There's no more heat in Chrome's legs, so that's good. No swelling either. I cut back how much Safechoice he's getting and started him on a vitamin/mineral supplement called Grow Colt, because he's not eating the minimum Safechoice required to meet his mineral needs. It suggests feeding about seven pounds and he's getting about three or four. I guess he inherited the Friesian 'gets fat on air' gene lol. I have to keep the weight off of him to keep the stress off of his joints, but he gets free choice hay so he's not hungry. I'm also going to set it up to where I don't have to keep him in the small pen at night. I don't trust my neighbors, so I'll set up a double fence to where he couldn't reach someone if they stopped. I would post no touching, feeding, trespassing signs, etc, but it only seems to provoke the teenagers to do it anyway. Sigh.
I'm going to give Chrome two weeks on the new diet/supplement and if he still seems uncomfortable or if there is anymore heat in his legs I'll get the x-rays done, but I kind of need to rearrange the budget because I don't have a spare three hundred dollars laying around lol. I'll keep everyone updated. Keep sending him those positive thoughts.
Great that there's no heat, that's good news. I also have a horse that gets fat on fresh air, so I know how hard it is managing the diet. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you :)
ReplyDeleteI too liked that you liked what I said about growing pains. Sounds like a plan. I'm not so worried about Chrome at the moment, especially since the heat is gone, I'm more worried about you worrying about Chrome and over-thinking. But that's how my M functions too. Works for her.
ReplyDeleteStanding by for more good news to come
Oh, we took a new horse to a Gold Coast horse show today and he kicked some serious horse-butt. My family is ecstatic :)
Twinkie
I'm so glad to hear that Chrome is doing better and that the heat is gone. Colts often overdo and kick things they shouldn't, etc. They usually get over their ouchies pretty quickly by themselves. I'm sure that you put cold packs on areas that you feel heat in and that usually takes care of things, but it is good that you are double checking on his diet... Hopefully they aren't charging you for THAT info.
ReplyDeleteOur doggie daycare place has lots of horses too and they posted those signs, but they had to finally just stop leaving the horses in the corrals which fronted the street. I think that Chrome is just so cute that people cannot resist wanting to meet him.
ReplyDeleteKisses,
Dexter
Hurray! Great news!
ReplyDeleteAs far as diet, it has been a long time since my baby was a baby, so I'm not up on their nutritional requirements, but something to keep in mind--Safe Coice isn't that safe. They wanted to switch the insulin resistant horses at our barn to it. (Cruise is insulin resistant.) I did some research on it, and it has a ton of carbs on it. When Chrome gets older, if you are worried about his metabolism, it isn't the best choice. It is very high in carbs. There are much safer feeds.
Cruiser was diagnosed with Insulin Resistance about 2 years ago when he re-injurred his bowed tendon for no good reason. I had a smart vet who specializes in bowed tendons. They found that horses that bow for no reason tend to be insulin resistant or cushings. I was so lucky. He is a thin horse, so it wasn't obvious. The vet thinks it contributed to the original pull, too.
ReplyDeleteWe switched him to Safe n Easy. With IR horses, the key is the NSC. Safe n Easy is 12.5%. Safe Choice isn't listed on the bag--strange for a "safe feed." With research I found it is between 16% and 22%.
If you send me your e-mail, I can forward you a list of different feeds and the NSC.
When I get my next Morab, hopefully years from now and not sooner, I will keep him on a low carb food. I think that may be why Cruiser was so crazy as a young horse.
They tend to be lower in protein, so I don't know if they would be good for a growing horse.