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Kittyhawkkigers
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1#
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Registered:05/31/2003
Time spent: 0 hours
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(Date Posted:02/18/2006 7:50 PM)
Nicole,
Arrow was on a daily worming schedule last year, with a every two to three month purge.... it helped her condition. I am thinking about putting Annie and Blame on that regiment as Annie too has that pot belly sway back look about her.
Jeanie
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karismakigers
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2#
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Rank:none
Score:52
Posts:52
Registered:09/15/2002
Time spent: 0 hours
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(Date Posted:02/18/2006 8:23 PM)
Hi All!
One thing that one must remember with daily wormers is that you need to be dedicated to giving it.....every day around the same time. It is easy to build resistance in parasites with the daily wormer if you don't follow the regiment to the letter. Since I have several horses in "mini herd" situations, I personally don't like it, but it might work just fine in your situation. I can't guarentee that the horse is getting the correct dosage. If I can't give a paste/gel, then I use the safeguard pellets.
Nicole, how old is your daughter's half Kiger? Does she have a potbelly look or just the sloping back? Rough coat? Does she get a selenium supplement? Selenium is essential for muscle development and can cause a slack muscle condition in horses. It might be that the muscles around her backbone has become slack and withdrawn, exposing more of the backbone.
Jillian
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Karisma Kigers
Home of
Kiger"s Cherokee Diamond
Kiger Dunsmuir
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Kittyhawkkigers
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3#
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Registered:05/31/2003
Time spent: 0 hours
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(Date Posted:02/18/2006 8:51 PM)
Jillian,
Nicoles girl is at my house and we are in the selenium deficient Willamette Valley, but we do salt the hay with selenium salt,,, do you think that this is not enough should we be supplementing more. Just wondering, as we have a couple other horses in the same condition... the rest look great.
I also have heard that this slack muscle could be a mineral and protein deficiency in the muscle development years and adding more good proteins will help. Of course, I am concerned with adding to much rich feed to them as they are mustangs.
What do you think?
Jeanie
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karismakigers
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4#
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Rank:none
Score:52
Posts:52
Registered:09/15/2002
Time spent: 0 hours
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(Date Posted:02/18/2006 9:31 PM)
Hi Jeanie,
We have had great sucess with feeding a loose mineral salt mix. It is designed for this area for the mineral deficiencies in this area. It is created by the local veterinary clinics. We feed it free-choice to all the horses.
It is easy to pick up a commerical mix from the feed store, unfortunately, those are usually sold nationally and therefore, have to be safe to feed in all regions of the US...including areas where there is sufficient or abundant selenium in the soils. So, I don't use the commerical (national) mixes.
I would check with your local veterinary clinic to see if they have created a mineral mix suitable for your area.
It is true that you can't undo a lot of harm done during developmental periods, but you can make some improvements in their condition. Through good nutrition and good exercising techniques, you rebuild a lot of lost muscle mass.
When I brought Dunsmuir home from the Internet adoption, I found that he couldn't eat grass hay. He kept going into mild colics. As soon as I put him on Alfalfa, he was fine. He couldn't handle the bulkiness of the grass hay (Orchard grass). This contiuned for nearly a year after adoption....I finally got his system to accept both grass and alfalfa. Our horses get both alfalfa and grass....but most of the year it is alfalfa.
When they round up the mustangs, they feed them Alfalfa in the corrals. I was shocked to see that....this beautiful "dairy quality" alfalfa being feed to mustangs that were fresh off the range. EKKK!
Jillian
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Karisma Kigers
Home of
Kiger"s Cherokee Diamond
Kiger Dunsmuir
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Ridgie
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5#
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Registered:11/04/2005
Time spent: 0 hours
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(Date Posted:02/18/2006 11:53 PM)
Thanks for the tip on the daily wormer. It really wouldn't fit our situation. We can't be there, reliably, same time everyday to pull her out of the pasture and be sure she gets all her feed. Now, maybe when life becomes perfect.......
Doll is four this year. Her coat is rough, but she's not pot-belly looking anymore. Not as much as she was. But, yes, her back has that sway-back, slopy look. Ew. Do you feed mostly alfalfa due to the protein? Does alfalfa make them "hotter", do you feel any worry or danger in foundering since they are such easy keepers? Do you like alfalfa hay or pellets? I definately am not a nutrition expert, that's for sure. I think it would be a good idea to do all three; worm her, feed protien and feed a selenium supplement. Oh and exercise! Danielle has no problem working on that part. 
Thanks for the responses. I just don't feel I've done right by her, when I look at her.
Nicole
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cindy966
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6#
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Rank:none
Score:142
Posts:142
Registered:02/18/2006
Time spent: 0 hours
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(Date Posted:02/19/2006 3:49 AM)
When I got my Kiger weanling he had worms that you could actually see in his manure. His coat looked really dull. Don't know if that helps but when you looked at his coat it was the first thing you would think of. Maybe it's not worms that are the mare's problem.
We're real careful around here about too much alfalfa due to a fear of stones. I guess there are people that don't believe that is the cause but the surgery center instructs "patients" to get off the alfalfa. The recommended diet there for the average horse (with no history of stones) is no more than 50% alfalfa. I don't know how mustangs play into this. I wonder if anybody knows of a Kiger that has had enteroliths.
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karismakigers
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7#
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Rank:none
Score:52
Posts:52
Registered:09/15/2002
Time spent: 0 hours
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(Date Posted:02/21/2006 8:46 AM)
We're real careful around here about too much alfalfa due to a fear of stones. I guess there are people that don't believe that is the cause but the surgery center instructs "patients" to get off the alfalfa. The recommended diet there for the average horse (with no history of stones) is no more than 50% alfalfa. I don't know how mustangs play into this. I wonder if anybody knows of a Kiger that has had enteroliths.
You learn something every day!! We have fed alfalfa hay for more than 30 years to our horses. We have never had any major colic issues and never had a known stone. I had to read up more on enteroliths. EKKK! It looks like it is a common occurence in California, mostly due to the fact that there is high magnesium in the Alfalfa hay and in the water. The magnesium is a key in enterolith formation. There seems to be a genetic propensity for enteroliths in Arabians especially.
Here are some things I found while reading up on it:
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vsr/gastrolab/TOPICS.html
www.horseadvice.com/advisor/messages/4/20528.html
I guess I am going to have to have my Alfalfa sources tested for magnesium levels this next haying season.
Jillian
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Karisma Kigers
Home of
Kiger"s Cherokee Diamond
Kiger Dunsmuir
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cindy966
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8#
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Rank:none
Score:142
Posts:142
Registered:02/18/2006
Time spent: 0 hours
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(Date Posted:02/22/2006 6:14 PM)
I have heard that entroliths are much more common in California than other places. One suggestion that vets sometimes make is to feed 1/2 cup of vinegar a day to the horse. I don't think they are restricted to California only. If you've never seen an entrolith you'd be shocked. My friend's Arabian had 8 of them removed. They are LARGE and very very dense. I saw one from another horse once that reminded me of a bowling ball. Not too much smaller either and heavy like that. It is unbelievable. Without even trying I can think of 4 horses I've known that had entroliths. They were all Arabian or part Arabian. Feeding an Arabian in California an alfalfa diet is very risky. They say all breeds can get them though. They must not be common up your way Jillian or you'd have heard about it.
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