PLEASE try to be prepared when you see your mare is pregnant!

[Miniv]

This year for some reason we've been getting more calls than usual from people all around the region..... Either their mare is suddenly pregnant (who knew??) ....or their mare just popped out a foal! What to do???

I swear we've become the regional drug cabinet!

*Mare needs worming but they don't have any Ivermectin.

*Foal needs its Selenium shot, but they don't have that OR a syringe and needle.

*Mare is cramping but they don't have Banamine...

Do we turn them away? No. But our vet is looking at us oddly because we've requested more Banamine and Selenium faster than usual. He KNOWS how many foals and horses in general we have.

We are living on a limited income and some of these folks are EXTREMELY wealthy, so I'm growling and my husband tells me to "cool it".

Sorry, but when OUR animals come up short and I have to scramble to provide for OURS, I think I have a right to GROWL.

 

[amysue]

I hear you. We are on a very tight budget right now and very much appreciate our vet selling us meds over the counter without a farm call. So...I do not appreciate others who have the means, asking me to treat their animal instead of calling the ver themself. I dont want the liability, I never ger offered any compensation and I do not want to burn the bridge with my vet, crossing a line. I hate thinking that the animal is suffering though, because if I dont help, they never call the vet. Very frustrating.

 

[Magic Marker Miniatures]

We had someone we had only seen once when she traded a Mini mare for a Arab/Welsh mare we had, call us a couple days later wanting to know what was wrong with their mini. He was laying down and rolling. I told her he was probably colicing and to call the vet.

She told us later he died. I now know that may have been a lie. She was known for lieing to people and doing stupid things. We told her the Arab/Welsh mare she got from us was not trained to saddle. She had had her previous owner on her bareback with a halter. That was it. They supposedly got a "trainer" over. That "trainer" used a curb bit and wondered why this mare started bucking. The lady felt the horse was mean and was trying to sell her as a bucking horse. The woman who owned the mare before us was able to get the horse back. The horse doesn't have a mean bone in her body.

 

[amysue]

My father in law is alwaya getting calls to help deliver calves, from people who farm only as a hobby and certainly have means to call a vet. He puts himself in harms way, thus seriously threatening his ability to earn a living, to do something for someone who doesn't understand or appreciate his help. They don't want to call a vet, in my opinion, if you're not experienced or qualified to assess the situation and you refuse to call a vet, you shouldn't keep livestock...just saying.

 

[chandab]

It's one thing to help out a friend or family member now and then, but this sounds like they are just taking advantage of your kindness and compassion for the animal. And, we know we can't charge, even just reimbursement for meds as it could be seen as taking compensation, then you are in trouble for practicing medicine without a license or some similar infraction. The most I've ever given to neighbors is some mare/foal feed for someone with an orphan foal and it was the weekend, so there was no running to the store to pick something up (feed stores are closed here on the weekend, as are vets). Gave an OTC bottle of penicillin to my BIL for a sick horse, otherwise we just can't afford it.

 

[KLJcowgirl]

Ooooh that is aggravating Miniv! I'm sorry.

While I don't get calls like that, I will call people around me for SUGGESTIONS. I try to see if it is something I can take care of without the vet or if the vet is needed. I tend to overreact sometimes and am still trying to learn what constitutes a serious situation. I've had horses my whole life... so I should know, but now that I'm on my own, it's a different story. It's like my brain shuts off haha. I feel really silly when I call the vet and he says, "Just put some scarlet oil on it and keep an eye on it." Pffffffftttttt, I knew that! If whoever I call knows what to do and offers to help, I'll take it, but I don't ask them to treat my horses. If not I will most definitely call the vet.

I know you don't want to be accused of "practicing medicine without a licence" But would it be possible to say, "If you get me the money I will order it for you."? I don't think that would count right?? Maybe it's just calling the vet they're shy about and not the price of the medication?? I don't know... that's rough.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

On the odd occasion , its perfectly fine to help a neighbor or friend out. When they are constantly asking for different things and making no effort to build their own supplies is what annoys me the most.

And its extra annoying when you need something and then realize you lent it to someone and it was never replaced.

Amysue I was going to start my comment with "Some people should not own livestock" , I agree with you 100%

Theres a little more to it than putting a pretty pony into a paddock or pasture and saying you own a horse

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Theres a little more to it than putting a pretty pony into a paddock or pasture and saying you own a horse

I have "loaned" my banamine and alum spray, and then needed it before it was replaced. But it sounds as though many of you are truly being taken advantage of.

One cannot put an animal in a pen and only remember it when one is boasting that he owns a horse? This will be news to many horse owners!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Yes and I no longer say I have these products when I am asked for a loan.

If it was a medical life or death situation , I wouldn't hesitate in helping out , Id be there in a flash. But when you have lent things out and you visit the person you lent them too and then find these items sitting in a puddle or left in the mud, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. Especially when we all know how expensive horse products are these days.

Back on Miniv's topic , when you breed a mare, purchase a mare that is pregnant , you owe this animal a "duty of care" to help get this foal safely into this world. Not sit back and do nothing until you see the mare is heavily in labor.

Any mare that I have or will purchase , I will always have tested if I think could possibly be pregnant. The earlier I know a mare is in foal , the more time I have to prepare.