Lady, One Week After The Move

JadeyyAndLadyy

JadeyyAndLadyy

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Helloooo Guys :D
Well, its been one week since i moved Lady to her new home, shes looking better already :) Well, me, and everyone at the field think so lol.
When i first got her there, i measured her with a weight tape and she was 846lb/384kg
I measured her today and shes now 859lb/390kg :)
Anyway, as promised, i took some photos today, so ill do a Before and After :)
Before. 8/5/11
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After. 15/5/11 (Today)
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So, do you think shes getting better? :)
 
Dont know the story but her rump doesnt look as bony, or ribs (unless its the light)

What was her story? She looked emaciated in 1st pic def.
 
She wasnt emaciated. Thats a bit of an exaggeration.
She was thin and ribby from crap grass in a crap field
Ive moved her to a new field with plenty of grass and extra TLC and shes slowly putting on weight again :)
 
No one tries harder than you OP. She is looking better in 2nd pic. I know how hard you have tried with her condition. It's just such a shame your friends let you down. Hopefully now things will only get better. Good luck and keep us posted. :D
 
She's starting to look better already - I have followed your story right from that awful winter you had with her. Very well done, she looks so happy in her new field with her new horsey friends.
 
I don't use NL much so there may be more to the story of the mare, but I did see the post a year or so ago where the OP was given lots of good advice regarding feeding. Crap grass is no excuse. My horse has crap grass over the winter as do 90% of the equine population. If I relied on grass, my horse would look thin, poor and ribby too. Surely, even for a 'poor doer', after a couple of years of ownership (or however long you've owned her) you could have found a feed and routine that works for your mare? I'm not sure she looks hugely different.

Why does she look so poor, does she have an underlying illness?
 
Have you had bloods etc done on her? I have vaguely followed this so know her history but echo the above, poor grass isnt an excuse really, we have got 2 very poor doing 30 odd year olds through winter at a fair weight just through good feed and hayledge with light work thrown in.

She does look better for the week on good grass though :) Has she been ridden through winter? What's she been fed?
 
Mildred said:
I don't use NL much so there may be more to the story of the mare, but I did see the post a year or so ago where the OP was given lots of good advice regarding feeding. Crap grass is no excuse. My horse has crap grass over the winter as do 90% of the equine population. If I relied on grass, my horse would look thin, poor and ribby too. Surely, even for a 'poor doer', after a couple of years of ownership (or however long you've owned her) you could have found a feed and routine that works for your mare? I'm not sure she looks hugely different.

Why does she look so poor, does she have an underlying illness?
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No illness, vets havent found anything. There was literally no grass in the field and because shes 20 years old her front teeth are rather worn so she found it difficult to get the grass. she was hayed and fed 2-3 times a day (until i found out my friends hadnt been feeding her in the mornings) so she started to lose weight.
And no, there wont be a 'huge' difference, its been 7 days, but her ribs are less noticable, i can feel the difference and watching her in the field everyone can tell she looks better
 
PonyIAmNotFood said:
Have you had bloods etc done on her? I have vaguely followed this so know her history but echo the above, poor grass isnt an excuse really, we have got 2 very poor doing 30 odd year olds through winter at a fair weight just through good feed and hayledge with light work thrown in.

She does look better for the week on good grass though :) Has she been ridden through winter? What's she been fed?
Click to expand...

She looked great through winter and great coming out of winter too. But friend problems, she lost weight. She was fed on (all through winter until recently) alfa a oil, conditioning cubes and sugabeet. she was ridden once or twice (lightly, just walking around) but pretty much just left her to chill over the winter.
 
If her teeth are worn and older than her years she may not have done well on the hay (which imo should have been ad lib, not 2 times a day) and mushy chop may have been better, again ad lib. But whatever, she'll do well now shes on good grass I imagine, just start your winter feeding early I reckon lol then she doesn't end up poor again.

ETA only just read your reply to my other post, fair enough if it's just a sudden thing, never trust anyone else when your horse changes as dramatically as this because of it!!
 
Jade, you know exactly why I dispair. A year on - no improvement. The latest excuse? Your friend wasn't wasn't feeding her in the mornings.

Shocking.
 
Wait, just done a bit more background reading and seen the post about yoou getting reported for having no hay in the field, surely this rang alarm bells then before she lost so much weight?
 
amymay said:
Jade, you know exactly why I dispair. A year on - no improvement. The latest excuse? Your friend wasn't wasn't feeding her in the mornings.

Shocking.
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Oh amymay, you know for a fact thats not true. She looked amazing in the summer and was great in and out of winter. If youre not happy with me and lady, then you dont have to read my posts.
 
PonyIAmNotFood said:
Wait, just done a bit more background reading and seen the post about yoou getting reported for having no hay in the field, surely this rang alarm bells then before she lost so much weight?
Click to expand...

That is also another reason why i moved out my field. The people around me were just nasty :( their aims in life were to hurt everyone, and reported me countless times for petty things (if hay had run out in the field, they would ring RSPCA straight away) they would sit and watch EVERYTHING we did, the most recent thing they have done is saying one of my friends horses is going to die a slow and painful death because hes 24 years old :(
 
I'm sorry Jade, but I tend to agree with Amymay; her condition is particularly bad in the first pic and hopefully she will improve on good grazing, but I think you need a serious think about the up and coming winter. I've heard on the grapevine that forecasters are suggesting a spate of winters like the last one for the next five years, in which case Lady is going to need substantially more food. I would suggest she needs ad lib hay as an absolute minimum over the winter alongside conditioning feeds.

I do also wonder if pain issues could be a factor if she has had broncing episodes in the past and pain is a great fat burner for horses. I think she could probably be older than you've been told too (she came cheap from a dealer who wanted rid?)

If I were you I'd build her up as much as possible over the summer, and start putting away money each week now for winter feed so it isn't all to fork out for in one go.

If she continues to struggle to put weight on then I think I'd question whether to put her through our winters tbh.
 
JadeyyAndLadyy said:
That is also another reason why i moved out my field. The people around me were just nasty :( their aims in life were to hurt everyone, and reported me countless times for petty things (if hay had run out in the field, they would ring RSPCA straight away) they would sit and watch EVERYTHING we did, the most recent thing they have done is saying one of my friends horses is going to die a slow and painful death because hes 24 years old :(
Click to expand...

That is horrible and I sympathise with the nastiness, but the hay SHOULDN'T have run out, especially as you know how easily she loses weight. Im agreeing a bit now that although she's looking better and will gain weight now, she didnt get thin overnight so you would have seen the change surely and could have done something about it earlier.
 
touchstone said:
I'm sorry Jade, but I tend to agree with Amymay; her condition is particularly bad in the first pic and hopefully she will improve on good grazing, but I think you need a serious think about the up and coming winter. I've heard on the grapevine that forecasters are suggesting a spate of winters like the last one for the next five years, in which case Lady is going to need substantially more food. I would suggest she needs ad lib hay as an absolute minimum over the winter alongside conditioning feeds.

I do also wonder if pain issues could be a factor if she has had broncing episodes in the past and pain is a great fat burner for horses. I think she could probably be older than you've been told too (she came cheap from a dealer who wanted rid?)

If I were you I'd build her up as much as possible over the summer, and start putting away money each week now for winter feed so it isn't all to fork out for in one go.

If she continues to struggle to put weight on then I think I'd question whether to put her through our winters tbh.
Click to expand...

Youre completely right, but at least you say it nicer than amymay.
The broncing-this was about 2 days after i bought her, she was scared of men/guys and when my brother sat on her she freaked out and threw him off. she has never ever done this again.
She will no doubt get better and better in the new field, its only down the road from my house so i can feed and look after myself without any trouble. Ad lib hay in winter is also not a problem, our farmer sells plenty of hay for very cheap.
Im positive she will cope well through this winter, especially in the new field with the extra care that i can give her :)
 
Jade what are you feeding her now?
She IS looking poor again, and if her teeth are not all that great and she has trouble with the grazing, you are going to have to either keep up with the hay, or start supplimenting her with a bucket of fast fibre to pick at.
I find this so hard because its obvious to a blind man you adore her.
 
I don't think you can post photos of a horse looking so poor and ask people not to comment if they don't like the photos.

Grass is absolutely NO excuse IMHO, and whilst i usually either don't comment or try to be as nicey, nicey as i can with my posts this is really something that grates me.

I have a 27yo TBx, very poor doer that isn't even in work, he's lost a lot of his teeth and can't eat hay, haylage or grass and still we manage to keep a decent amount of weight on him through hard work and close management. I understand completely that it can be hard to find a good routine etc that suits your horse, but clearly whatever you were doing didn't work, it's good news she has the grass now and can start to put on some condition.... but what happens come next winter?

I agree with an above poster, if your really genuinely trying everything and she still gets to this state i would question whether she should be made to endure the winters.

If she struggles with grass try getting her onto Ultra Grass as a forage alongside hay (can you not feed haylage?), and i would try some different feeds, barley rings are quite good.

Sorry if this comes across as harsh but this is something i'm passionate about what with having my own struggling oldie!
 
Girlracer said:
I don't think you can post photos of a horse looking so poor and ask people not to comment if they don't like the photos.

Grass is absolutely NO excuse IMHO, and whilst i usually either don't comment or try to be as nicey, nicey as i can with my posts this is really something that grates me.

I have a 27yo TBx, very poor doer that isn't even in work, he's lost a lot of his teeth and can't eat hay, haylage or grass and still we manage to keep a decent amount of weight on him through hard work and close management. I understand completely that it can be hard to find a good routine etc that suits your horse, but clearly whatever you were doing didn't work, it's good news she has the grass now and can start to put on some condition.... but what happens come next winter?

I agree with an above poster, if your really genuinely trying everything and she still gets to this state i would question whether she should be made to endure the winters.

If she struggles with grass try getting her onto Ultra Grass as a forage alongside hay (can you not feed haylage?), and i would try some different feeds, barley rings are quite good.

Sorry if this comes across as harsh but this is something i'm passionate about what with having my own struggling oldie!
Click to expand...

She was only struggling with how little grass there was in the previous field. There is plenty in the new field, so that is no longer a problem
And this winter will be SO MUCH different than last winter. Last winter i couldnt drive and lady was kept 40mins away from me. now i can drive and she is just down the road i can get there whenever i want and will have a full time job come summer (i only have part time atm) i will be able to afford the food and hay easily.
im not trying 'everything' ive moved fields nearer to where i live, with more grass. Now i KNOW she is getting good
grass all day and being fed twice a day without worry.
She has shown improvement already, and she will no doubt be getting better and better
 
Last edited:
Jade, I know you don't think I'm nice - but there's no point sugar coating things.

You've had, and continue to have, a real problem in caring for your horse.
 
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