Meat colts - the true cost of rescuing them (a diary)

Another day in the field for Oreo just being a horse :) (though I did get cuddles off him when I was filling the water tub up :) he comes over for a scratch and a cuddle. He has a strange thing that he likes his eyes being rubbed-weird!

I swapped him onto the best grass today to get a bit of weight on him, but it also meant I could put inky in the field next door so they could see each other without him being intimidated.

Oreo and sundae though are firm friends :)

BCF3FD52-F653-483D-BDFB-F1B52FE4DEE8_zps7l9zh1p1.jpg
 
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Have you spoken to the vet about blood tests to rule out liver problems etc? A girl i knew bought a colt in a very similar situation, he was very calm/quiet too considering what he had been through. Turned out he had been eating ragwort from a very young age and had serious liver damage, he died before he was even two :(
My mare also had liver problems and ended up with well over £1000 in vets bills and a hospital stay. I nearly lost her due to it.
Might be worth checking as if it could have been caught earlier would have been a completely different outcome!
Love little oreo :)
 
Montyforever said:
Have you spoken to the vet about blood tests to rule out liver problems etc? A girl i knew bought a colt in a very similar situation, he was very calm/quiet too considering what he had been through. Turned out he had been eating ragwort from a very young age and had serious liver damage, he died before he was even two :(
My mare also had liver problems and ended up with well over £1000 in vets bills and a hospital stay. I nearly lost her due to it.
Might be worth checking as if it could have been caught earlier would have been a completely different outcome!
Love little oreo :)
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He's not showing any signs of liver problems but thanks for the idea.
 
Red-1 said:
Me too. He is just so sweet!
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He is the king of mutual grooming too - all you have to do is scratch his shoulder and he's straight back at you grooming away.

I'm having party in my fields tomorrow (on no school night too - rock and roll my life is!). It will be the first time my friends have been to my new place and the first time they have met any of my horses - so excited!

I've already made half of dessert - strawberry and Pimms jelly :) I'm also doing Oreo and baileys cheesecake. Main is Moroccan lamb tagine with Harissa cous cous.

Recipes available here :)

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1898649/moroccan-meatball-tagine-with-lemon-and-olives

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8163/harissa-couscous

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2196662/strawberry-and-pimms-jelly

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5048/baileys-cheesecake
 
bobble said:
This ^^^ I hope you both have great fun together. I did the same as you saw a photo of a very under weight and scabby colt and thought no one will want him. Unfortunately they didn't and he came to me. This is the total so far.

£100.00 cost of colt and delivery
£126.00 cost of first vet visit including 1st injec and sedation as couldn't get near his feet and they were dreadful, all curled up and they needed sorting.
£28.00 cost of switch as had lice
£32.00 cost of two wormer's
£285.00 cost of second vets visit 2nd injec and castration.
£28.00 cost of passport (the one he came with was not his microchip didn't match up)
£5.00 cost of adding name to microchip (fortunately someone had registered the chip but not put any info on)

So far hes cost £604.00 if my maths right. This does not include his feed or taking into account any issues they have. Mine has been thrashed and hes very scared of everything and panics. Hence having to sedate to trim as he wouldn't let any one near him. It was fun doing the wall of death with the vet. Mine I know is extreme case and he has to be handled very carefully or he will panic strike out at you, rear and try tank off (sometimes all together ha ha). It drives me nuts, its one step forward and 3 three back. But hes here and thats that. Its not the cost I knew it would cost me a lot more, for me its the issues that hes come with. He is far from an easy pony and probably never will be, so its something else to consider.
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I have not read past your post but I applaud you for saving him!
 
Thanks for asking guys :)

Oreo is doing fab :) he's a little character and has just been spending the past coulple of months getting used to being part of the herd. He was with just my mare for a while as he was terrified of inky and would do foal-face, his knees would buckle and he would just lie down :(

He's much better now and is an absolute delight :) makes it much easier having 3 as no one is left alone.

A little vid from today showing how chilled he is

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152683275365781&id=745240780
 
I live just down the road (m65) from where these ponies were, the yard that my mother has her horse resuced 18 of the little sweethearts, all had ringworm lice and god knows what else. When I went up the day after they got them, there were 3 or 4 in each stable, poor things looked so malnurished and they were so scared! One of them was due to be put to sleep as it couldnt stand up properly, but after a week came fine, will never be anything but a feild companion as it will never be sound. I go up regulary to my mums yard and I see them out in the feild with full bellys and enjoying life :) half of them (the older ones) are in a feild and are being handled and the other half are out in the woods enjoying being youngsters and will be brought in come winter.

The guy who owns my mums yard has since been back to the place where they all were and managed to pick up the stallion that was used to breed all these unwanted colts, they now have him, washed him down as he was caked in s**t matted feathers ect and now after some looking after and some decent food in his belly hes turned out to be quite a nice sweet pony, really great to handle. The people said he was about 4 year old but looking at his teeth more 14 year old but YO doesnt care, would rather see him being looked after rather than starved in a pile of *****!.
 
A&M - there were a lot in a bad way and I was horrified by how they were handled :(

Do you know if the yard is looking to home any of them? I am looking for another cob that will be suitable to eventually carry a man (OH) which Oreo will never be :(
 
Fides said:
A&M - there were a lot in a bad way and I was horrified by how they were handled :(

Do you know if the yard is looking to home any of them? I am looking for another cob that will be suitable to eventually carry a man (OH) which Oreo will never be :(
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I dont think any will be suitable for carrying adults at all :( they are sooooo tiny! Even the older ones are not bigger that 13hh at the moment :(

Ill ask for you though!

I bet you could get a decent welsh cob for him though, you know how low the prices are at the moment. October sales coming up :) always worth a try :)
 
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