So Many Choices

I am becoming quite unsatisfied with my current horse feed. We have been using this local brand (in TX) for over 3 years. However, as my horses' needs change with age, training levels, local hay quality, etc., I am not seeing the results I once saw with this feed. I hate the idea of having to put every horse on different feed. I like simplicity and I like keeping things natural. Regardless, its time for a change. Also, I am feeding two feed types right now....a combination of sweet feed and an alfalfa based pellet to help them get a little more forage, especially for the senior guys who don't grind their hay like they once did and have a hard time getting what they need from their hay alone. I have researched both Purina and Nutrena brands since I can get them in our area. I am liking the looks of the following: Nutrena's Safe Choice, Purina's Senior for my 31 year old gelding, and Purina's Strategy Healthy Advantage. Has anyone had any luck or disappointments with any of these options?? Any other suggestions?? I have one easy keeper in his prime, 2 youngsters who are moderate keepers and 2 seniors at this point.

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Not My Favorite Month

January was a rough month around here horse-wise. After dealing with the loss of Ranger early in the month, the hits didn't stop. I am hopeful that now we are on hiatus from horse issues, but boy, has it been an exciting month! A couple of weeks after Ranger's colic, we took a little weekend trip to West Texas for some r & r. We had an amazing day all day Saturday including a nice trail ride and some cattle work. Bailey pushed some cows around for the first time and did great! The weather was beyond perfect. In fact, it was turning out to be one of the best weekends in a long while. As we were getting ready to put the horses up and head to the house for dinner, my husband decided to go for one more short ride. Well, unfortunately, it didn't end up so well. Let's just sum it up by saying he came off the horse and landed directly on his left shoulder. He instantly knew something was wrong and I could see his collar bone sticking up a little. He thought it might be broken, but turns out he has a complete, grade 3 AC separation. After one doctor visit ending with surgery as the recommendation we went for a second opinion. It looks like he probably won't need surgery, according to the second, more experienced surgeon. We go to a third orthopedist soon just to see if we can get two opinions that are the same and to see about some new symptoms he is having. Most recently in our crazy horse life, Bailey showed up to the barn for dinner (after being completely fine at breakfast and in the early afternoon) with a severely swollen and lame left hind leg. I put her up for the night after some water therapy and a little Bute, in hopes she just banged up her leg a little in some mysterious way or another. I figured by morning she would be much improved and on her way back to normal. Well, I was wrong. The swelling and lameness was no better. We ended up taking her in to the vet fearing tendon or ligament issues or worse, bone fracture. The swelling was pretty intense so, we really couldn't pin point any one source of her lameness. After palpating her leg and doing a diagnostic nerve block in the fetlock joint, the lameness improved greatly, but nothing was definitive because of the inflammation. She had been wrapped and stalled for a week and I removed the wrap on Tuesday for the first time. I was really disheartened to see what truly looked like a bowed tendon. So, back to the vet we went this morning. I had re-wrapped her leg and not seen it in the flesh since Tuesday. I was very surprised and relieved to see an enormous amount of improvement today once the wrap was removed. She also showed no signs of lameness! Incredibly miraculous in my book. Our vet is confident it is only an irritation of the tendon sheath. Whew! I really thought that we were doomed and I had been so worried and depressed all week. Well, what was another log on the fire of crazy stuff from the past month, ended on a pretty positive note today. Bailey should make a full recovery. She is still on stall rest for 3 weeks with light hand walking and then we go back to the vet for a check up. I don't mess around with tendon, ligament, or bone issues. I want to make sure all is well before we start back to doing anything. So, we will be taking everything very slowly. I had already been planning on investing in some good support boots and now I am definitely going to be doing that. I would welcome any recommendations on brands, etc. Here's to hoping the next 30 days will be less eventful than the last.

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Ranger

I have been avoiding this post for weeks now, but I figured it was time to get it over with. In early January, actually, the week after I got a positive report from our WA vet regarding Ranger's progress with the chronic laminitis, I got a dreaded phone call. The owner of the barn where Ranger has been staying called late on that Saturday night to advise me that Ranger was in the throws of colic and had cast himself inside his run-in shelter. He had gotten Ranger up and out of the shelter, walked him and tried keeping him up on his feet but things were getting worse, so the on-call vet was on her way out. Ranger had been on a strict diet of coastal hay only and nothing in his diet or feeding schedule had changed. He also had unrestricted access to temperate, fresh water, as always. Also, this was the first incidence of colic for Ranger. This was just one of those colics that randomly happens and we don't fully know why. I will spare you all the details, but after 2 days of doing all that we could for him, things continued to get worse. Surgery was then our only option. That would have meant a 6 hour trailer ride and not knowing if we had that much time, combined with the concerns of his chronic founder, we elected to end his suffering. Even though the decision was extremely hard, especially given other circumstances in our life and with not being there with him through all of this, we feel it was the right decision. The vet agreed with us as did the barn owner, after we made our decision. I am eternally grateful to our wonderful vets who were so brutally honest with us and were so willing to help with all the details of this ordeal every step of the way. Everyone was so amazing. And we owe an immense amount of gratitude to the barn owner, our friend, who loved and cared for Ranger in those last days as if Ranger was his own. Thank you Gerry. You are an exceptional human being. So, Ranger has gone on to the pastures next to the Rainbow Bridge, where we will meet again one day. I will miss him more than words can describe. I will miss his humorous antics and his fearless, dog-like nature. He was truly a gem among horses and will be irreplaceable. Rest peacefully my faithful friend.

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