Lady, One Week After The Move

EAST KENT said:
No excuses,never ever found a leopard that changed it`s spots. That old mare needs removing before mid august to either a proper caring home or PTS. Next winter will be her last IMO,and at her relatively youthful age that is shameful.
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Oh give the girl a break- she has moved yards to try and help this horse. Hopefully with more experienced and trust worthy people around her Lady will be just fine.
 
Rachiie said:
I'm not sure. The OP says she's 20 but other people think she's older.
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She just said in her last post that A) she was not currently riding her (no idea if that means she will be ridden in the future and b) that farmkey freeze branded her at 12 months, which makes her 20 (NOT 17 as she was told by the dealer she got her off)
 
To be honest, I do feel that people have overreacted. I wouldn't report Lady if I saw her in that condition and yes, she does look poor, but no, she does not look emaciated (in my opinion). I'm sure I've just thrown myself to the dogs by saying that but it's really how I feel. I think that her swayed back and elderly appearance make it appear worse but if I saw Lady and knew nothing about her, I would think "there is an ageing horse who would benefit from more condition". I wouldn't think "that horse is emaciated and should be removed from the owner".

I do think that Lady has improved from earlier photos and I think and hope that Jade will continue to work at improving Lady's condition.

ETA: I'm really genuinely stunned that some people consider Lady to be emaciated!
 
If she is genuinely only 20 then I don`t class that as extremely old,lots of hunters ,fed right,are doing two days a fortnight at that age. She looks more like 35 to me,now that is either truly her age..or she is not being cared for properly.This has been going on for far too long,very aged horses are expensive to keep,perhaps there lies the problem.After two years or more I do not see things improving for good for this mare,so as I said ,remove it to a better place.Some people never learn.
 
Im not convinced the mare is only 20......there are so many ways in which to fiddle ages,passports etc.
Maybe,its time to call it a day with the mare,or at least give her the summer
 
hunting mad said:
Maybe,its time to call it a day with the mare,or at least give her the summer
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Why? The mare seems to have no underlying health problems, and just needs proper management.

Even I wouldn't condone putting her down, and I've been pretty hard on the OP.
 
amymay said:
Why? The mare seems to have no underlying health problems, and just needs proper management.

Even I wouldn't condone putting her down, and I've been pretty hard on the OP.
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If she isnt going to be looked after,and i cant think anyone would take her on.
Its better she doesnt suffer another winter.Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.
 
I am stunned by how many people on this forum seem to suggest PTS as the answer to all problems. They do this without even meeting the horse in the flesh! Unbelievable. Obviously, if someone is describing a horse that is in constant pain and not getting better etc, it may well be the answer, but this mare has a shiny coat and all that is wrong with her is that she has not had enough food. Hopefully the OP has learned her lesson and will take proper care of her in future.
 
The thing is that IF this horse is only 20 I think she probably does have underlying issues along with a lack of feed. Certainly videos I've seen in the past showed a very uncomfortable/lame horse and I'm sure Jade has said she has arthritis too. Her conformation doesn't help, and I think her stance with her hindleg pulled forwards in lots of pics denotes discomfort.

I think the fairest thing if feed doesn't help next winter would be to consider pts to be honest, it looks to me like this horse needs much more care than she's been getting and possibly pain relief too for her arthritis, which of course is more expense for Jade.
 
hunting mad said:
If she isnt going to be looked after,and i cant think anyone would take her on.
Its better she doesnt suffer another winter.Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.
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Oh in essence I agree with you. And if ther standard of care is not substantially improved, then the OP may well be forced down that road. And of course ultimately it all depends on the OP's ability to commit, and ensure she has the funds available to feed the horse properly through the winter.

Time will tell I guess.
 
Wagtail said:
I am stunned by how many people on this forum seem to suggest PTS as the answer to all problems. They do this without even meeting the horse in the flesh! Unbelievable. Obviously, if someone is describing a horse that is in constant pain and not getting better etc, it may well be the answer, but this mare has a shiny coat and all that is wrong with her is that she has not had enough food. Hopefully the OP has learned her lesson and will take proper care of her in future.
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I do agree with you.It is hard without seeing the animal in the flesh.
I think there are some under lying issues.The op has said she bucks etc in ridden work,so i think she is in pain....but yes agree it is hard to judge without seeing the animal.Has the horse actually seen a vet......we dont know,as we can all lie behind a screen.I would much rather see a dead animal,than a suffering animal.........if im a heartless c** ,then so be it!
 
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The biggest problem here is that this is not the 1st time Lady has looked poor.
Jade has taken advice previously from her yard friends which was totally wrong for the mare in question.....which would indicate a lack of BASIC equine knowledge with regards to feeding/rugging/general day to day care.
Then add to that Lady is not a spring chicken. So even more detailed care is needed to keep her looking good.
Last year there were delays with vets/dentists for various reasons.
I'll stand by what I said, I think the mare ought to be retired full stop and then her management given a long hard look at.
I've gotten to the point I feel so bad for the little mare I would make space here for her. And she would NOT look like that for long!
I just cant see a GOOD reason for Lady looking like that at 20 yrs old....I really cant.
 
I have looked through old posts and there are some pics of this mare looking in perfect condition (weight wise) in the summer. If she CAN look like that then there is nothing wrong with her that would make her drop so much condition in the winter other than under feeding. Yes, she may be older than 20 and have other problems such as arthritis, but the OP was posting about her weight. There is obviously nothing wrong with the mare in this respect other than not getting enough food.

I maintain that there is no such thing as wintering badly. If a horse can get condition on with grass, it can get condition on with enough good quality haylage or hay, so long as it is being adequately rugged. If a horse suddenly drops weight in the winter despite genuinely adequate feeding, then yes, there is something else wrong. This mare, however was not getting anywere near the right amount of feed. The OP had been reported over and over to the RSPCA by other horse owners. People do not do this for fun. I really do hope she is true to her word and looks after this poor mare in the winter coming. I still think there will be problems due to the other liveries not wanting to feed the amount that lady needs and their horses stealing her rashions. Looking at it from their perspective, why would they want to feed their normal/good doers the amount of extra hay that Lady will need? I think that this is a problem that the OP has not addressed.
 
We can all go over,time and time again,about the mares basic needs not being met,but is there actually anything that is going to put a stop to all this and help the mare at all....I dont think now is an issue,its the winter that will be apon us all too quickly.
 
Wagtail, what gets me is that Jade had a very kind offer from a very experienced forum member who is down the road. She offered to help Jade look at her overall management, and help her change what needed changing......and Jade refused her help!
 
Brandy said:
Unfortunately I would say that there is such a thing as wintering badly. My own old horse has wintered reasonably badly, coming through most of the winter fine, then dropping condition in march/april. A difficult time as the grass is coming through and he will start to eat less of the feed and haylage I give him. My other two are good doers which makes life difficult. Old horse is on his own in small paddock with stable overnight, and gets ad lib haylage and a large feed overnight with balancer. He has two large haynets of haylage and there is always plenty left. During the day he goes out withthe fatties and I put hay out. He is not really interested in the hay, having just filled his boots of brekkie and haylage overnight.

So the fatties eat it. I tried keeping him on his own during the day with haylage, and he paced up and down, trod the haylage into the ground, and lost weight.

Yes indeed he costs me a fortune and more so as I put out hay just in case he wants it, and more, which the fatties fill up on! He has been well rugged and very well fed all winter, but nothing will stop age and he is now 30. He also has a hairy belly (as in Jades first pic) and his topline is horrendous - he was a polo pony and topline had always been an issue even at 18 when I got him. So having lost weight, he now looks what most of you would consider pretty dreadful. But look from the topline down, and its a different story - I fear lady suffers wih the same thing, no top line, no fitness or muscle - she will never look brillaint and is probably too old to develop it now.

That said, she shoud lstill be fed appropriately.
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What you have described is not 'wintering badly'. There is obviously some underlying problem that just happened to manifest itself during the winter. You obviously fed your horse adequately.

Any horse that can maintain weight in the summer on good grass can maintain weight in the winter with adequate feeding. I actually have trouble keeping horses trim during the winter!
 
joeanne said:
Wagtail, what gets me is that Jade had a very kind offer from a very experienced forum member who is down the road. She offered to help Jade look at her overall management, and help her change what needed changing......and Jade refused her help!
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That does seem very odd! :confused:
 
joeanne said:
Wagtail, what gets me is that Jade had a very kind offer from a very experienced forum member who is down the road. She offered to help Jade look at her overall management, and help her change what needed changing......and Jade refused her help!
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Indeed. It was such a shame she didn't take up her offer :(

I could never quite get my head around that one, as she would be a fabulous mentor to have :o
 
If the OP had posted pics of the horse saying she had just rescued it from the sales in that condition we would have all been up in arms about the previous owner so i dont think people have overreacted to the post.

I have a horse which is terrible to keep weight on and can drop so much weight in a week he can go from looking in good condition to looking pretty awful. Even had the vet out to investigate in case there was an underlying issue which there wasnt, he is just one of these horses who will never be fat!

Having said that he has never been in the state as shown in the pics because he needs watching like a hawk, never without good grass or piles of hay/haylage and hard feed.

I hope, OP, you can get her sorted as at 20 and with no underlying health problems your horse should be in much better condition. At 20 there are many horses hunting twice a week or competing every weekend.
 
Sanolly said:
To be fair on Jade her parents may have vetoed her meeting up with a 'stranger' off the internet, she is only young remember.
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Yes fair point, but her parents could have met with the forum member alongside Jade. Minds put to rest, and Jade would have had a fantastic mentor to help her sort Lady's care.

Being a "younger" person should not be reason for a horse not getting adequate care.
In fact if my daughters pony ever looked like that I'd quite frankly string her up...and she is only 10!!!
 
I would leap at the chance to have someone like that offering advice.

I cant understand it, and yes her parents may have vetoed it but surely they would have had the sense to see there is a problem with the horse and at least meet the member?
 
ok i didnt realise this was an existing problem until someone put up some other threads with lady in. i thought she was a rescue case :-x hopefully op will keep posting on here and showing us how lady is getting on. op is very mature to accept advice and i just *hope* she can prove us wrong, and show us lady can get thru another winter. i will look forward to seeing lady in the future. keep us posted about her teeth, i have a feeling they are BAD! if there is nothing wrong with her bodily i see no reason for her to have another 10yrs or so. good luck with her. wish you both all the best. :-)
 
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