I am halfway through our most busy season of the year, and I'm shockingly still smiling...for now! July and August here at the farm are just crazy, but everything is going fairly smoothly. :-)
Faith and Linus are doing great! We are still waiting to hear from our vet regarding a plan of action for her knee lameness. I will let everyone know once I do!
Linus's surgery site is healing quite well. He is, however, starting to lose a bit of weight. He had been gaining quite easily and had put on about 65 pounds, but has appeared to have hit a slump. The only difference lately is that he has been receiving a lot more turnout time with Faith in order to keep him happy. The extra exercise is having a negative effect on his weight gain. As many of you know, he is a weaver, so the more turnout he gets the happier he is. Grouchy horses are a pain in the butt, and since Faith has enough attitude for our entire crew, we figured Linus would benefit from the fresh air! Now we need to find some way to balance it out a bit so we can fatten him up.
He is currently receiving about 8 quarts of grain twice per day, a combination of senior feed and a high protein and high carb, easily digestible pellet. They also have free choice hay, and each consume about 4-5 flakes a day.
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Exciting news: I will have a link ready for everyone by tomorrow (hopefully!) and it will help us find out more about Faith's past. More to come!
Faith and Linus are doing great! We are still waiting to hear from our vet regarding a plan of action for her knee lameness. I will let everyone know once I do!
Linus's surgery site is healing quite well. He is, however, starting to lose a bit of weight. He had been gaining quite easily and had put on about 65 pounds, but has appeared to have hit a slump. The only difference lately is that he has been receiving a lot more turnout time with Faith in order to keep him happy. The extra exercise is having a negative effect on his weight gain. As many of you know, he is a weaver, so the more turnout he gets the happier he is. Grouchy horses are a pain in the butt, and since Faith has enough attitude for our entire crew, we figured Linus would benefit from the fresh air! Now we need to find some way to balance it out a bit so we can fatten him up.
He is currently receiving about 8 quarts of grain twice per day, a combination of senior feed and a high protein and high carb, easily digestible pellet. They also have free choice hay, and each consume about 4-5 flakes a day.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Exciting news: I will have a link ready for everyone by tomorrow (hopefully!) and it will help us find out more about Faith's past. More to come!
Faith and I, May 2009.
Faith looks great! Pity she's a grouch - I hope Linus wears off on her! Who is the boss when they're turned out together?
ReplyDeleteGlad Linus is doing well, at least as far as surgery and attitude are concerned. Does the weight loss have anything to do with healing from surgery, or did it start after that? Is he losing weight, or just gaining slower than he was previously?
WOW she is huge! How tall are you Julie? Her withers appear to be a good 3-inche's over your head in this pic. She look's fabulous by the way. I love her droopy bottom lip.
ReplyDeleteOh those pesky TB's and their weight. May I suggest soaked hay stretcher or soaked beet pulp? Rice bran or Omegatin is also an option. 8qts of grain is quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteI second beep pulp (I've found one with soy oil works well) Another great option is 1 cup of ground flaxseed or black oil sunflower seeds, they both will put weight on a horse and give their coat a really lovely shine :)
ReplyDeleteDitto the soaked beet pulp suggestion. Also, Cocosoya oil is a great option - fattens them up, makes the coat shiny, loaded with Vitamin E and omega fatty acids. It's awesome stuff!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that Faith and Linus are making such wonderful progress. :-)
Another vote for soaked beet pulp and Cocosoya oil! Can't wait to hear more about Faith's past!
ReplyDeleteWe put Katie on the new Equine Senior it has rice bran, beet pulp and weight boosters all built into the new "nugget" that is in the feed.
ReplyDeleteYet another vote for beet pulp. I've got a appy/tb gelding who was skinny as a rail for several years, despite multiple feed programs, clean bloobwork and fecals, regular teeth care etc. I started giving him beet several lbs of pulp and now he's a marshmellow man... It was nifty. Plus, it's generally cheap and you litterally can't over-feed it, like you can with grain.
ReplyDeleteHow about a mid-day feeding if it can fit into your schedule?
ReplyDelete