FeatherPower
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum and would like to introduce myself properly further to a rather...ahem...interesting first few posts. So sit back, relax and I will tell you my horsey story.
Ellies Story.
I had always wanted a horse, from being a young child, here is me, aged 3 on my first 'horse' a rocking horse named Wags. I groomed, rode and cared for this horse for many years. I could not understand why I was not allowed a real horse in the garden - it was huge to me!
I got my first horse, Ellie 4 years ago, she was a 23 year old Irish Draught x cleveland bay mare and it was love at first site. She was a little on the round side (actually very round) but I loved her to pieces anyway. After an initial week of being petrified of her she was massive and scary and looked at me in a funny way (I later learned this was just an Ellie look) I had some Parrelli style lesson on the ground and built my confidence with her. After a while she would happily match my pace perfectly, even following me over jumps without the need for a head collar. I have to say I was impressed with my join up techniques and had a horse willing to do things with me on the ground and ultimately had the perfect horse. She never napped, bit, kicked, bolted, refuesed or did anything to scare me perfect for a person actually scared of horses!
3 happy and perfect years went by and then last year the dreaded thing happened, lamitis struck. Luckily only the early stages and we caught it in time but I knew then that her 15 acres of green grass were her enemy, not her friend and I made a few life changing decisions. The first was to take her barefoot. I did this for two reasons. The first being that I had seen a horse that had navicular (he wore egg bars) retire and his shoes whipped off him he was crippled without his shoes. I had a barefoot practitioner come to see me and we assessed her feet and general condition. Her feet were apprently overgrown and awful the farrier had even been doing her lopsided she had one side totallly diffferent to the other! (pictures available if anyone interested, before and after) I learnt all about barefoot techniques and the difference between farriery and barefoot trimming. It was fascinating.
She also pointed out that she was overweight, and dangerously so for her age I was told she needed to be off that grass, and fast! So her shoes came off and the slow transition period began. I was detirmed that my horse would retire (one day) with good feet and going barefoot at this stage would ensure that happened. She was sore for a long time and wore Boa boots to ease the footiness they helped a lot. I also decided to move her away from the lush grass and to less lush grazing close to where I lived. The move did wonders, within months she was fit, healthy and gleaming with shine and condition she looked fantastic and like a 10 year old. No-one would believe she was a veteran. I had recently begun my own business and having her close to home helped, with the 15 hour day demends of a start up business.
Then 5 months later, winter came. She was just not herself. With limited grazing and very strict allowances of hay each day (as decided by the YO) Ellie quickly found herself at the bottom of the pack, fighting for what little there was. Being fed non sugared speedi beat (no sugar for the laminitis prevention) and various senior mixes and chaf/supplements should have compensated for this but she lost more and more weight, very quickly. Then one day I went to see her and she was holding up her back leg, she could not walk. I thought it was broken at first and managed to get her inside away from the bullys in the field. Looking at her leg there was swelling and she could not put any weight on it. I bandaged her up for the night with a cold compress and put her in a stable. The next day there was puss oozing from her coronet band and heel.....she had an abscess. The infection had tracked up her leg and I was told that the abscess could have been there for months, infecting her and causing such significant weight loss before it burst out of two places in her hoof. For Ellie the blow out was instant relief and althought tender and sore she could stand again.
We polticed and cleaned it for two weeks, keeping her in and fed well. She could eat all the hay she wanted and began to regain condition and weight. But, as soon as she was better she was outside again, bullied and and the bottom of the pack. I was distraught and knew that she could not carry on. She was miserable, thin, and to top it all had sores where her rugs had rubbed her. With the business taking off and money becoming tight I knew that there was only one option that didnt involved keeping her in all winter alone; find someone who could help me to look after her and get here away from this place. I never forgave myself for that, she was so unhappy and I began to wonder if laminits and being overwieght were a better alternative.
Then, my angel came along. I had contacted a lady online who was looking for an older, steady and safe horse to get back into riding. She was offering a forever home and sounded perfect. MrsElle came to see me and Ellie and looked at the sorry state my lovely horse was in, a bag of bones I think she called her. She understood immediately what had to be done. Ellie needed her own space, unlimited feeding and someone who could offer her all the time in the world. MrsElle picked Ellie up a few days later and we moved her to her new home. She had a paddock all to herself and a nice big stable outside, so she could see what was going on. It was perfect. I knew that MrsElle understood why I had chosen to let her go and how wonderful this horse was, despite her boney appearance and unhappy sighs.
The deteroration only took a couple of months, it is scary how fast these things can happen and I am so grateful for not only MrsElle loving Ellie but also that she both understood the situation and kept me involved with Ellie, allowing me to visit whenever I wanted and when she was a bit better to even take her out for rides. Ellie began to put on weight and relaxed, happy to run around her paddock and make friends with the other horses over the tape.
Below are a few pictures to show Ellies weight, from obese, to scary thin, to much improved condition, thanks to MrsElle. Ellie just needed time, love and space things that I knew I could not offer her and MrsElle has offered all these things to help Ellie get back to her normal self. To this day the scary thin pictures still fill me with sadness, fear and guilt over the choice I made to move her and the situation I was put in by the YO and the other animals there. Stress, illness and diet very quickly affect an older horse and although sad to let her go, the right choice was made.At Ellies new home on private land, she has a new friend and is very content. She loves going out, very forward going and interested in the world again. For this I will always be grateful.
Ellie was my first horse and although I will always feel I let her down for those few months when things went wrong I hope that my decision was the right one and her future is bright and happy.
I think that is probably a long enough post for now! My next post will be The Chad Story, a story filled with funny incidents, sadness and a happy ending.
FeatherPower xx
I am new to the forum and would like to introduce myself properly further to a rather...ahem...interesting first few posts. So sit back, relax and I will tell you my horsey story.
Ellies Story.
I had always wanted a horse, from being a young child, here is me, aged 3 on my first 'horse' a rocking horse named Wags. I groomed, rode and cared for this horse for many years. I could not understand why I was not allowed a real horse in the garden - it was huge to me!
I got my first horse, Ellie 4 years ago, she was a 23 year old Irish Draught x cleveland bay mare and it was love at first site. She was a little on the round side (actually very round) but I loved her to pieces anyway. After an initial week of being petrified of her she was massive and scary and looked at me in a funny way (I later learned this was just an Ellie look) I had some Parrelli style lesson on the ground and built my confidence with her. After a while she would happily match my pace perfectly, even following me over jumps without the need for a head collar. I have to say I was impressed with my join up techniques and had a horse willing to do things with me on the ground and ultimately had the perfect horse. She never napped, bit, kicked, bolted, refuesed or did anything to scare me perfect for a person actually scared of horses!
3 happy and perfect years went by and then last year the dreaded thing happened, lamitis struck. Luckily only the early stages and we caught it in time but I knew then that her 15 acres of green grass were her enemy, not her friend and I made a few life changing decisions. The first was to take her barefoot. I did this for two reasons. The first being that I had seen a horse that had navicular (he wore egg bars) retire and his shoes whipped off him he was crippled without his shoes. I had a barefoot practitioner come to see me and we assessed her feet and general condition. Her feet were apprently overgrown and awful the farrier had even been doing her lopsided she had one side totallly diffferent to the other! (pictures available if anyone interested, before and after) I learnt all about barefoot techniques and the difference between farriery and barefoot trimming. It was fascinating.
She also pointed out that she was overweight, and dangerously so for her age I was told she needed to be off that grass, and fast! So her shoes came off and the slow transition period began. I was detirmed that my horse would retire (one day) with good feet and going barefoot at this stage would ensure that happened. She was sore for a long time and wore Boa boots to ease the footiness they helped a lot. I also decided to move her away from the lush grass and to less lush grazing close to where I lived. The move did wonders, within months she was fit, healthy and gleaming with shine and condition she looked fantastic and like a 10 year old. No-one would believe she was a veteran. I had recently begun my own business and having her close to home helped, with the 15 hour day demends of a start up business.
Then 5 months later, winter came. She was just not herself. With limited grazing and very strict allowances of hay each day (as decided by the YO) Ellie quickly found herself at the bottom of the pack, fighting for what little there was. Being fed non sugared speedi beat (no sugar for the laminitis prevention) and various senior mixes and chaf/supplements should have compensated for this but she lost more and more weight, very quickly. Then one day I went to see her and she was holding up her back leg, she could not walk. I thought it was broken at first and managed to get her inside away from the bullys in the field. Looking at her leg there was swelling and she could not put any weight on it. I bandaged her up for the night with a cold compress and put her in a stable. The next day there was puss oozing from her coronet band and heel.....she had an abscess. The infection had tracked up her leg and I was told that the abscess could have been there for months, infecting her and causing such significant weight loss before it burst out of two places in her hoof. For Ellie the blow out was instant relief and althought tender and sore she could stand again.
We polticed and cleaned it for two weeks, keeping her in and fed well. She could eat all the hay she wanted and began to regain condition and weight. But, as soon as she was better she was outside again, bullied and and the bottom of the pack. I was distraught and knew that she could not carry on. She was miserable, thin, and to top it all had sores where her rugs had rubbed her. With the business taking off and money becoming tight I knew that there was only one option that didnt involved keeping her in all winter alone; find someone who could help me to look after her and get here away from this place. I never forgave myself for that, she was so unhappy and I began to wonder if laminits and being overwieght were a better alternative.
Then, my angel came along. I had contacted a lady online who was looking for an older, steady and safe horse to get back into riding. She was offering a forever home and sounded perfect. MrsElle came to see me and Ellie and looked at the sorry state my lovely horse was in, a bag of bones I think she called her. She understood immediately what had to be done. Ellie needed her own space, unlimited feeding and someone who could offer her all the time in the world. MrsElle picked Ellie up a few days later and we moved her to her new home. She had a paddock all to herself and a nice big stable outside, so she could see what was going on. It was perfect. I knew that MrsElle understood why I had chosen to let her go and how wonderful this horse was, despite her boney appearance and unhappy sighs.
The deteroration only took a couple of months, it is scary how fast these things can happen and I am so grateful for not only MrsElle loving Ellie but also that she both understood the situation and kept me involved with Ellie, allowing me to visit whenever I wanted and when she was a bit better to even take her out for rides. Ellie began to put on weight and relaxed, happy to run around her paddock and make friends with the other horses over the tape.
Below are a few pictures to show Ellies weight, from obese, to scary thin, to much improved condition, thanks to MrsElle. Ellie just needed time, love and space things that I knew I could not offer her and MrsElle has offered all these things to help Ellie get back to her normal self. To this day the scary thin pictures still fill me with sadness, fear and guilt over the choice I made to move her and the situation I was put in by the YO and the other animals there. Stress, illness and diet very quickly affect an older horse and although sad to let her go, the right choice was made.At Ellies new home on private land, she has a new friend and is very content. She loves going out, very forward going and interested in the world again. For this I will always be grateful.
Ellie was my first horse and although I will always feel I let her down for those few months when things went wrong I hope that my decision was the right one and her future is bright and happy.
I think that is probably a long enough post for now! My next post will be The Chad Story, a story filled with funny incidents, sadness and a happy ending.
FeatherPower xx
