Nightmares and Natural Feeding

 

After only 10 days of horse ownership I have hit a snag.  Tana has a sore front foot.  We are hopeful it’s not tendon damage, and at this stage it seems to be a bit of an abscess.  She did have a small sore on the same foot when she arrived too. Yesterday she could hardly walk, but today she is a bit better.  Time will tell.  I am lucky to have an experienced horse person on hand, as I have been reading everything I can about lameness, tendons etc, and am having nightmares!

I also have the farrier coming tomorrow to look at her feet, and then we’ll decide if the vet is needed.  We are going to look at boots too,such as the ones from Easy Care Down Under and Cavallo, as I think she is used to soft, grassy ground, not the rocky ground we have here.  I would rather not shoe her, but her hooves are very badly cracked at present.

She is still eating well, though, and very friendly and inquisitive. She loves the camera!

Tana is in a small paddock by herself until she is better.  I would love to install a track system, but it is a bit difficult when you are agisting.   At lest there is not much grass, it’s hilly and she has hay.  She also gets a bucket of specially mixed  feed each night, including chaff, pellets, kelp and garlic.

Another feed suggestion I found at Natural Horse New Zealand (for 16HH) is as follows:

• a few good handfuls of chaff- a different type every week and mix them so oaten, meadow, peavine and clover etc...
• 1 cupped handful of fibre-ezi or a low gi forage
• 1 cupped handful of NRM LOW GI pellets-these are great as they are grain free and are a slow burn energy
• 1 capful of diluted cider vinegar to keep away worms
• 150ml of flaxseed oil
• 50-60g  of our natural horse organic mineral mix
• Mix to blend in oil, supplement and vinegar  . . . . and they love it :)

This is combined with a biscuit of hay each morning and night, the evening feed helping to keep the horses warm at night, as they are not rugged.  I am not a big believer in rugs either.  We do get a lot of rain here though, and rain scald affects a lot of horses, but I think I would rather get a place with lots of trees, and rig up a shelter for when the horses feel they need to get out of the rain.

I doubt Tana will be ready for the Parelli Weekend I have booked for in June.  I am riding a different horse on Saturday, so I’ll see how he goes.  I have ridden him before – Woody is a rehabilitated ex-racehorse - but he also has feet problems, as he is not long off shoes. 

He is lovely, and will be a perfect size for my husband (who I am trying to convince to start riding) or my elder girls.  We will move eventually, and you can’t just have one horse, now can you?!

Deb xxx