Is the yard owner liable?

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Oreobird

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In need of some advice!!! Sent my cob away to be broken at a trusted riding school. He was overweight when he left me so when he was there they had him on a starvation paddock. 5 weeks later I get him back and he is pooing pure sand and water!! Called out my vet on a Saturday to start getting him right straight away. The lady that owns the yard isn't convinced it is there fault and assures me that he was being fed hay but every time I went to see him he had nothing in his field? I paid a lot of money for them to look after him what do I do!!???
 
He was down and very quiet didn't want you near him but it is now starting to improve as he is on sand out and bute. The vet said it was the worst case of sand she had ever seen not to ride for atleast a week do regular sand tests and put him on sand out and bute. He had lost all the excess weight he had. I visited him twice a week atleast to see his progress more than anything.
 
I have to comment that I do not understand the logic of depriving a horse of food to reduce weight. They simply pig out the next time they have access to feed in an effort to fill their belies and stock up against future lean times -- same as humans do!

Surely the correct thing to do is to gradually wean them onto fodder with a low feeding value, like straw?

Just a question. We are always learning with horses!
 
He was in the stable twice when I went and they were feeding the others so of course he was wild but he was given nothing and when questioned they said he will go back out soon so thought he would have grass. He was hyperactive there but it's a complete different set up we have a field and a couple of barns I don't think he has ever seen a yard before so thought it would be because of that. I completely agree if they need to lose weight I up the exercise and monitor how much feed they have.
 
One of mine suddenly passed huge quantities of sand - no sign of illness or pain just found the sand droppings one morning. - 90% blackened sand 5% other stuff. I was so shocked I took it in a bag to the vet (!) and he was amazed we hadn't had a colic incident - he thought the pony had eaten the sand on purpose rather than a gradual accumulation. All the other horses in the field were fine it was really weird. Tough old pony that he was fine and never did it again but always had a rocky block in the field just in case.

Sounds like your cob was kept short of forage - can you ask what weight of hay he was fed each day and if he was fed on the floor (so he could pick up the sand that way) If you are not normally on sandy soil and he had suddenly passed sand then he picked it up or ate it at the riding school. Are you thinking of asking them to pay some/all of the bill? It would certainly be worth a complaint however if you are on sand anyway it might be a 50/50 thing.

I cannot understand feeding other horses and leaving one out, poor boy they could at least have given him a token feed for crying out loud. I guess a lesson learned - if there is no forage in sight each time you visit then he probably isn't getting enough. It makes me so cross when overweight horses are starved. If you don't already do it then a rocky block in the field or a chunk of rock salt (the huge blocks not the bricks) might be a good idea.
 
I would be asking your vet if he/she would be willing to give you a written report, detailing the clinical signs and giving a diagnosis that the current condition of your horse is directly attributable to its diet for the last five weeks - and then present that to the YO of the yard where you sent him. I would expect not only vets fees reimbursed but also any livery charges incurred whilst the horse was in their frankly appalling care.

You are lucky your horse hasn't collicked.
 
We do have sandy soil but we regularly put sand out threw all ours. Since we have done this we do sand tests and never have any issues. I was so worried when I saw the first poo he did that he was going to colic. My vet is emailing her a report and she took pictures when she came out to include in with it! I am looking for my vet bill back atleast I paid a lot of money to have him there I'm so angry but the livery fees included 2 hard feeds and hay a day so I was paying more than I should have. I hate that he was starved even to an extent it's annoying as I sent him there to be broken not to diet I no he needed it but not there place really.
 
I have sandy soil here. In fact. it was thrown up by a tsunami about 8,000 years ago, so I have researched the dangers of sand colic as it is 100% fine running sand. It's my understanding (and I might be wrong!) that sand is passed through the gut and eliminated if the animal is getting a decent amount of roughage. Anyway, I've never had any problems here though about 15 years ago a ewe died and we opened her up. She had a good double handful of sand in her stoach, but whether that was what killed her, I can't say. Some horses do eat soil/sand, but I don't know why.
 
Dry Rot said:
I have to comment that I do not understand the logic of depriving a horse of food to reduce weight. They simply pig out the next time they have access to feed in an effort to fill their belies and stock up against future lean times -- same as humans do!

Surely the correct thing to do is to gradually wean them onto fodder with a low feeding value, like straw?

Just a question. We are always learning with horses!
Click to expand...

Straw isn't suitable for all horses though. I cut down my horses food by reducing his hay over a period of a few days. However some horses you have to be careful with, just because they look fat doesn't necessarily mean they are, they can have a low belly (my horse has been out of work sometime and his stomach muscles are weak) and other times they can look fat due to gas from grass.

My horse can look like he's about to foal with twins one day and then the next day (if kept away from grass) he looks a normal weight. In both scenarios you can just make out his ribs.
 
Is the yard owner liable for what? Your horse isn't sick, he's lost weight and he is presumably now broken to ride. He pooped some sand, you panicked. That's it.
 
Well my vet didn't class it as panic as left much longer I may not of had a horse here!! He has been unrideable for a week which is why he was sent away so that I actually could!!! Btw it wasn't abit of sand for nearly 2 whole days it was just sand and water that he was pooing out!!!! He was ill he was off his food didn't want to do anything apart from stand around until the bute kicked in, liable for my £300 bill I received for the call out on a Saturday examination injections bute and stuff to remove sand from him
 
You say you are on sandy soil and it seems like he wasn't fed the right amount hay when there.
Could it be that once he was home and able to eat he gorged himself and therefore look in a lot of sand?
Or just an accumilation of picking up at the riding school and at home.
Also the water poo could just be down to excitement of traveling and going home etc.
 
You could ask where, how and what he was fed while he was there - I think it is well known that sand colic can be an issue if you feed small amounts off the floor in a sand area, such as a sand school, turn out area etc. Not sure sandy soil would be something to avoid quite as much.
 
Ridiculous, you can't feed the other horses and nothing to one, that s common sense.
And a gradual loss of weight is required, he still needs to eat, and work, if he is supposed to be schooled.
Sounds like a nightmare, but you will not get recompense unless you go to court [from experience]
 
It is a nightmare I have asked about feeding but was told that he had haylage in the afternoon which I never witnessed him getting so I said I had never seen him with anything and was palmed off with that they can't feed all the horses at once so he probably had it before I went over!!! It's silly now he eats grass like he has never seen it before and kicks his bowl all the time when he has it!!! He is a greedy boy but not like this!! They are constantly contradicting themselves it is soooo annoying!!!
 
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