SETTLING IN
JANUARY 7TH, 2018
The girls are settling in very well! Carmen and Georgie have stalls across from each other so that they can see one another any time they would like! They have been enjoying their time outside in the pasture together and have made friends over the fence with some of the other horses. We already love these two so much!
This past week has been a learning experience for all of us. The girls adjusted quickly to the barn and their new way of life. Carmen had foundered prior to coming to us. One of the first things we did when Carmen arrived was get x-rays done of her front feet (since she was placed in casts after foundering). From there, her x-rays were sent to our farrier to come up with a game plan to make her comfortable again. She has now been placed on a LS (Low Starch) grain and quality hay. She has a long way to go. The stress of her founder also caused her to lose some weight, but we'll soon fix that!
Georgie is getting used to being handled more frequently. We have not put her back into training yet, but will begin that process shortly. We wanted to give her time to settle in first. She is eager to be turned out in the morning and tries to get in front of you when she is being led to her pasture. Every day she is getting better and better about walking beside us. In the evenings we walk both girls together back to the barn and to their stalls.
We cannot wait to see these girls bloom in the life they deserve. Please stay tuned as their progress will be posted!
This past week has been a learning experience for all of us. The girls adjusted quickly to the barn and their new way of life. Carmen had foundered prior to coming to us. One of the first things we did when Carmen arrived was get x-rays done of her front feet (since she was placed in casts after foundering). From there, her x-rays were sent to our farrier to come up with a game plan to make her comfortable again. She has now been placed on a LS (Low Starch) grain and quality hay. She has a long way to go. The stress of her founder also caused her to lose some weight, but we'll soon fix that!
Georgie is getting used to being handled more frequently. We have not put her back into training yet, but will begin that process shortly. We wanted to give her time to settle in first. She is eager to be turned out in the morning and tries to get in front of you when she is being led to her pasture. Every day she is getting better and better about walking beside us. In the evenings we walk both girls together back to the barn and to their stalls.
We cannot wait to see these girls bloom in the life they deserve. Please stay tuned as their progress will be posted!
A BIG WEEK FOR CARMEN
JANUARY 13TH, 2018
Friday morning we discovered that Carmen had an abscess in her back left hoof. We spent a good while soaking her leg in a bucket of Epsom salt and warm water. While her foot soaked Jeff gave her a good grooming. She loved all the attention!
Our farrier is coming tomorrow to look at Carmen's feet. He has looked over her x-rays and hopefully will have a plan on getting Carmen more comfortable. We are also going to have him look at Carmen's back hoof where the abscess erupted.
On a positive note - Georgie was awesome while we were taking care of Carmen! Even though she couldn't see her mom she wasn't stressed out. She happily munched on her hay in her stall (:
Our farrier is coming tomorrow to look at Carmen's feet. He has looked over her x-rays and hopefully will have a plan on getting Carmen more comfortable. We are also going to have him look at Carmen's back hoof where the abscess erupted.
On a positive note - Georgie was awesome while we were taking care of Carmen! Even though she couldn't see her mom she wasn't stressed out. She happily munched on her hay in her stall (:
A BIT MORE THAN EXPECTED
JANUARY 16TH, 2018
Well, today was the day! Our farrier came out to look at Carmen's feet on Saturday and decided to come back today to start the process of getting her feet back to normal.
His work began by pulling off her casts and checking the hoof below. After the casts came off you could clearly see that Carmen's toe was bruised on her front feet. He placed a shoe on her front right foot, but is going to wait until her front left hoof gets better before placing a shoe. He also trimmed up her back hooves, but didn't want to do too much to her all at once since this will already be quite the change for her. Carmen stood very well for our farrier while he worked on her. We put Georgie on the cross ties in the wash stall a few down from her so that Carmen could have her support.
While Carmen was having her feet done, our vet continued to monitor Carmen as well as give her a thorough exam. During her exam she recommended that Carmen have her teeth done. Well, why not? The vet was there and Carmen was already sedated. So, she opens her mouth and takes a better look. Well... she did need her teeth done! It was discovered that she actually had a tooth in there that was overgrown and was likely causing her some discomfort (pictured below). BUT - we took care of that. A tooth like that explains why Carmen had lost weight. We had already been wetting her food (thankfully!) so at least it had been easier for her to eat, but now with that tooth taken care of it should be even easier.
Carmen's road to full recovery is just beginning. We are very happy that the girls have found their home with us! With that being said, the costs for Carmen's treatments are quickly piling up. If you are able to help us in supporting her recovery please click the link below. We have started a GoFundMe for Carmen!
Thank you all for your well wishes for our girl. She truly is an angel and she WILL be well again. Just takes a little time and a lot of TLC (which we have PLENTY of!!!)
His work began by pulling off her casts and checking the hoof below. After the casts came off you could clearly see that Carmen's toe was bruised on her front feet. He placed a shoe on her front right foot, but is going to wait until her front left hoof gets better before placing a shoe. He also trimmed up her back hooves, but didn't want to do too much to her all at once since this will already be quite the change for her. Carmen stood very well for our farrier while he worked on her. We put Georgie on the cross ties in the wash stall a few down from her so that Carmen could have her support.
While Carmen was having her feet done, our vet continued to monitor Carmen as well as give her a thorough exam. During her exam she recommended that Carmen have her teeth done. Well, why not? The vet was there and Carmen was already sedated. So, she opens her mouth and takes a better look. Well... she did need her teeth done! It was discovered that she actually had a tooth in there that was overgrown and was likely causing her some discomfort (pictured below). BUT - we took care of that. A tooth like that explains why Carmen had lost weight. We had already been wetting her food (thankfully!) so at least it had been easier for her to eat, but now with that tooth taken care of it should be even easier.
Carmen's road to full recovery is just beginning. We are very happy that the girls have found their home with us! With that being said, the costs for Carmen's treatments are quickly piling up. If you are able to help us in supporting her recovery please click the link below. We have started a GoFundMe for Carmen!
Thank you all for your well wishes for our girl. She truly is an angel and she WILL be well again. Just takes a little time and a lot of TLC (which we have PLENTY of!!!)
You can tell from the picture above that our Carmen needs some weight (which will come with time), but look at how good she is being for our farrier!