Concerning Aurora.....

[MiLo Minis]

I have just got off the phone with Bob and he has kindly agreed to take me up on my offer to house his mare, Aurora, for the remainder of her pregnancy and until such time as I am sure that he has a good grasp on how to care for her. This mare from what he has told me is 17 years old, has had a goodly number of foals (8 to his knowledge - I am looking into that to get a better grasp of what to look forward to in her foaling) has never had her teeth done as far as he knows, suffers from a heavey condition, and has been to the depths of starvation before - so at least I know what I am up against. Bob is a good kind man who truly cares for his animals but is slightly misquided - please don't hold it against him but continue to help him learn to the best of your abilities. I will do the best I can to help her as much as I can and she will, at the very least, foal out here under the camera to give the foal a fighting chance. I will let you all know what happens. I may be on here asking advice and if Robin could offer some advice on how to feed this mare up to weight I would love to hear it. I am home here on a daily basis and so can put her on a feeding schedule of as many times per day as is necessary. I have a mixed grass hay here of good quality which I intend to feed her free choice. I use Mare 'n' Foal for my mares, in their last trimester and while lactating, and a free choice mineral supplement. Pray for her please.

 

[CLC Stables]

You are an amazing women Lori, THANK YOU, and BEST OF LUCK BOB

 

[White Socks Miniature]

Good Luck Lori!!! I will send positive energy for Aurora and her unborn foal!! The world needs more people like yourself!!!

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[kaykay]

lori bless your heart for taking her! and i commend bob for putting pride aside and doing what is best for her. Way to go bob :aktion033:

please please check her teeth. we had a rescue mare here the same age and her teeth were horrible which is why her weight was so bad. Once we got her teeth fixed she started gaining weight asap.

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

hurray Lori! and Bob we have made mistakes and learned hard lessons too... i wish i had known about this forum a long time ago, could have probably saved me from doing some dumb things that we didn't know any better. sometimes meaning well is just not enough as we have found. so glad you are going to let Lori help! hugs and prayers for all of you!

 

[rockin r]

I agree, ...Your an angel

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[Jill]

This is good news all around!!! Looking at her and considering her age, I would bet if her teeth haven't been floated they need it if at all possible. And probably update her deworming just in case. I didn't always know which types of dewormers to use and that they all aren't "equal". Good luck!!!

 

[MiLo Minis]

lori bless your heart for taking her! and i commend bob for putting pride aside and doing what is best for her. Way to go bob :aktion033:

please please check her teeth. we had a rescue mare here the same age and her teeth were horrible which is why her weight was so bad. Once we got her teeth fixed she started gaining weight asap.

That is exactly my first plan of attack! Thank you! I asked when was the last time and Bob said he didn't know so my guess is she needs them done badly but we will see.

I appreciate all the nice words but I am sure it isn't anything anyone else would do if they could. Please just give me any advice that you think I need to hear especially if there are any members that have dealt with emaciation before. I will honestly say I have never had to deal with a mare in this bad of condition and can use the help. I know enough to be careful with her worming but Bob assures me she has been wormed. I have a feeling that once her teeth are looked after it may just be a matter of getting nutritious food into her but I am also concerned about her condition going into foaling. Are there any special complications with a mare in such bad shape? I will be consulting with my vet as well. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Becky]

Bless you for taking her

and kudos to Bob for having the nerve to swallow his pride and do what is best for this mare! :aktion033: :aktion033:

Aside from routing worming and dental care, the best thing for underweight horses is alfalfa. Here is an excellent article on feeding starved horses. Rats, the website domain hasn't been renewed. Anyway, alfalfa is the best thing to feed starved horses to bring their weight up and keep their electrolytes balanced. I'm sure she would also benefit from a protein/vitamin/mineral supplement and possibly a fat supplement would help a lot too. Good luck with her and be sure to keep us posted on her progress.

 

[chandab]

I don't know if there is anything about feeding skinny broodmares, but I have this in my favorites, maybe it'll help.

http://www.completerider.com/nutrition.htm

And, here's a website for older horse care:

http://www.equineelders.org/winter.htm

I realize she isn't that old, but with being 17 and skinny; it may be helpful. (the link goes to the winter care page, but they also have a feeding page)

 

[White Socks Miniature]

Dont up her feed all at once especially during this time of transition, over 1 -2 weeks is probably a good transition time line for changing and upping feed. Its hard to say if the foal will have any problems. The foal is feeding off the mares body to keep itself alive and the mare is sacrificing alot for the life of her foal. I think the most important thing is to get this mare onto a good diet, get teeth, feet and deworming done, Keep her nice and warm, ( that way she will conserve more energy instead of metabolizing it all to keep herself warm) and of course give her lots of TLC!! I would also consider running a blood panel to make sure everything is working properly.

Edited to add : Keep us updated! and again Good luck.. I will go thru my text books tonite to see if I can add anything else...

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Thank GOD, and thankyou too, Lori!!!!

 

[MiLo Minis]

Bless you for taking her

and kudos to Bob for having the nerve to swallow his pride and do what is best for this mare! :aktion033: :aktion033:

Aside from routing worming and dental care, the best thing for underweight horses is alfalfa. Here is an excellent article on feeding starved horses. Rats, the website domain hasn't been renewed. Anyway, alfalfa is the best thing to feed starved horses to bring their weight up and keep their electrolytes balanced. I'm sure she would also benefit from a protein/vitamin/mineral supplement and possibly a fat supplement would help a lot too. Good luck with her and be sure to keep us posted on her progress.

I can get some alfalfa hay but I also have second cut mixed grass hay here. I know our Canadian hay is higher in nutrients than most American hays. I use the second cut to put weight on and for horses that are not well but as I said I have never had to deal with this amount of emaciation - do you think the second cut would be sufficient?

I have quite often used vegetable oil mixed in their feed as a fat supplement. Would that be adequate in this instance? Would rice bran be a better choice?

 

[Mona]

:aktion033: That's GREAT news! Thank you to both of you for putting Aurora's needs first! Good Luck!

 

[MiLo Minis]

Dont up her feed all at once especially during this time of transition, over 1 -2 weeks is probably a good transition time line for changing and upping feed. Its hard to say if the foal will have any problems. The foal is feeding off the mares body to keep itself alive and the mare is sacrificing alot for the life of her foal. I think the most important thing is to get this mare onto a good diet, get teeth, feet and deworming done, Keep her nice and warm, ( that way she will conserve more energy instead of metabolizing it all to keep herself warm) and of course give her lots of TLC!! I would also consider running a blood panel to make sure everything is working properly.

Edited to add : Keep us updated! and again Good luck.. I will go thru my text books tonite to see if I can add anything else...

I have blankets here and a warm stall to tuck her into with heat lamps. I also have turnout with a shelter but I am not going to be turning her out unless we get better weather than what we are experiencing right at the moment :no: My foaling stall is large enough for her to move around a fair bit so I am not concerned about exercise - she doesn't really need that at the moment anyway. I will have my vet out for a visit and see what he thinks needs to be done.

 

[New2Minis]

Thats is great :aktion033: :aktion033: Plzzzz keep us posted. Prayers for a healthy foal and mommy!!

:

 

[bfogg]

:aktion033: Good for you Bob!!!!!!

: Kudos to you for not letting pride stand in the way of whats good for the animal!

BEET PULP BEET PULP BEET PULP!!!!!!

If she has had founder you can get the no molasses kind but.you can feed a lot of this and do no harm and it gets water in their system.

Thank you for doing this

:

: And contact me if you want a reading on her, it'll be my part in this!

Hugs

Bonnie

 

[Miniv]

Happy news all around!!!! :aktion033: :aktion033:

MA

 

[Gena]

:aktion033: :aktion033: :aktion033: AWESOME news!

Thank you for taking her in and thank you Bob for doing this for your mare!

I am guessing she will gobble up her free choice minerals at first.

Thanks for keeping us updated, I will be praying she gains weight now and her foal will be ok too!

 

[Little Wee Horse Farm]

What a terrifc conclusion to this saga.........Hats off to both of you. One for making the offer; the other for being man enough to accept it.

Might I mention a Blue Seal feed that's very good for putting weight on? We call it "fat feed," but it's really called Vintage Senior. Has a very high fat content compared to other feed mixes. Costs just a bit more, but is worth it. We use it to pull mares back up if they begin to go down before/after foaling. Or replace part of regular feed with it whenever a horse is not maintaining its weight. Good stuff.

Best of luck to you both & to Aurora & her new little one. -- karen