I bought Wyoming August 1st (8y/o paint gelding) and this past weekend added 2 new horses. Thanks to 'FloridaHorseman' I used his advice about introductions and I think we did pretty good. Wyoming accepted the 10 y/o mare right away however he and the new 9 y/o gelding did a little flexing of muscles and some superficial bits and I believe the new gelding has turned out to be the 'head of the heard'. However, I have a few questions and I am hoping as before to reap some more knowledge.

1. The mare is in foal due February, she is thin and her vaccination history fuzzy. Should I vaccinate her as if she was never vaccinated? And is there any particular vaccines I should be aware of since she is in foal?

2. The 2 new horses are both thin (you can easily feel/see their ribs) I started them on the 10%-6% Purina that Wyoming is on along with horseshoers secret hoof supplement. They have pasture to graze and I have been giving some hay as well. They seem to be tolerating this diet but I want to be sure I am on the right track.

Linda

lboberrender:

1. The mare is in foal due February, she is thin and her vaccination history fuzzy. Should I vaccinate her as if she was never vaccinated? And is there any particular vaccines I should be aware of since she is in foal?

I believe there are some vacines you should not give to a pregnant mare and several that are specifically for them.  Your vet is going to be the best one to discuss this with.  You can also get supplements specifically for mares in foal.  But I have never owned a pregnant mare. Someone like Jesse can answer this question with more insight than me I'm sure.

lboberrender:

2. The 2 new horses are both thin (you can easily feel/see their ribs) I started them on the 10%-6% Purina that Wyoming is on along with horseshoers secret hoof supplement. They have pasture to graze and I have been giving some hay as well. They seem to be tolerating this diet but I want to be sure I am on the right track.

Make sure you dont just start them at normal amounts right away.  Give free choice hay and work your way up to normal feeding.  When I get a particularly skinny horse I feed several tiny (like one or two handfuls at a time) meals a day and slowly increase them.  If you start a starving horse of good feed to fast you can wreck their system.  Colic and founder are the main things to worry about but there are plenty of other small problems that can crop up too.  Hay is your best option right now although I wouldn't over do that either.

Take before pictures now so that you have something to compare to later.

I'm not an expert, but if you added horses 3 days ago,by my opinion  it is about the time to increase hay gradually up to free choice, especially if they are out in pastures all day long and can move around freely. I would be careful by increasing amount of pellets, for sure, but hay by my opinion, is not dangerous.

I would definitely ask vet for a specific vitamins/supplements for mare in foal to help her in the best possible way.

And how about small amounts of oil - laxseed oil is the best in my opinion, but actually few spoons on daily basic of any vegetable oil would help.It is energetic supplement and also helps diggestive system to coupe with food change. All my horses who arrived thin are on oil and are doing well.

Did you mean Flaxseed oil?? If so is there a equine ready form?

Everyone seems to be doing okay, we are still battling the pecking order so feeding time is a chore right now. We also have hungry cows that hover around while the horses are eating I think this is adding to some uneasiness. But we are working on separating the horses and cows.

All three horses start out with 3lbs of 10-6 Horseman's Edge (Purina) and I give them each one scoop of Horseshoer's secret supplement. I did pick up some mare/foal supplement this past weekend for the mare but I have not started it yet. What's happening right now is everyone starts with their own pan/bucket but then the new gelding will travel from bucket to bucket moving the other horses, so it ends up being a rotational feeding.... I had tried feeding all three in a large corral pen but the one gelding would chase down and bit the other gelding so I pulled him out and fed him on the outside and the other two on the inside that worked okay for a couple of times, but it's still an uneasy time. I do not have a formal barn, just a large corral area next to a shed/barn. They have full access to 44 acres of fairly good grazing and I have been giving them hay as well.

They seem to be looking better I'm going to try and post a photo, I took it  Sunday a week after I got them.

Thank you, Linda

Anna,

I don't know how well you can view this picture but the first two horses are the new ones, the paint on the end is Wyoming. I posted all the pictures to my gallery, I don't know if you can view them there better.

Thanks Linda

Hi! Flaxeed oil is the right thing. It is pricey in comparison with other oils but the best by my opinion.

I do not know what do you mean with equine ready form. Oil is oil - any oil, suitable for human consumption, is also OK for horses. The only thing - the refined is not as good as natural, cloudy ones but usually they are labelled organic, "natural" and so on - thus more expensive.The best thing- to contact farmstore wholesaler and order a gallon jar or something - it will be 10X cheaper than oil in small fancy bottle hrom healthy food shelfs at mall.

Actually the crushed Flaxeed itself is better but I do not know can you afford it timewise. The recipy is simple - crush 2 handfuls of flaxeed and pour over a very hot, nearly boiling water, and let it cool down. When it cools, it must look something like somebody tried to make milk jelly and something went wrong :D And then add it to your usual feed.

Time problem - you can not store crushed Flaxeed for long time, so it must be crushed at least onece a week and stored inside the house. 

If you do not crush seeds, you loose about half of its goods as they go quickly through the horse, so it becomes really expensive.

This is also the pumpkin season. I am giving a good slice of pumpkin every day - pumpkin has a lot of great things but mainly I do use to support joints of the horses - it works like a natural glucosamine, also helps with hoof growth and as very mild natural de-wormer. 

I'm quite worried about all these artificial supplements, especially for pregnant mares and I can afford timewise make my own food so I try to go as natural as it seems to be sensible.

I must add selen+minerals (my country does not have enough selen in the soil thus in plants) making your own probiotics would be silly as well, but other than that I collect herbs, dry them and store for winter. Nothing fancy - for example, nettles are greatsource of iron for pregnant mares, I order natural alfaalfa/timoty hay instead of giving pellets and so on.

And they do have free choice of hay, 24/7 - see, I believe that horses must eat all the time - they are more relaxed, full tummy with hay prevents from colics thus you can offer a bit more filling (like pellets) and not worry so much about colics.  Fat ones who are on diet, gets poor nutrition hay or even straw (less calories) but still keeps tummies going.

Looked at pictures - they are in bad condition and needs a long term filling but nothing really to worry about - they are far from crucial line when happy recovery is nearly impossible.  I believe - all will beOK with them if you will continue pampering them.

I do not how ard your winter temps will be but skinny ones might need blanketing if there is no shelter awailable to protect them from loosing calories due to the cold. 

Thanks,

Will get the flaxseed oil. We are working on a three sided shed, I'm coastal Texas so not too extreme temperatures but it can be damp and cold. Would you suggest a 'sheet' over a 'blanket' ? I was reading an article on Equisearch that talked about the different temperatures and levels of sheets vs blankets.

Linda

 Sorry, can not give any advice regarding blanketing and your temps - I'm in North East of Europe, where temps drop down to -20C and even lower, but I do not blanket my horses at all. They do have solid stone stable, and on bad days (when it is not only really cold but also windy)I just keep them inside. They all have thick furry coats already (I do have WB) so mine are ready for winter. I'm considering only blanketing my 17 yo stallion (also a neglect case) - due to his age he is not recovering as fast as I would like so if he will be shivering, he will get blanket at night.

Also on really cold days the last evening meal is a bit warm bran mash with oil - it keeps them warm during the night so they are not loosing weight.

Since your horses will be outside, make sure you get turnout sheets/blankets! They will be waterproof. You definitely do not want a stable blanket on a horse who is outside -- if the horse gets wet, the wet blanket will actually be worse than no blanket at all.

I have a Weatherbeeta Landa turnout sheet that I love -- it's very good quality, but affordable (and cute, too!).

Oh, and if you have a hard time finding flaxseed oil, try Cocosoya oil. Some feed stores carry it, or you can buy it online here -- http://www.uckeleequinenutrition.com/

Good luck!

I am in on the coast in Texas too and honestly you will probably not need to blanket much unless your horses have been stalled alot and dont grow a winter coat.  Keeping hay in front of them free choice is great all the time but especially in the winter. 

If we do end up having a wet rainy winter they will definetly need that shelter so they wont get wet and cold.

Thanks,

They seem to be getting winter coats already. Two of them are from just south of Dallas and the other in between Houston and Dallas. None of them are stalled , they have 44 acres and shelter (run in shed).

Linda