By: Admin
Day 11 – I went to see my filly for the first time since I returned from my trip, by the way, her name is Velvet. I chose this name because her soft black muzzle just looked like black velvet. She looked a bit lethargic at first, but once I worked with her she seemed to perk up. I am sure she is still recuperating and weak, but happy all the same. I brushed her all over, wormed her and picked up each leg briefly to introduce her to being handled. She some how manages to take everything in stride. I also started to teach her to lead. Velvet still has some swelling in her hind legs, but has progressed enormously from when she first arrived. Until now she has only been let out of the stall to roam the aisle at free will to help relieve the swelling. Throughout this week I will increase her exercise in order to continue to decrease the swelling. She is still rather skinny, however her breast bone is no longer protruding as much as it was when she arrived so that is a good sign. Weight gain and foal nutrition take time, especially since she is not caring much for her foal food, but would rather consume only hay.
Day 12-14
It is now November 13 and I have visited Velvet, 3 evenings since my return from Germany. First, I have to say she is an amazing horse! She came from a herd environment with no handling, took a 30 hour trip to the USA and then moved to a temporary home for 1 week at this point. The day before I left for my trip I brushed her all over and also picked up each foot. She was fine with this, but also quite tired after the long journey. The past two nights I have worked with her more. She is more peppy, but is still the sweetest filly in the world. She still loves being groomed and I am picking up her feet and holding slightly longer periods of time.
My main concern is getting her trained to lead. Yesterday I lead her using a rope around her rump. She was a little stubborn and unsure of what I was asking, but I love stubborn horses, they do not seem to have a tendency to bolt, but instead stay put when startled. This evening was day 2 of halter training and she was a star. She was leading on a loose rope willingly turning when asked. We worked on “whoa” tonight. She needs a little more work in that area so tomorrow we will concentrate on whoa. She is also learning to back up when asked. I apply gentle but firm pressure to her chest with just a few fingers and say “back” and she seems to be picking this up quickly as well. The real test will be in 2 days when I take her to her forever home. The stable where she is now is back in and on a hill, so I will need to lead her some distance to load onto the trailer. I am sure she will do just fine for a beginner.
Her condition is improving, but she is still under weight at 600 lbs. Did I mention she is rather tall at a little over 12 hands at 6 months of age? While I was away last week Velvet would not eat any of her foal food (only hay) and as skinny as she was, I was quite concerned. I knew I had to find a way to convince her to eat her balanced diet as soon as possible. My first task upon returning was teaching her to eat what she needed to be eating. Last Sunday I brought peppermint flavored horse treats to entice her. When I offered one to her she was very interested, but lacked the coordination to pick it up from my hand. It was comical, but sad at the same time. After a few tries she finally manged to pick one up. Then I tried another, after that I tried a handful of foal food and she manged to pick some up, but still did not eat from the food dish. The next morning the stable owner called to announce that Velvet actually ate from her dish and had her first meal of foal food. We all celebrated! Since then she has been eating her rations regularly. I am very happy moving another step forward to getting her healthy and strong. I do not believe in spoiling horses rotten for their own good, but I do believe in treating as encouragement and this tactic has made a huge difference in this little filly's life.
The next steps will be getting her used to her new home and her goat lovers and I say goat lovers, because the goats sorely miss their old horse companion, Snow. Snow was herd leader, even though my oldest goat did show his disagreement with the horse on occasion. The goats relied on Snow for protection, apparently they understood his size did matter if a predator would enter the field. The goats used to snuggle next to the horse on cold nights. A few years back I had one goat that was dieing of CAE an incurable goat disease. The goat had come down with one of the complications, severe respiratory infection. While I fought to save his life with numerous medications and running heated blankets to the barn every hour 24 hours a day I noticed something that I will never forget. Snow was lying down and my little sick goat had propped his head up on Snow's back to help him breathe easier so he could actually get some rest. It was one of the saddest, but loveliest moments I have ever experienced and will never forget.
I have gotten off the topic completely. Besides introducing Velvet to her goat companions, she will still need a full vet check up and a little trim from my farrier as soon as I can convince her to hold her feet up long enough for a trim. So far worming has not been a problem. I have managed to easily worm her twice and she never moved a muscle. Talk about an accomplishment! Tomorrow is the big day. Velvet will be moved to her forever home. While she sleeps well tonight, I am not sure I will be sleeping at all!
