Skinny Mare...Hows She Looking?? + HACK FROM HELL (Long Sorry)

QR - have been lurking on this thread but feel I should just say something. I do think that Lady really needs to see a vet before blindly changing feed etc and really if you are to consult a nutritionist it would be better to have one come out (and they do) for proper advice as what you say on the phone and reality may be different (no offence there but what you assess as poor may be different to theirs). I used to live not far from where she is kept and can vouch that there are two really good equine practices that will come out within a day of calling for non emergency work so I see no reason why she could not be seen this week. There are also a number of great livery yards around that area too. The video was not great viewing, a horse is not for ragging about a field and she was clearly not enjoying it all.
I was wondering why she was in foal and what was the reason for her losing it? This could point to the problems she is having now.
Also final point, there is a very good horsey charity just down the road - The Blue Cross is a fantastic charity and would probably be of great help/advice if OP gives them a call.
 
ljpinkhorse said:
Amymay I find your comment incredibly rude tbh. I have loaned and shared horses before and they have all been looked after very well -I have never once been told a horse in my care was in anything other than perfect condition.

The riding schools in my area - I'm not responsible for the diet /care of the horses and as the one I went to when I was learning to ride ( 5 or so years ago) had ponys and horses in very poor condition - despite being BHS registered. I dont see how any of that was my fault .
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I'm pleased for you that you've been complimented on your care of horses in the past. However, if your management skills lead you to believe that this mare is in anything but poor condition - then I would seriously question those who complimented your management skills too.

As for riding schools - of course horses in poor condition are not your fault. However, it is your duty to ensure that cases of neglect like that are reported to the relevant authorities - the BHS and the Council
 
Trust me you wont get jelly tots off binky I have tried and nearly lost me arms!!! *puts on armour to mount an assult on the jelly tots*

I too have been sitting back on this one as all that was needed to be said has been said. Binky stepped in and sent her a PM at the start of all of this to offer help and advice and has been in contact via PM all through. The girl has taken everyones advice on board and has acted on all of it.

I must admit this whole thing has left me a bit cold tbh. I know the mare should not have gotten into that condition and I know all of you have the knowledge and previous fantastic form with horses but this was a young girl asking for advice!! It was not like she came on here showing riding photos not saying there was a problem. Of course she was not going to be able to answer every post on here she was to be fair at times too scared to open her own advice thread... I think a long hard look at how we all deal with these sort of posts is needed and quite frankly Binky deserves a medal for repeatedly saying the same thing and not joining the mob culture.

Rant over. lol
 
Rushyj - So Binky has been in touch via PM.
She/he only has the OP's word that she has taken and acted on the advice. Looking at the pictures from now and the original post (approx 2 weeks to 1 month I think), there appears to be a deterioration.

So, unless Binky has actually been to see the mare and seen the changes being made, I struggle to see how she can keep fighting the OP's corner on this.

I can say anything on a forum, doesn't mean I've done what I say I'm going to do, same for everybody else.

FWIW, I don't think anything anybody can say will make a difference here, the OP seems to be rather 'above' the whole situation from what I can see. I don't know how anybody can look at a horse in that condition and not do anything about it until some random forum members implore her to do so. Even then, the OP just seems so laid back about it all.
 
Quirky I totally agree we only have the word of the OP but all I am saying is what more can we expect on here, we can only go on peoples word. The RsPCa were involved and they were less concerned than the people on here were. I say good for Binky that someone has got contact with the OP cause from the reaction on here if I was her I would not be opening it for a quick read. That is my point.
 
There's no mob culture. OP posted a few weeks ago asking for advice. She was given lots of this by mature, thoughtful responses from many HHO members, myself included, who spent their time and generosity of spirit in thinking hard and posting. Diplomacy was paramount for the welfare of the mare as were well thought through responses.
This "kid gloves" approach does not appear to have worked as well as HHO members thought it would:
The new photos in this second thread, not only are more upsetting to see than the first, they also indicate that the advice has not been followed, quickly enough or precisely enough.
For example, her feeding regime is still too scant for a TB's needs and she is still not seeing the gravity of the situation, if she did she would have got the dentist and vet out long ago - and wormed her mare. She is also still not feeding ad lib hay but "chucking a few more slices out" to the herd.
She also started out by complaining that she kept being reported to the RSPCA and even in her second post she complains about her horses behaviour, she never began either posts concerned with her horses welfare, but more her own feelings.
In retrospect, I feel I wasted my time in providing advice and have sadly cast my pearls before swine - and all this time, the poor mare appears from what I have viewed, to be starving.
 
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I understand all of what you are saying and I totally agree with all of it, the mare should never have gotten into that condition. All I am trying to say is that we should be careful not to deter people who genuinely need help (and the OP clearly did) from posting.
 
I have to agree that, although I totally get what Binky is saying, people can't help but get upset by a situation like this. If she is doing something to rectify the situation - GREAT! If not, someone (ie the authorities) needs to intervene.

Unfortunately, if she decides to totally disregard what has been said.....she will most probably not ever post again and we will all be left wondering what happened to the poor sorry mare :( Also, I don't think this will be to do with harsh comments, I have found that people who don't take advice, don't take advice in ANY form.

I know she is only 17 but I am afraid that the horse doesn't care either way. I don't EVER take youth or ignorance as an excuse since help is readily available......if you really want to be helped.
 
Hi, an awful lot of people have been giving you good advice on this thread and YOU MUST START LISTENING. Your mare is suffering and you need to call in the vet and get her checked over. She must have underlying problems to look as she does, as well as not getting enough hard feed/hay. My mare is a very good doer and she has been eating half a bale of good hay per day plus Alpha A and Baileys cubes twice a day and she is well rugged and stabled at night. This has been a long cold winter, but there are no excuses. I don't want to be nasty, but I know I would have reported your horse if I had seen her in this condition. Please, I know you love your horse so do the best thing for her. If you can't afford the vet or to feed her properly, then you need to sign her over to a horse charity, where she will have the care she needs. Sorry if this seems harsh, but there is no point in pussy footing round the issue!
 
Wow, only disappeared for half an hour to feed the neddies...
The gently gently kid gloves approach doesn't seem be working to simmer this down either. Which for the record, I've only done as because it's now getting full of people not reading the whole thread and feeling the need to wade in and throw in their two cents, which have actually,in a post with 20000+ views, already been said and said and said again. And have now been and getting sorted hopefully. As far as I'm aware now, it's a dead topic and nothing else can be said that hasn't been already already.
Here it goes.
For the record there has more been going on than me just 'taking her word for it'.

Yes. I could say I'm bloody related to john whitaker on a forum and nobody need know otherwise [though would be rather gullible to beleive that!].

If you've seen the mare when she first got her at the dealers, you'd have seen a more skinny mare than the one posted, in the middle of summer. Even the most knowledgable horse person has a hard time getting the perfect feed and management routine for an extremely poor doer such as this mare, and YES, I do beleive there are underlying problems with her contributing to this. HOWEVER. OP is young, is her first horse [who was bought out kindness in **** being an under statement condition and dually going for peanuts or PTS] and has now realised she's in over her head which is WHY she came on here to start with. There is slight improvement in the photo's and slight is better than nothing. If you look closely, most of it is considerable muscle wastage, especially across the back topline and quarters, looking from lack of correct work,naturally bad conformation and prolonged use of ill fitting tack. ALL of which is not a 1 1/2 year span for this to have happened and was there on the original purchase but much worse.

OP I feel, though call me completely naive, gullible, blonde headed or whatever other as you wil, has been trying her heart out to as much knowledge as she can manage and yes it may not have worked, but she HAS been trying. I get the feeling from the yard that is not one full of people like the lovely wonderful horse people on here and mainly inexperienced teenagers. Though as said. It's an internet forum. I could be completely duped and wrong. God forbid I give someone the benefit of the doubt first before judging them.

Now as far as the chairities are concerned, I am pretty sure, thought it may have changed now so feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but an RSPCA officer has to be there and have the approriate paperwork to remove them.
Also, they're first port of call is to NOT remove said animal, but to work with and help the owner and try and alleviate and solve said problem. Which, so far if again I'm beleiving everything put [which I don't personally feel she has anything to lie about, as she's been more than honest on here with everything else], changes have been made/going to be made ,ie feed, rugging, veterinary and dentist attention, etc which are the requirements needed. So they cannot physcially do anything more at present until the condition gets any more worse.

YES. The mare should not have got like this to start with.
YES. Changes need to be made.
BUT they are now being made and hopefully the problem shall be sorted. For anyone saying she is not worried about her mare is completely defamatory to her as far as I'm concerned. She's done her best with possible limited knowledge during an EXTREMELY bad year and if you do not have the extra knwoledge and support network that most of us have, then yes it's going to be bloody hard but she's put her hands up and asked for help which I'm, along with wither others, are willing to give.

As for more happening than what's being said inpublic, I've spoken to her, along with RushyJ's consent, and have a standing offer for the mare to bought down to ours as we're not that far away and have more than enough grass and feed and care to sort the mare out for her till a suitable time and then help her keep the condition that way from there on also. Which she has gratefully taken and kept on board and is leaving it till the vet has come out next week to pay for that and see what he/she says first and is going to follow on from whatever action he says to take. I'm willing to help her anyway possible as anything other than that is NOT going to help the situation.

So for those who are saying it's useless defending a pointless OP who seems laid back about it, it's not and I'm not.
 
Good to hear all that Binky, personally I was just concerned that the OP seemed to keep replying to argumentative posts and not really letting us know what progress was being made with the mare. It is great to hear that she has now got a friend helping her out.

It sounded as though she had very little knowledgeable help on hand and it is brilliant that she now has that help as a result of posting here.

Looking forward to hearing lots of updates on this mare's condition.
 
Binky01 said:
RushyJ owns the yard. The consent was for the mare to bought here.
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Plink!! That was the sound of the penny dropping :).

Do be careful. There was a poster on here (now banned) a while back who ended up not being as stupid and clueless as they made themselves out to be. This was after some kind forum member had been over to see them and advise them.

As it happens, no harm was done.

I hope you manage to turn this mare around. Looks like she's going to take alot of tlc.
 
Yep, a lot people have their backs too and a couple of other people nearer are helping too I think :) I'm hoping in 4 weeks time she'll put a nice healthier looking mare thread up! :) x
 
'Enters thread very cautiously'

Having not read every post since last night and only just picked the thread back up, I wonder have Gastric Ulsers been concidered? This is an assumption based on the un known history of the mare and possibly being an ex racer. We had a mare once on livery that came from a well respected agricultural that had owned her for over 3 years and never managed to get to the bottom of her lack of condition. When she came to my yard i was paranoid to put her out without a rug on for fear that some one would report her to the RSPCA. Shortly after her coming to the yard the vet came out and asked if she had ever been scoped, this i though would have been an obvious thing to have checked but looking through her history the previous vet had never prescribed this! As soon as the scope entered the stomeach there were very large and pussy ulcers, this alone suggested that this was the cause because for them to have reached the stomach was bad enough. After a lengtly treatment of gastro guard the ulsers cleared up but the horses now fussy nature means that she is still a poor doer but the underlying problem that had not been detected for years has gone and she will slowly get better.
My point is that horse can look very very poor and be very ill and need severe controll and treatment but it can be a lot harder to detect than though. I think the OP really needs to seek vet help and i agree the poor mare look very poor but is it not time HHO left the OP alone and backed off?
 
Binky you're generosity of spirit is phenomenal - and a lesson to us all to take whatever wisdom it brings in the events about to unfold. I really want you to be right, but quite frankly, I agree with Puppy's post above - we've heard it all before.
 
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Im going to add my two pence worth back in.... I have exchanged PMs with Jadeyy and also offered my help as i am near her aswell. She has told me the vet is coming out to see her horse and that she is going to go from there. I do believe she wants to do the best for her horse and is trying hard (with little financial backing). The vet is going to check horses teeth etc and i think that for now this is as far as it goes. Jadeyy will no doubt post back with an update of how things go with the vets. She wants to help her horse and has had offers of help from people on the forum so things are moving in the right direction now.
 
There is slight improvement in the photo's and slight is better than nothing. If you look closely, most of it is considerable muscle wastage, especially across the back topline and quarters, looking from lack of correct work,naturally bad conformation and prolonged use of ill fitting tack.
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A voice of reason. Yes, this mare is thin, but her fat covering isn't appalling and it IS better in the second photo. It's mostly muscle wastage. That can come from lack of nutrition but I suspect there is an underlying reason for it. She is NOT emaciated like so many are making out - if she is condition scored correctly (rather than just looking at the photo and having hysterics) she is poor, not emaciated. Going on an on and on about how terrible she is looking isn't helpful and will just make the OP stop listening.

As for those going on about taking up the offers of people coming to help - why on earth would a young girl want to meet up with some stranger she's never met before??!!! I certainly wouldn't be - not only is it dangerous, she only has your word for it that you're experienced. Much better she gets a vet out to have a look and investigate underlying problems (which she has said she is going to do - as it will be her (non-horsey?) parents paying for it I doubt she'll be able to arrange it at the drop of a hat) then take some advice from a officially experienced nutritionist.

The OP obviously cares about her mare and is worried about her condition and is trying to correct it. Her only problem is a lack of knowledge and lack of experienced back up, not of TLC or care. I would imagaine she's heard more than enough of people's opinions of how appalling they think her mare looks and accusing her of not loving her mare enough is just cruel.
 
Puppy said:
Well we had that, and plans for vet/dentist/wormer from the thread a month ago, and yet the mare is still in a bad way with no effective changes made :(
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Binky just decided to be proactive. She asked me if needed if the mare could come here as we have the space. The OP has booked her vet to come out next week to see if the problem can be sorted in situ as it were. If there is an underlying medical problem with this mare then no amount of feeding will resolve this problem.

The OP is then going to take the vets advice and if it is a feeding matter alone then she will let binky know. I hope she is right too but we all had to learn from someone and without that someone how will this problem be resolved? The OP stated that she had made changes between the first post and this one and if there is no change and the OP has implemented these changes then it is medical or environmental.
 
rushyj said:
Binky just decided to be proactive. She asked me if needed if the mare could come here as we have the space. The OP has booked her vet to come out next week to see if the problem can be sorted in situ as it were. If there is an underlying medical problem with this mare then no amount of feeding will resolve this problem.

The OP is then going to take the vets advice and if it is a feeding matter alone then she will let binky know. I hope she is right too but we all had to learn from someone and without that someone how will this problem be resolved? The OP stated that she had made changes between the first post and this one and if there is no change and the OP has implemented these changes then it is medical or environmental.
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Binky's proactive, good on her. OP is not, why can't the vet come out today/now?
 
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