3 rescue mares .... And new to minis!

[Bleenie]

Yesterday we brought home 3 lovely mini mares. All 3 are overweight and one is quite obese. Bad feet all around and especially bad feet on one of them(also think she might be in heat too).

We found a farrier for them that's confident she can correct the feet but I wante to get some input on them... She walks ok but her back right 'pivots' outward when she steps, is this something she might not recover from? I feel like the others will be ok and back to normal with time. Also they all have some fungus around their frogs, smells bad.

I have looked into weight control/loss feed for them and found many options so that shouldn't be a problem, just have to figure out how much per day for each mare. I took them off alfalfa and they're eating local now. They seem picky about it but they may need their teeth floated.

I'm not 100% new to minis, we've had one in the past that was a rescue but he was emaciated when we got him because he was being starved. He recovered in no time and live out his life with us. But these girls are total opposite of that situation.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Lucky horses

Are you sure those mares are obese and not pregnant? The pictures are really hard to judge very well what their weight situation is but the one sure looks big in the belly like she might be carrying a foal (in which case you sure don't want to put them on a weight loss diet) Also wondering if the one who's hooves you show has foundered. Your farrier and vet should have a look maybe. It would be a good thing to have a vet check them out to confirm whether or not they are expecting and if there are any other issues to deal with like dental care. Good luck, they look like nice little mares and they sure deserve the second chance you are offering them.

 

[Bleenie]

Our farrier is coming out Monday to take care of them. I picked their feet yesterday and today they look way better. I let them out in a big pasture while we out up a temporary pen for them and they were running and rolling all over.

We talked about it and will get the vet appointment set up for them to be checked over... Their bellies do look pretty round. They seem to be parasite free but after they're preg checked, if it's negative, I may still go ahead and worm them. Is there a wormer that can be dosed for minis? I've only ever used paste on our bigger horses.

Is it wise to cut off alfalfa and switch to grass hay for now? If they might be pregnant?

Thank you

 

[Bleenie]

This is 'Maggie', she's the most outgoing of them, she was amazing to say the least when my niece got on her. Very well mannered and didn't mind it at all.

 

[chandab]

Alfalfa is a good choice if they are pregnant, perhaps a mix, as that will give them a good variety.

Don't use Quest dewormer (any dewormer with active ingredient Moxidectin) on minis. Pretty much all other dewormers are safe, some minis are sensitive to the Gold varieties. Be careful using Bute with minis, they are more sensitive to it (knowing the minis weight is very important).

 

[REO]

Hi!

Lucky mares to be with you, I know you'll have them right in no time!

Paste wormer is fine, but NEVER Quest (as mentioned above)

I think grass hay would be just fine for them. Be sure and give us updates once in a while!

 

[BSharpRanch]

Yesterday we brought home 3 lovely mini mares. All 3 are overweight and one is quite obese. Bad feet all around and especially bad feet on one of them(also think she might be in heat too).

We found a farrier for them that's confident she can correct the feet but I wante to get some input on them... She walks ok but her back right 'pivots' outward.

most likely cause for this is hoof imbalance, or too long in the toe. Once in a while it can be from a weakness in the hindquarters. And there are a few horses who put a lot of omph in their stride. I've seen something similar in big horses, however because of their weight the movement gets trasfered in the hocks, not the hoof on the ground.

 

Alfalfa is a good choice for them -- I fed my entire herd on alfalfa only -- either hay, pellets or cubes, and it's great for a protein boost and acts as a tummy soother as well. Lots of protein with no problems.

So glad they are with you. If you find out "someone" is pregnant, I hope you'll join us on the Mare/Foal forum here on LB. We'd love to watch with you and help during the pregnancy period.

~~Diane

 

[Bleenie]

Talked to the previous owner today, she said no stallions were with them ever so no chance of pregnancy. Kind of a relief!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Welcome to the Forum

Lovely Minis and hats off to you for taking them in

I would also ask your farrier to have a good look at the Mini that owns those Hooves in the above Pic, looks like hooves of someone who has previously foundered.

If that is the case, you can find plenty of information here. You will also need to be "cautious" in regards to the amounts of green grass and sweet feeds that are accessible.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Minis & Best of luck

 

[Bleenie]

The farrier came out today and did an amazing job on all three girls. We discovered that they'd all foundered in the past but no signs of it currently. The girl with the really bad feet was pretty crabby about it at first but calmed down close to the end of her trim... It took a while and the farrier was able to remove a lot of the overgrowth. Looks like the hooves of a totally different horse and she's standing and walking much more relaxed. The right hind that kept flopping over when she'd step on it isn't doing it so bad anymore either. She took some great before an after pics of the hooves and I will post them tomorrow after she puts them online. She also have me some advice on taking care of the thrush and identified some botfly eggs on the girls... Yuck but were going to get rid of them tomorrow and they need to be wormed anyway so I guess it's good timing.

 

[Bleenie]

They get let out to pasture currently, it's a slightly overgrown field, does it make a difference f it's tall grass or 'new' grass? Their pen is temporary right now but were picking up the materials for a rail fence tomorrow for them. They cleared tier current area out in just a day, but it's fairly small. No grains yet but I planned on getting some weight control feed to help the big girl get back to a good size.

The black one that looks especially fluffy got a bath yesterday, hoping to get the other two done tomorrow

 

[candycar]

Tall grass is better. Short grass has more sugar in it. If you watch them they will go for the short grass in the field first. Please be careful how much pasture they get especially if they have foundered. A good site for laminitis/founder is thelaminitissite.org. Lost of good info on there.

 

[Miniv]

You've received a lot of good advice already.... When it comes to worming, the tube will have markers on it for weight.

A horse who's foundered before should have limited pasture and a low starch grain - no molasses. Good grass hay and

a supplement may be your best bet, IMO.

 

[shorthorsemom]

Measure the heart girth of your horses and you can use this measurement to track weight loss or gain progress. Measure with the horses head up in natural position rather than down grazing.

I would suggest adding a supplement called Quiessence or Remission to the diet (for founder prone horses with cresty necks) for your heaviest horse and also feeding a low starch supplement like Enrich 32 or triple crown lite. I never feed grain to my horses and I feed a plain fine grass hay and my guys get very limited grazing. I like using the best friends muzzle for turn out on my boy that tends to get heavy.

You should read up on how to take a digital pulse and get a read on what your horses pulse feels like now so you have a tool to check for laminitis trying to return. Horses going into laminitis will have a pounding pulse at the fetlock. I would also suggest you keep some banamine in your emergency kit for your horses. You can get that from your vet.

Watch them closely after worming, if they have a huge load horses can actually colic from worming.

They are lovely horses, you will have to keep us updated as to their recovery progress, they are lucky to have found you to care for them.

 

[Bleenie]

Thank you for all that great information, shorthorsemom! Do the regular horse weight tapes work for minis as well? They do need to be wormed but I don't want to just guess weights. And all 3 are different sizes.

I have to talk to my farrier because when I brought the girls out today(she suggested walking them in the pace by to help their hooves) one of them seemed tender, it was the one with the worst feet. I don't know if she just needs some time or what but I didn't make it to the pavement because the gravel was hurting her.

I got all 3 girls scraped clean today, they had quite a few bot eggs on them(yuck btw!). There was an accident when I asked my sis to scrape one while I went to get something but I heckled it and it was just a teeny poke so should be OK..... I was literally on my hands and knees crawling under, around and behind them scraping each one with no issues, even with the two loose one standing over me in my face... One horse touches my sis back and she jumps like there's a tarantula on her! Anyway, the mare seemed tender on that foot when I walked her later on so I'm going to check it again in the morning.

The heavy mare is definitely a mover, the only speed she has is GO. I think in the end she exercised me lol.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I have been told the regular horse weight tape does not transfer accurately for miniature horses. Somewhere on here on another post about weight on minis I was posting some of the conversions for someone wanting an aprox. weight for their horses from the tape measurement. If you get a number and post, I can look up for you and post back a weight for you to use as a worming guide.

I highly suggest you start some remission or quiescence as a supplement. Both work well but my chubby horse eats quiescence better since it is in pelleted form. The remission is a powder and he typically can eat his pelleted supplement around the powder, so for me the powder is not ideal.

Don't worry about getting the weight off super fast,. just work on gradual and steady. Some horses have been known to get a fallen crest as a result of fast weight loss.

Watch too much exercise on those freshly trimmed hooves post founder hooves and keep an eye out for a gap on the hooves (white line disease) where stuff can cram into the hoof wall from the separation that is often caused by founder. If you see a gap (that gap would be on the bottom of the hoof around 1/4 inch from the wall), you have separation. Don't dig it with a hoof pick. Ideally as the hoof heals and grows the separation will eventually close. You can post a photo of the bottoms of their feet now that they have been trimmed and I can give you an idea if you have separation.

The hooves will probably be very tender with exercise for awhile. Your horse needs to get used to the new angles and the hooves have to heal and learn to grow properly. It can take up to a year for the hooves to fully get back into shape, until they recover the hooves will form odd angles and flares, you should not allow much time between farrier trims until your horses hooves have fully recovered. I suggest 4 weeks no more than 5 weeks before you call your farrier out again. Even if you do not have active laminitis, the hooves can get very sore with exercise for awhile. Check that tender foot for a digital pulse. That is a good indication on whether you have an issue in that foot. They can easily spring up an abscess after founder too due to stuff going up the open white line and getting infected. You can google the word "gravel" for equine hoof for a better description for a white line infection. (gravel might be a regional term... you can google white line infection abscess) You can also google how to take a digital pulse on a horse and should be able to find a good description of what I am talking about with taking a pulse. Some excellent youtube videos on how to check for a digital pulse on a horse.

good luck, hope the foot isn't sore today.

 

[Jill]

Congrats on your new girls and welcome to the world of minis