Founder
I've had so many people ask me what on earth did I do to get Sabre turned around so quickly. I kept starting posts and then thinking, fine, but prevention is always better than cure. However, in Alberta it is almost become an epidemic. Did I recognise the signs this time around, since I'd had a horse founder before? Some of them but not all of them. Any over-weight horse is prone to founder, some are prone to concussive founder.. No horse is the same. Sabre is an easy keeper. In other words, he looks at grass and is fat. I tried to counter that by strip grazing and exercise. It didn't work, obviously. Vet actually said to me, look at the size of his feet, he can handle it. Hmmms. Bullshit. A horse doesn't founder in five minutes. It is an on-going process of years. I could, yes, have kept him on a dry lot, however, there is something with horses called peace of mind. Naturally, a horse's endorphins kick in when their heads are down. Naturally, when they are moving around a pasture, it does them good. So, evenw ith previous knowledge I tried to counter everything. I failed and I am not proud of that.
I am proud, however, of what I did afterward. I was so upset and wanted to melt in a heap of failure. Instead, I pulled up my big girl panties and set to work. One of the main things was following my instincts instead of listening to other people. Well, a bit of both. If someone has more knowledge, obviously I am going to use it. But the knowledge I used made complete sense to me and my particular horse and his particular founder. To the point where the little s*&t (darling) bucked today because he felt so damned good. Fifteen or so days after he could not walk.
I was trying to have a conversation with the acreage owner today. Sabre is nuzzling my rain coat. It was pouring rain and rather than eat, he wanted to eat me, and then my hair and then my bracelets. This is his character. Terrified of ropes but a rains licker, he likes the feel of, and my crystal bracelets he likes to nuzzle like worry beads. So, he is weird. I do bear in mind the 'space' issue etc, but this is Sabre who is different from any horse I have ever known.
So when it came to treating him for founder I did what my braint old me and it worked. I've had, as above, so many people say, but he's walking around barely lame - how did you do that? I did it because I know him and I knew what worked for him. If I had called the vet, got bute, set up x-rays etc he would have gone downhill fast. But this was me, who he trusted. I make him do things he doesnt want to, for sure, but he is a braveheart under all the idiosyncracies, and he is smart in his horse way. He makes me sigh huge sighs at some of his antics, but mostly I get him. Some days I lose patience but mostly not. He knows that, too, when he's pushed too far. How he can be so good around my husband shows eaxactly how smart he is. He knows there is no harm. He can be a butt around Katana some days but she puts up with it, too, because she knows and when she truly wants something she doesn't put up with him, she lets him know.
So I am guessing he found his place, and so has Katana. I have odd horses who are different from norml horses and can be a complete pain inthe ass, but they are mine and will be for as long as they want to be.
I am proud, however, of what I did afterward. I was so upset and wanted to melt in a heap of failure. Instead, I pulled up my big girl panties and set to work. One of the main things was following my instincts instead of listening to other people. Well, a bit of both. If someone has more knowledge, obviously I am going to use it. But the knowledge I used made complete sense to me and my particular horse and his particular founder. To the point where the little s*&t (darling) bucked today because he felt so damned good. Fifteen or so days after he could not walk.
I was trying to have a conversation with the acreage owner today. Sabre is nuzzling my rain coat. It was pouring rain and rather than eat, he wanted to eat me, and then my hair and then my bracelets. This is his character. Terrified of ropes but a rains licker, he likes the feel of, and my crystal bracelets he likes to nuzzle like worry beads. So, he is weird. I do bear in mind the 'space' issue etc, but this is Sabre who is different from any horse I have ever known.
So when it came to treating him for founder I did what my braint old me and it worked. I've had, as above, so many people say, but he's walking around barely lame - how did you do that? I did it because I know him and I knew what worked for him. If I had called the vet, got bute, set up x-rays etc he would have gone downhill fast. But this was me, who he trusted. I make him do things he doesnt want to, for sure, but he is a braveheart under all the idiosyncracies, and he is smart in his horse way. He makes me sigh huge sighs at some of his antics, but mostly I get him. Some days I lose patience but mostly not. He knows that, too, when he's pushed too far. How he can be so good around my husband shows eaxactly how smart he is. He knows there is no harm. He can be a butt around Katana some days but she puts up with it, too, because she knows and when she truly wants something she doesn't put up with him, she lets him know.
So I am guessing he found his place, and so has Katana. I have odd horses who are different from norml horses and can be a complete pain inthe ass, but they are mine and will be for as long as they want to be.