Tierra
Well-Known Member
I swear to god im NEVER doing this again. This is my third night on basically no sleep and my stress levels are through the roof. Its also the first time i could have cried and really wished i was back in the UK.
Jack arrived on time and looking well.... although i was warned that as predicted, he'd refused to drink... So he'd been 26 hours with no water.
OK... took him straight into the stable expecting him to be thirsty and nothing. He was very interested in the haylage but wouldnt touch any water. I put a bucket in there incase the automatic waterer was freaking him out but still no interest at all.
I stayed with him for about an hour but then the guy who gave me a lift needed to be somewhere so we left.
Not feeling happy about the situation, i decided to brave the whole "wrong side of the road bit" and embarked on my first journey back to the stables - which, incidently, was SCAREY as hell!
Anyway, first thing i noticed when i got back was that he had passed droppings and they looked normal but he still wasnt drinking. Pinching his skin showed he was quite dehydrated but he was still very "perky" in himself. Took him out for a 10 minute leg stretch and he was ok... very on his toes but ok.
I stayed with him about 3 hours and ive managed to get him to drink a little. He emptied the automatic waterer twice but couldnt work out he needed to stick his nose right in to refill it... so i was doing it manually. He sloshed about in his bucket a little and he also took some from my hands. It's not a lot... but it was enough, imo, to remove any imminent danger. His skin is still not retracting back fast enough when you pinch it, but nor is it staying "pinched" for as long as it was before.
I think the problem is that he's more hungry than thirsty. For some reason, the YO at the old place through hay in the box for him rather than haylage (which he has always had), and the transport lady said he just didnt like it.
I hit an immediate issue with the food at the new yard. The head groom was showing me the food and its straights... and im not even entirely sure WHAT straights.. he just called it all corn and muesli.
Oooooooooooooook, so hes having no hard feed for a few days while i figure out whether i can source some simple horse and pony nuts or something (i HATE over complicating feeds and these horses are on this stuff three times a day... it looked a LOT of food to me). I also need my OH home to speak to the head groom as the language barrier was kicking in when it came to horse feeds although I did manage to get him haylage rather than hay which was a minor victory.
So, i left him at about 10pm and he was ok. Still very perky... still eating... had passed more droppings but still needing water. Im hoping he might settled some overnight and drink when its more peaceful, if not i'll try adding apple juice or something to his water tomorrow :|
I hated leaving him tonight. He was being so clingy to me and was obviously not convinced about his new surroundings.
The yard is MUCH bigger than im used to which has instantly freaked me out a bit. I also found out that a lot of the horses dont go out at all but they fill them with sooo much hard feed. Im still trying to work out exactly how the turn out works (again, need OH home tomorrow to help with this) although i was planning on doing very little with him over the next few days anyway.
Ive kept the name of the lovely transport lady who said if i didnt settle at broholm and needed him taking elsewhere, she'd happily move him again.
Im very tired... im STILL very stressed and im very nervous about the new yard and i think that basically sums up how Jack feels also.
Jack arrived on time and looking well.... although i was warned that as predicted, he'd refused to drink... So he'd been 26 hours with no water.
OK... took him straight into the stable expecting him to be thirsty and nothing. He was very interested in the haylage but wouldnt touch any water. I put a bucket in there incase the automatic waterer was freaking him out but still no interest at all.
I stayed with him for about an hour but then the guy who gave me a lift needed to be somewhere so we left.
Not feeling happy about the situation, i decided to brave the whole "wrong side of the road bit" and embarked on my first journey back to the stables - which, incidently, was SCAREY as hell!
Anyway, first thing i noticed when i got back was that he had passed droppings and they looked normal but he still wasnt drinking. Pinching his skin showed he was quite dehydrated but he was still very "perky" in himself. Took him out for a 10 minute leg stretch and he was ok... very on his toes but ok.
I stayed with him about 3 hours and ive managed to get him to drink a little. He emptied the automatic waterer twice but couldnt work out he needed to stick his nose right in to refill it... so i was doing it manually. He sloshed about in his bucket a little and he also took some from my hands. It's not a lot... but it was enough, imo, to remove any imminent danger. His skin is still not retracting back fast enough when you pinch it, but nor is it staying "pinched" for as long as it was before.
I think the problem is that he's more hungry than thirsty. For some reason, the YO at the old place through hay in the box for him rather than haylage (which he has always had), and the transport lady said he just didnt like it.
I hit an immediate issue with the food at the new yard. The head groom was showing me the food and its straights... and im not even entirely sure WHAT straights.. he just called it all corn and muesli.
Oooooooooooooook, so hes having no hard feed for a few days while i figure out whether i can source some simple horse and pony nuts or something (i HATE over complicating feeds and these horses are on this stuff three times a day... it looked a LOT of food to me). I also need my OH home to speak to the head groom as the language barrier was kicking in when it came to horse feeds although I did manage to get him haylage rather than hay which was a minor victory.
So, i left him at about 10pm and he was ok. Still very perky... still eating... had passed more droppings but still needing water. Im hoping he might settled some overnight and drink when its more peaceful, if not i'll try adding apple juice or something to his water tomorrow :|
I hated leaving him tonight. He was being so clingy to me and was obviously not convinced about his new surroundings.
The yard is MUCH bigger than im used to which has instantly freaked me out a bit. I also found out that a lot of the horses dont go out at all but they fill them with sooo much hard feed. Im still trying to work out exactly how the turn out works (again, need OH home tomorrow to help with this) although i was planning on doing very little with him over the next few days anyway.
Ive kept the name of the lovely transport lady who said if i didnt settle at broholm and needed him taking elsewhere, she'd happily move him again.
Im very tired... im STILL very stressed and im very nervous about the new yard and i think that basically sums up how Jack feels also.
