Gain powder any good? I'd really like to find something to give him the strength, energy and weight needed to recover. Oh, and right now I'm kind of limited to anything from Tractor Supply...the area I live in is pretty much dying and I can't find a feed mill, since the few I knew of closed.
2. What should I put on the scrapes/leathered skin? The vet didn't seem to think he'd ever get up again and told me not to worry about his coat, and I was told by someone else "you can't do anything for that". The last thing I need is for them to get infected and cause him more problems. He was laying on them for 4 days so I couldn't see them to tend to them sooner.
Thanks so so so much for any advice and help!!