Should I be worried ?

G

Gentle_Warrior

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 December 2006
Messages
2,529
Visit site
This may be a little long winded but want you to know whole history etc

H is a heavy lad as in bone and feather and build. He is a 15.2 Suffolk Punch cross cob, turned 16 this May. He lives out 24/7 any weather any day with 3 other horses. He does RDA Monday to Wednesday and Friday mornings. So Monday to Wednesday and Friday am he spends most of the day on the yard, has Thursdays off in the field and Friday pm, Sats and Suns. I ride him on Saturdays and Sundays. He is the full care of the yrd during the week, I work full time and so leave them to it.

His RDA work is quite minimal although a good balance of more capable riders, but weekend hacking with me, he works well. He is happy and healthy, he gets glucosomine in the winter as he stiffens up but apart from that he is full health.

His weight when he left the winter field was 681 which for him is good. He was getting hay (1 bale morning 1 bale pm) and ½ scoop chaff and ½ scoop mix. (4 and 4 on girth)

They moved to the summer field the other month and he started to balloon. He went down 2 holes on his girth (3 and 3). So I invested in a muzzle to just keep the edge off the weight. Due to his working schedule he wears it as follows (has been as follows for 2 weeks)

Sunday night on
Monday (working day) off
Tuesday (working day) off
Wednesday (working day) off
Thursday (day off) on at night
Friday (1/2 working day) on after work
Saturday day off, on sat night
Sunday day off, on in eve

He has stopped ballooning and is back to 4 and 4 on girth. But I don’t think he has learnt to eat through it yet !!!! He stopped 3 times to drink out of puddles on today’s hack (had day off work) I know it was warm but this is very rare. Each time he stopped for quite a while. I always allow him to drink. He was also snatching at every tree and long grass, he has always done this but today was a bit worse.

Also his poo has changed. His used to be huge !!! now they are the size of a small ponies.

Should I worry ?
 
Hello, I hope you don't mind my answering even though this is my very first post. I'm certainly not an expert, but my instincts would always suggest that everything else aside, a change in poop is something to watch very carefully. My gut (erm, no pun intended) reaction would be that this is constipation due to dehydration. The first thing might be to get your hands on some fresh poop and inspect it - it should be moist and break up readily. If it's dry (or drier) and a bit tough then I'd consider that a reasonable indication. There are a couple of other dead easy (but, therefore, inaccurate) ways to check if he's dehydrated. Press a thumb gently on his upper gums and then watch to see how quickly the blood refills the gum (i.e. how long it takes to go from white back to pink). If it's more than two seconds then he may be dehydrated (or have poor circulation). Another is to gently pinch his skin on his neck just in front of his shoulders and see how long it takes to slide back into position. If it pops straight back, that's good, but if it slides back sluggishly, that's not so good. (Can do the same test on people on the back of their hand.) Anywho, I'd try this as soon as you next see him, and then several times after his 'muzzle-turn-outs' to get an 'average' of his hydrated-ness (is that a word?!) and see if it helps to give you a bigger picture of what may be going on.
smile.gif
 
I won't be able to do the gum one !!!! he would never let me !!! I will try the skin one first thing in the morning, down at 9. he has it on tonight, he will be ok won't he !!!!

I seriously think he is sooo thick that he has not learnt how to use or eat in it !!!!
 
Well, I would be cautious and watchful. If it is dehydration, and if it is (very) warm where you are too, and if he has constipation which gets worse then that could lead to colic. Of course, there are a lot of ifs in that there paragraph so take it a step at a time.

If he's a bit slow on the uptake, a nice thing to do might be to demonstrate to him that water will go through the muzzle when you first bring him in. Leave the muzzle on, get a big bucket of water and try to encourage his nose into it. If he's thirsty he'll be very quick on the uptake and repeating the exercise each time you bring him in might help him to see that muzzles aren't the end of the world.
 
I'm sorry, don't mean to be rude, but I hate muzzles.......for this very reason
crazy.gif
It does sound like he can't eat and drink properly. Is there anyway he can have a small paddock instead? Prehaps you could buy some electric fencing.

I recently bought some new fencing and it's cost approx £60 to make a paddock (without unit).
 
Perhaps for peace of mind you could head on down tonight and take it off - I can't see one day without a muzzle being such a big thing in the grand scheme of things, and Claire's idea sounds like a much more pleasant fix all ways round, if your YO will let you?
 
I would take it off, if he is already dehydrated, and its likely by the sounds of his poo alone, it could lead to an impaction.

12 hours is an awfully long time to go without food/drink at the best of times, but if he is already dehydrated then it could be awful
frown.gif
frown.gif


Sorry dont want to worry you, but unless its impossible I think you have little choice
frown.gif
frown.gif
 
My first course of action would be to ask other people on the yard if he is eating with it on before you start to panic. I very rarely see Daisy eating with her muzzle on, as soon as she hears me coming, which is before I see her, she stops eating and stands there with an angry look on her face. I know full well that she does spend most of the day eating though because I've asked everyone else. It shouldn't affect them drinking at all unless he is too dim to try, as soon as he puts his head in the trough the bucket will fill up with water through all the holes and then its just like normal drinking.

Personally I prefer muzzling to strip grazing. If you strip graze Daisy she will gorge herself as soon as you put the tape back, eat like a horse possesed until there is no grass left and then stand there looking at you to say where is the rest. With the muzzle she just eats more slowly so surely its more like a natural trickle feed.

Try only using the muzzle for short periods at first and then gradually make it longer once he has got the idea
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top