New Mini Mom

[ParkerAlexx]

Anything sweet (apples etc.) right now is not a good thing. NO grain either!! You need to stop thinking of your minis as pets like a dog or cat. Many of the things people give horses are not good for them, but they put human emotion on their horses and think if it tastes good, my horse will like me better....horses don't have the same types of emotions as humans. They are horses, with unique tummies. I NEVER treat my horses...it only causes them to consider you a source of good tasting stuff, and can lead to nipping if you are not very careful.

I definitely dont think of them like my dogs or my cats, but they are more pets than anything else. They definitely are not working animals..... yet. Haha!

I have never given a horse a treat that wasn't made for them. (I taught my Quarter horse to "kiss" on command. My sister taught HER Quarter horse to kiss, lie down, and bow.) I know that grain is off limits, this is why I was inquiring the healthiest route to go if I decide to teach them tricks.

We have trained our full size horses with treats and never once have been nipped at or run over for one. They get the treat once they do a trick and that's about it.

 

[Debby - LB]

Actually for training and tricks absolutely NO edible treats are needed. You can use a clicker or simply use your tone of voice and a nice scratch or pat. Horses and dogs will work well for only kindness. Once they respect you working for your approval is their "treat". You don't want to establish a pattern where they will anticipate a treat, you want to establish respect. Even with teaching human kids the goal is to be consistent and praise.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

I think Jeans Comment is in regards to the laminitis that your mini is suffering from. Anything that has a high sugar content will only be contributing to the laminitis. So no treats that are high in sugar

Id also ONLY be giving him plain grass hay instead of the alfalfa. As also Mentioned , soaking the grass hay will help to remove sugar from the hay

Good luck

 

[7fluffyfriends]

Thinking back on our 'Comanche', he only had, what is labeled in our area, "upper grassland hay". This is a mix of basically clover and some timothy which we harvest ourselves.

You are no doubt anxious to hear what your vet has to say, and so are we!

Everyone's experience is new learning for all of us as different areas, horses, vets, treatments bring new information and new ways of dealing with ancient problems.

It is terrific you are giving Deisel a real chance!

 

[kevin27]

Celerey, Celery??(did I spell that right?) is a really good treat. It has no sugar or calories. Mine love it. It took a couple of tries to get them to take a bite but once they did, YUM! I would stay away from the carrots and apples for now until the vet evaluates.

I bought some celery last night and tried them out on it,

and they also love it! I split between them 2 regular sized and 3 thin stalks.

celery is a little bit salty too, so that will probably help in the hot weather, getting them to keep drinking.

A great healthy treat idea, thanks Cayuse!

 

[ParkerAlexx]

So we went to the vet on Saturday and he had some good and bad news. Deezy's coffin bones are rotated 25 degrees and 23 degrees in his front feet. We didnt xray the back because he assumed they would be roughly the same. He told me to put him on Purina Well Source Weight Control (1 pound a day) and feed him one flake of hay a day. (?! I feel like I am starving him!) BUT he is 118 pounds over weight right now. (318lbs!) He also told me to exercise him and he trimmed his feet a bit.

The good news is that he told me that he expects that Diesel will be completely better by the end of the year! Now obviously, he'll still be at risk but he thinks that he'll have lost enough weight and his feet will be properly maintenanced so he should be able to start learning to drive around January.

Of course, before I do anything, I will be checking with the vet! haha!

We also learned that he is 5.

He is such a good boy and took the whole thing like a champ! 2 Xrays, being drugged, taking his temp. Not a single kick was thrown.

SO PROUD OF HIM!

 

[chandab]

Ok, so he weighs 318#, and the vet figures he should weigh 200#?

If so, here's my suggestion and I'll tell you why shortly...

You'll need a scale for this, Walmart probably has something that'll work, and I've heard of people picking up baby scales or diet scales at second hand stores. [A fish scale with a bucket will work too.]

Feed him a total of 4.75# feed daily, since the vet said 1# Purina well-Solve, that leaves 3.75# for hay. [Flakes vary a lot; so a flake could be just a pound or it could be #5, get a scale and weigh out his daily diet.]

I got these figures based on what I learned through a vet run forum for metabolic horses. Their diet protocol for weight reduction is to feed either 2% of ideal weight or 1.5% of current weight, whichever is greater, then make adjustments as weight is lost. Vet says ideal weight should be 200#, 2% of that is 4# feed daily. Current weight is 318#, 1.5% of that is 4.75# feed daily. The greater is the 4.75#; so 1# Well-Solve per vet plus the 3.75# hay.

And, so he doesn't think you are starving him, a slow feeder of some sort might help, or even just dividing his hay into several daily meals and his Well-Solve into at least 2 meals.

 

[Cayuse]

Good advice from Chandab about weighing the hay. I weigh mine occasionally as my mini needed to loose weight.

He is on a "1.5 pounds of hay/100 pounds of weight diet" reccomended by my vet and is dropping weight nicely. Not too fast or too slow. When I see the amount of hay I give him creeping up in "volume" I weigh it to remind myself what to feed. I divide it into four meals.

 

[7fluffyfriends]

Congratulation to your Diesel on being such a gentleman! You must have been relieved to get positive news also! That is wonderful.

You have such good advice going your way, but a thought that may be worthwhile. If you cannot feed the Big 'D' several times a day, maybe shaking the hay around his paddock is a thought. This is something I did when working full time for a pony that had a diet. I just took the flake (1/2 in AM and 1/2 PM) and as I walked around the pen shook it out. She then was able to 'graze' over a period of time and that seemed to help her.

May the good news continue for you both!

 

[REO]

Just wanted to say WELCOME!

 

[Miniv]

Lots of good advice for you.......

Weighing your hay (grass hay - NOT alfalfa) is really important. Most of our flakes weigh about 4 lbs, so we break the flake in half

for a morning and evening feeding.

After jump starting the pain relief with either Bute or Banamine (we prefer Banamine), we give Bute-Less Pellets, also known as BL Pellets.

It's a holistic pain relief product.......It takes about a week to see results. I like it because it's not hard on their tummy. However, we also

keep Ulcer Guard on hand for when we use the Banamine for more than one or two doses.....Sadly your fellow is destined to never be put back on pasture.

Kuddos to you for getting your vet on board immediately.