To make a long story short, three things have happened recently. Maxwell has yet another new farrier. He actually has his second appointment with this farrier on January 12th. His feet have held up very well since the last trim, and so far I'm impressed! The second thing, is following a minor gas colic episode, Maxwell has had all processed grains removed from his diet. Not including his supplements, my horse is on a 100% forage based diet. The third thing, is a quest to find hay that Maxwell approves of, following the gas colic episode. Here we go....
Not a whole lot to report on in terms of the farrier. My previous farrier, who I thought I liked okay, seemed to want to focus on different issues with my horse's feet, rather than the issues both I and my vet were concerned with. Knowing that it's hard to reason with someone who views something differently than you, I knew it was time to find another farrier. I'm hopeful for a bright future with sound feet. (not that Maxwell was actually ever unsound, but we were probably pretty close with some of the cracks that developed a mere 2 weeks following his last trim with old farrier)....
The gas colic thing was strange. I knew something was wrong. I'll spare all the details, but basically I figured out he was having a gas colic, which passed, and he was fine. However, we always knew he had the potential to be sensitive to fats in his diet. Processed grains, fats, preservatives, additives. You could feed him the best grain (I did! He was on Seminole Wellness Senior Mix, a very good senior feed) but the amount of 'junk' in it just didn't agree with his body. The fats were a little too much for his very delicate system. After discussing with a trusted friend, I decided to turn down the path of feeding a 100% forage based diet. I replaced his 6lb grain meal with 6lbs of alfalfa pellets, on top of the alfalfa pellets he was already receiving with the grain. That makes for a total of 12lbs of alfalfa pellets per day. He's also getting 2lbs of Cavalor Fiberforce. This gives him a bit more for calories as well as some nutrients which straight alfalfa can't provide. In addition to the alf and cavalor, he's also receiving a multi vitamin, magnesium supplement, Smart Digest Ultra, and U Gard. He's been blossoming on this diet, so far. Time will only tell.
The hay thing has by far been the most frustrating part of the last few months....Maxwell came to me eating coastal hay. When I brought him home, we swapped him to the barn's T/A/O. Maxwell was eating such a large quantity of hay, that I needed to try to save a bit of money. The T/A/O is $14 a bale and he was eating a bale a day from his hay net. We put him back on coastal and he did great for some time. However, lately, Maxwell hasn't been impressed with ANY hay. I gave up on coastal and started bringing in compressed bales of various types. He ate off a compressed bale of gorgeous straight orchard grass for 5 days before he decided he didn't like it any longer. Next he tried a beautiful orchard/alfalfa (pictured below) which he loved immensely, however at $16 a bale, it wasn't lasting long enough to be worth the cost. One bale lasted 1.5 days. So, yesterday we swapped him back to the barn's T/A/O hay....too soon to tell. He used to clean it right up, but lately he hasn't cleaned anything up, really.
Which leads me to my next thing:
Stress. Maxwell is a stoic soul. He doesn't really tell you what's bothering him, unless it's REALLY bothering him. A shuffle in barn mates has made it more stressful for Maxwell. He lost his paddock buddy, who moved, and he's been in a barn full of mares for the last month. He's gotten a bit more grumpier in his stall, which is heartbreaking. He just doesn't get along with the moody mares. He likes the dead head gelding friends he once knew. Anyways, we've always had our woes in riding. Once he warms up, he's like melted butter in my hands, but during the warm up, it's heartbreaking to see how much he objects at times. We're starting to really work into contact. He's started to stretch into the bit and lift his back up. However, with this huge milestone in his training, and all this added stress from his daily life, he's started to become quite a busy mouth under saddle. His teeth are fine, the bit fits him, he's ACCEPTING, taking, ASKING for contact, however he finds it necessary to grind and chew on his bit. I took his bridle home for cleaning this past weekend, and the indentations on his metal bit were rather interesting. The amount of stress on him, combined with ALWAYS trying to do what I ask of him, has left him feeling conflicted. I think he likes the bit, he enjoys seeking and finding the contact, and I ALWAYS have a blast riding him when he starts to ask and we have those beautiful moments of connection. Now I just need to alleviate his stress.
Two new geldings have arrived in his barn, and I'm hoping the dynamics change a little, and the mares lay off some. I'm searching for a new bit. There's nothing wrong with the full cheek french link he's gone in since I got him (well, he did some time in a loose ring with the same mouth), but I'd like to play around with different pieces in his mouth. We have brakes, he's fairly soft, but I'd like to keep encouraging him with the bit. Sometimes it's the piece in their mouth causing anxiety. I know part of this is from his daily life, but sometimes a change of mouth pieces means the world. Anyone have suggestions? Again, soft mouth, we have brakes in a french link, just looking for something different for him. Maybe a mullen? I dunno.
The last step in the journey I've been on lately, involves reducing stress as best as I can for this guy. I've tried to move his stall, which I was unable to do. I'm hoping the geldings even things out in his barn a little bit. My next step is treating for ulcers, working on saddle fit, and hopefully boosting his hay craving while reducing the stress/pain/tension in his life. We're going to start ulcer treatment in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully I can get someone out to help assist me with his saddle. We need to try and make this saddle work for another year, and then I can look into purchasing a new saddle that fits him perfectly. Between a bit change, ulcer treatment, and saddle fitting, I'm hoping to get over the few little humps standing between Maxwell & I and the sky as our limit. One thing at a time.
One expensive thing at a time.
Looking good on the forage only diet. This is that pretty 50/50 orchard alfalfa mix. YUM!
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