My Horse Dixie

This is my Quarter Horse Dixie, after a 2-month stay at a friend of a friend's boarding place(ie: a field with no cover). She is 18 years old and supposed to be over 1200lbs(she's 15.3). Before I moved her there, she was holding her weight just fine. I moved her in January to this new place so she would be closer, and would be paying the same amount in board. I also gave the woman over $40 in various paste wormers(good quality ones) so she could worm Dixie every 6-8 weeks on a rotating schedule.

So.. This woman(who is nuts BTW and breeds HYPP positive horses only for a profit) proceeds to tell me that Dixie isn't eating her hay and is a very slow eater in general. I already knew she was a slow eater as she's been that way every since I got her 10 years ago. She tells me she's put Dixie on a hay-based pellet plus oats/complete pellet mixture, which equals up to 10lbs twice a day, because she's losing weight. She tells me the problem is her teeth as she's been worming her. She's dosed her twice with plain ivermectin. I say.. DUH lady.. Ivomec doesn't get rid of tapeworms, now does it.. Dumb, dumb people.. Horses who don't drop food out of their mouth don't have teeth problems..

I went and picked Dixie up with the help of a friend of the new stable she is being boarded at now. This was the 29th. When my mom saw her, she almost cried. Dixie didn't look like my horse.. You could see her spine, her ribs had no fat cover, her hindquarters were sunken in, you could see her pelvis and every bone in the sacrum. A previously healthy horse does not get that way in 2 months time from teeth problems.

As it stands now, the new stable actually cares about their horses. Dixie is getting 8lbs total(twice daily feedings equaling 8lbs) of a high quality senior feed(they feed Strategy normally). Brent, the owner/barn manager says she is grazing, eating her hay and eating all of her grain. She's not dropping food on the ground and is doing fine.

I've also talked to her vet when I was buying a full round of vaccinations from him(he was one of my teachers in RVT school). He said it's very unlikely her teeth are the problem and to just deworm her with Equimax and a 30-day round of Strongid C2x, the daily dewormer, just to clean her out all the way.

Anywho, here are pictures. They don't look as bad as she actually is.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...y/101_0147.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...y/101_0148.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...y/101_0149.jpg

I'll keep posting as she gains weight and starts looking like her normal self.

Wow Becky, she does look very lean. I'm not very good with horses and everything, but that does make me sad. I'm glad to hear you've got her into a very respectable stable now. Things are already looking up.

O my god :O.Sorry to hear she was not being taken care of properly :(.I bet they billed you properly though :mad:

Gah, Becky! I would be livid! If Dixie demonstrably improves at the new stable, can you pursue legal action?

Oh my!!! Her back legs have hardly any muscle on them and she looks so thin! Very sad!! I hate people that are just into animals for a profit, because almost every time the animals suffer. :(:mad::tears:

Wow Becky, poor Dixie! My mom had that happen at a barn a few years ago. That woman was a nutcase!
I am sure she will be back to her old self in no time :)

She has been colicking since yesterday evening, and hasn't passed any stool since yesterday afternoon. After oil and water mixture, banamine and xylazine, she still hasn't passed anything and we did that at 630p yesterday. I'm not too hopeful.. And I don't have funding to take her in for surgery..

I would love to send these vet bills to that nutcase lady...

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

She has been colicking since yesterday evening, and hasn't passed any stool since yesterday afternoon. After oil and water mixture, banamine and xylazine, she still hasn't passed anything and we did that at 630p yesterday. I'm not too hopeful.. And I don't have funding to take her in for surgery..

I would love to send these vet bills to that nutcase lady...

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ohh the poor girl! thats awful!

oh NO! Keep us updated...I wonder if she could be collicky because of the worming??? Especially if she has been incorrectly wormed in the last few months, those nasty tapeworms can build up. I hope she makes it through. I'm so glad you got her out of there!!!!

And as a fellow horse person...you CAN tell she's obviously lost weight, you shouldn't see the division between the hipbones like you can in the picture, not to mention she looks weak, and is holding herself wrong (all four feet are slightly under her). Bad bad lady!!!!! Hopefully you can fatten her up again and let her be a happy old girl again...although 18 really isnt old old...but when an older horse goes through stuff like that its really hard on them. poor gal.

I can't believe there are actually people out there that think its ok to breed HYPP horses!!!! its just wrong to play with that kind of a genetic disease!!!

Dixie passed away last night unfortunately.. She was my first and only horse and I've had her since she was 8 years old.

The barn manager, Brent, checked on her around 5 yesterday and she was up and walking around, but still looking very uncomfortable. He went to go feed the other mares, talked to Jack(the guy who hauled Dixie there for me) for maybe 10 minutes, then went back to check on her. She was gone when he went back, so it was very quick..

The vet thinks she had a thrombus that went to the arteries supplying the intestines, and the colic was secondary to that.. There wouldn't have been anything we could have done anyway.. Poor girl..

I'm just happy that she was in a good place that cared about her these last 2 weeks..

I am so sorry to hear that Becky... :(

Like you said, being comfortable towards the end, to me... is VERY important.

Oh no! I am so very sorry to hear of your loss. My thoughts are with you through this.

I am sorry. She was a beautiful girl, even though she was thin. You must be heartsick. :( I lost my old mare this past september and it was very difficult. My thoughts are with you.


____________________________________________
2.1.0 horses, Will, Fly, Velvet
3.5.0 basenjis Pip, Alibi, Will2, Zinnia, Bella, Azalea, Kayle, Starling
0.2.0 elderly muttly dogs, Holly and Helga
1.0.0 cat, Toby
and of course
0.1.0 ball python, Miss Paradox!
(and various random bunnies)

OH no! I just read the news. I'm so sorry for the loss :(. But atleast now you know that she had something seriously wrong with her that wasn't because of her being abused by the previous boarding facility. Poor mare, i hate it when they get sick, and even more when their lives get cut short :(

Oh Becky I'm so sorry. I would most definately attempt to get some legal action against that woman. And also, word of mouth. The equine world is quite small in that aspect. Hopefully you can prevent her from doing this to someone elses horse. I'm sorry Becky. :(

Forgot to add, this woman is also quite proud of the fact that she breeds HYPP positive horses.. together.. YAY!

Why do people have to be so dumb and ignorant?

Hold on, though-- if she had a thrombus, that was not caused by poor care, was it? Would she have gotten thin from the thrombus? I looked this up as I do ahve my own horses and I wanted to know what this was. Thrombus is a blood clot, in this case, a clot in the veins that supply the intestine. Thrombosis itself causes malabsorption and progressive loss of weight and then anemia and other imbalances. The thrombosis is usually a result of another disease process-- possibly cancer or lesions in the intestinal wall caused by parasites, etc. I know that it was a shock to discover her in that condition but it is probably fair to say that the care at the boarding barn was not the issue. There may be other aspects of the care that were unsatisfactory. Maybe the owner should have called you to come out and check on her when she became thin. Were you far away? I can see being upset and sad adn grief stricken, but if this was a thrombosis related colic, then the barn owner did not cause it. That is good. Eventually it may be a relief to know that it wasn't something anyone could have prevented. You could not have known. The barn owner could not have known. It's not your fault for choosing the barn and not the BO's fault. It seems like just one of those things. :(

I am sorry.

Aw.. I don't know what to say :*( Breeding hypp.. I would bet that the people who buy from her are clueless as to genetics and want a pretty horse.. how unconscionable of this person. "People" like her should not even have their own horses.. let alone, breed.. let alone board others' horses. But we can't help it sometimes.. horsepeople that seem very outwardly knowledgible and helpful to us, can be complete ignoramuses on the inside. I am very sorry for your loss and I could definately see where she was underweight through the croup area, and it looked like they let her feet get a tad long too though it is hard to tell..
If it were thrombosis, it could have been caused by the lesions of the parasites that the people were not treating her for? In any case, none of this seems to me to be your fault at all.. I am sad for your loss.

The woman's other horses all look in pretty poor condition. She doesn't worm her horses regularly and she doesn't vaccinate regularly, if at all.. If I had known that prior to moving Dixie, I would have NEVER moved her.

Dixie was also being boarded there(not a barn, just a field without any shelter, about 15 miles away) for 2 months. She had maintained her weight at the previous place for over a year and had been fine(1200lbs, plus or minus a few lbs here and there).

It also doesn't take 2 months for intestines to die. She hadn't shown signs of colic or discomfort for the 1.5 weeks she was at the new barn(5 miles away). She started showing discomfort that Wednesday late afternoon and passed the next afternoon. She was also passing waste the entire time she was there, minus those last 2 days. She had also started to fill in just slightly, be it just being well-hydrated or actually being fed decent food. Unless she had some sort of fast moving cancer, which I highly doubt, then I am just suspecting that the dumb woman didn't feed her and didn't worm her properly. My vet says the clots just happen sometimes and her condition didn't help. There wasn't anything we could have done anyway.

Yeah Becky some people shouldn't be aloud to keep animals. And from the look of it this woman shouldn't be keeping horses at all. I was raised around horses and you are correct bad teeth isn't going to cause a drop in weight like that in just two months.

When was the last time you had her teeth floated though?

I wish you the best of luck and hopefully with all the meds and good keeping she'll be right back into the swing of things in no time.

... She has already passed away.

I did ask the vet about her teeth and he said they were fine. She wasn't dropping food out of her mouth and was eating normally, and at a normal speed. She was also eating a good amount of hay too at the new place she was at. The barn owner was always keeping an eye on her and said she definitely didn't have problems eating as the dumb woman had said.

So sorry to hear about your horse. It sounds like she was very special to you. That is so sad.:(

I'm so sorry to hear that, Becky...

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

I am just suspecting that the dumb woman didn't feed her and didn't worm her properly. My vet says the clots just happen sometimes and her condition didn't help. There wasn't anything we could have done anyway.

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This was what I was thinking also. I despise people that skimp on their horses' (or horses that they are hosting/caring for) feed. If they can't afford the feed, then they should not have horses. This is a sore issue with me. :( Sorry that it had to happen like this.

I'm sorry for your loss. Is there anyway you can call animal control or get somebody to check her facility out? It doesn't sound like any of the horses are being well taken care off.

Awwww, Becky

I'm sooooooo sorry to read of Dixie passing away. 18 isn't young, but definitely wasn't old enough (my Happy was 35) to pass away like that. :tears::tears:

It's terrible that she coliced, just when you were getting her back on the road to health after that other idjit neglected her!!!

:hug:s and prayers go out to you during this sad time!! Keep the memories of all the loving and fun times in your heart. At least now she's no longer in pain.

:grouphug:

Are you going to be able to get some recompense from the lady for Dixie's neglect? Or at least someone to investigate and protect the other horses in her care?

Heartfelt thoughts and prayers going out to you!


RuLyn