Saddle up, one month!

Today marks 4 weeks to the day that I took in Seamus, every day I am glad that I did! He's a goofy sort, but I think all in all he's gonna make someone a nice horse once he figures a few things out.

I didn't write since last week as absolutely nothing has gone on... we had a pretty bad freeze and a bunch of snow last week which meant I had all three horses in for several nights and I'm still trying to dig out Seamus' stall where the wet froze with a bunch of poop in it *blegh* Luckily when it's (relatively) warm I can leave the girls out and switch Seamus between their stalls. I am in dire need of shavings, though, hopefully Wednesday I can get them. Gotta pick up hay again, too!

Today was warmish, it got up to 40-something and it was decent enough when I got to the barn. Not wonderful since today also came with some rain, but at least it wasn't "wear my coveralls" cold. While Seamus was eating I tacked him up for the first time with a bareback pad. I modified a cheap one last summer for use on my Paso Fino by cutting off those nasty, narrow stirrups and that useless slick nylon girth and adding western rigging instead- Hey, no slip!

Since Seamus is still wearing MTG on a regular basis, I also put a thin western blanket under the pad. Per usual, Seamus wasn't the least bit bothered and ate while I fiddled. Then I put my reins on his halter, pulled up a bucket and started leaning. Just like last time, he couldn't care less so I swung up on him and sat for awhile to see if he'd act any different with a girth on. Nope, still nothing. Let him finish up his feed and asked him for his head which he gave willingly enough and asked him for a circle in the stall which he also had no problem with. He actually responds to a side-pull action very nicely as I am only using some gaming reins clipped onto his halter. I doubt if he was really trained to give to pressure, but he seems to already do that well enough. He's reactive to pressure but not over reactive to stimulus so I think he's got a good brain on him.

I pulled him out for his weekly pictures but left his gear on him for one, yeah it's pretty red-neck but I use what works LOL:

Here are the in-progress pics for the week:

As you can see, Seamus is starting to plump up pretty well though he still needs a topline. At least it is finally starting to fill in a little up there and get some padding. That will be the last to come in and will probably take quite a bit of time and lots of exercise to build the muscles back.

And I dearly wish I had someone out with me to stand at this goober's head so I could get some decent conformation shots! He's a total wiggle worm on the tie right now, he just doesn't know how to stand still out in the barn aisle yet. He doesn't pull on the time, he just moves all over and back n' forth. Again, I know it will take him some time to figure it out :) Meanwhile I put a lead rope on his halter and use it to pull him back where I want him, hence the rope trailing out of all the pictures LOL

I'm also desperate for warm weather as I really want to be giving this horse a bath! With his condition I have not wanted to get him any wetter than MTG or fungal spray would make him and what he really needs is a nose to tail scrubbing to get all the dirt out. Come on Spring!

Another week under the belt

 

nomnomnom

Yesterday was Seamus' third week with me so tonight I got some progress pics to share. Sorry 'bout the muddy feet and legs, but it's been raining here for the last 36 hours straight and the paddock is more of a mud skating rink right about now... if it weren't for his blanket he would be covered head to toe! The mares actually are covered in mud despite blankets- I didn't get their Highnesses in quick enough for their liking so they started tearing about the paddock at high speed and bucking and skidding all over *sigh* Needless to say, they came in looking more like zombies than my usual beautiful little mares. Seamus was smart and tried to stay out of their way, mostly succeeding, at least until Sugar got after him causing him to trot down the fenceline... I think that's the fastest I have seen him move so far! They were all quite ready to run in the barn and get out of the rain for the night once I let them out of the paddock.

 

 

Seamus also got a new blanket tonight. Our wonderful COTHer, SonnysMom sent us yet another blanket! She purchased it on deep discount for her own horse but it was too small and he only wore it once. SM allowed me to purchase this gorgeous, brand-new Centaur blanket for what she paid (an absolute STEAL) and it's fits Seamus wonderfully so he no longer looks quite like a refugee :)

 

Seamus being very reflective

The first baby steps towards a new career

Since it was relatively warm today (above freezing, IOW) and I was off work I had grand plans to spend lots of time with ponies today... Well, that didn't happen as I got sidetracked with a mountain of laundry and a visit from the landlord to work on my bathroom. Instead I got there after dark so let them all out in the barn area to forage for grass while I cleaned Seamus' stall and set it up for the night.

After I let Seamus in to eat and rounded up the girls and threw them hay for the night, I decided since I wasn't bundled up to the hilt to go ahead and try laying across Seamus for the first time. Like the lunging, I want this to start while he's still going to be fairly quiet in order to set the foundation for retraining him later. I do have some back issues and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia last fall so I'd like things to go as smoothly as possible. There's a reason I gave up riding TBs 6+ years ago, so I hope Seamus proves to be quiet or I won't be able to do much with him involving riding later.

Tonight seemed to be a good a time as any for the first time messing with him like this- he's getting a little bit of padding over his ribs, the rainrot areas aren't sore anymore, he is getting around well outside, and he hasn't been tottery for about 10 days now. I let him eat most of his dinner while I fiddled with putting my gaming reins on his halter, both sets end to end actually so I could hang onto them while his head was down (he's much longer than my little mares!). I pulled up an upside down bucket next to him and stood on it, he couldn't have cared less. I leaned on him, ditto. I leaned more on his back and again, he kept on eating his hay unconcerned. So I finally jumped up and lay across his back and he didn't even flick an ear... so then I made the decision to go ahead and throw a leg over. Still no worries on his end so I kinda sat on him and lay on his withers in order to not put to much weight on his back for a minute, then I sat up. Seamus was perfectly quiet throughout this experiment so I sat on him for about 5 minutes then slid off. It went off without a hitch which is exactly what I wanted. Seamus got a pat and an apple for his tolerance of my antics and then was tucked in for the night.

I'm sure it won't go so well once there is a girth and a bit involved, he raced so much that those will probably be cues to act a bit hot. Ah, well, one can only hope he's smart enough to figure it out quickly because, oh man, he's a lot bigger than my little mares! :)

First visitor and first weigh-in

Too tired to write yesterday, the weather really gets me hurting...

I had to get hay yesterday so I conscripted my son (a strapping 18 year old) into helping me out and doing a good part of the grunt work with the unloading the hay, dumping heavy muck tubs, and hauling water. He was also a good boy and tacked down the tarp in Belle's stall a bit better. It's been up for 5 years and some of my original work in keeping it tied down has come undone resulting in a large tarp that billows across half the stall and a seriously tarp-proofed pony LOL

While we were there, new friend Cindy made a visit. Cindy just moved to the area this week and came by to pick up a model and visit the ponies for the first time. Seamus was a little rude, he was much too busy eating to be a gentleman and pay attention to his admirers but luckily the girls were better behaved :) But Cindy got to see Seamus' improving form first hand and we hope that she'll come to visit often! Hopefully Seamus will be better mannered next time...

Today after cleaning stalls, feeding, and getting everyone in for the night, I took Seamus' current weight via weight tape. I know they are not the most accurate way to get your horse's weight, but it's what I have currently available. I have recently found out another, more accurate way to do it by taking a couple of measurements and putting it into a online weight calculator and I will be doing that from here on out. But anyways, according to the weight tape, Seamus has gained approximately 30lbs since I got him 2 1/2 weeks ago. I think he has gained more and guesstimate more like 50, but it's in his hindquarters and belly. I am thinking that next week I will hit him with a wormer, he's strong enough now. I was too worried to do it earlier on, but he's getting around fine and doesn't look so fragile anymore.

Quite frankly, I am done with winter and want it to warm up a bit so I can start annoying Seamus with the rope halter, carrot stick, and lunge again ;)

A wee bit o' history

 

Me and Seamus, self portrait :)

Today I was at the barn and putting up a tarp in Seamus' stall to try to keep out some of the wind and snow when I hear people come in the barn... I think it's Scott coming in to take care of Russ and Uno, the track geldings, but instead it's trainer Chuck and another guy who introduces himself as a friend of Chucks. I have a feeling so I ask if he is Shug, Seamus' former owner and in fact, it is he. Interesting... so I introduce myself and tell him I'm the one who took Seamus and after some small talk, I start asking about Seamus' prior history and if he had any injuries. Shug says he had no injuries racing, though he did say that Seamus had had screws done before he bought him as a yearling. I would guess for either an OCD problem or he was a little crooked, and I don't know whether it was knee or ankle, Shug couldn't remember. Also, Shug mentioned that they injected Seamus' stifles every six months or so while he raced. It doesn't necessarily mean that Seamus will have stifle trouble, it just means he got a bit sore in them. It appears that Seamus retired from racing sound which is quite a feat considering how much he raced.

Shug mentioned he has other horses to give away and I told him that if he works with CANTER they will help him place the horses by listing them on their website and getting the word out about them. We talked a bit more and I told him how Seamus hadn't been doing well being turned out like he had been after racing and then I brought him in and took off the blanket. One of them says "Oh, he doesn't look too bad." and I reply (in my dryest voice) "Oh, this is after two weeks of good feeding..." while I pointed out Seamus' protruding spine and hips and went on to tell them about the bad case of rainrot I was in the process of defeating while indicating the bald spots.They didn't stay too much longer, but I hope I gave Shug something to think about when he is giving away horses and turning them out after their racing days are done.

Before all this went down, I had spoken to the barn owner and he had told me that Chuck and Mary had "had words" earlier in the day about the way Chuck is feeding the yearlings. I was glad to see when I went in that the feed issue seems to be resolved and since Chuck came in tonight to take care of them, it looks like he is feeding them 2 small meals a day instead of one far too big one. *whew* Let's hope this guy has learned something and that the yearlings make it out alive!

Seamus grubbin' tonight... as you can see he is terrified of the new tarp, obviously!

Week two photos- please ignore the snowflakes, our barn is rather "light and airy" aka it's a tobacco barn:

 

 

 

Gosh, will ya quit takin' pictures of me and give me my hay!

I called Seamus a fatty today LOL

Well, Seamus has been with me for two weeks now. He's picking up a little weight, though his ribs and spine still stick out pretty badly... but he's getting a little belly (hence me calling him a fatty *snicker*) and there is a little padding on his hindquarters. I know it's gonna take time but I'm sure happy he no longer looks quite like one of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse! The rainrot is mostly pulled off so he's got bald patches, big and small. I still find some little spots here and there as run my fingers through his coat during grooming and pick them out, but I'm happy to say that the areas of his body that are not covered in copious amounts of MTG are getting shinier :)

Seamus is eating two meals a day, each consisting of 2lbs of Triple Crown Growth and 1lb of Triple Crown Low Starch with MSM and oil added. He gets about 4 flakes of hay a night, any more and he wastes it, but I've given him a hay net so we'll see if that stops him stepping in it. He and the mares get a bunch of hay out in their paddock every day as well, which they all clean up and Seamus has started waiting for me up as close as he can get to the parking area. Sugar is still a bit of a witch to him, Belle doesn't really care as long as he stays out of her way. What can I say, I have a couple of mare-ish mares! Eventually they will love him, just you wait til spring- then they will be a couple of hussies LOL Anyways, Seamus is picking up weight with what is being fed so I don't know that I'll up it any more. He wears a mid-weight blanket and comes in every night so he's not wasting much energy on anything but eating and getting fat. I don't want to throw too much on him and run the risk of founder. I think he is essentially a healthy horse and just getting fed good, regular meals and pretty much all the hay he can eat will do the trick.

As for the issue with the inept trainer, Chuck... well, the skinny 3yo filly left on Saturday. I can only hope with all my heart that she's gone to a good home. The dead chestnut colt was also gone by the time I was there on Saturday evening, thank goodness. The trainer is, in fact, feeding the other two yearlings like he fed the chestnut so Mary and I are taking the feed away from them every time we see full feed tubs in front of them. With all the hay he is giving them and their ages, they don't need more than a little bit of feed and they need a growth formula instead. Chuck is feeding them like they are full grown racehorses, he fills up these 3gal. feeders to the brim with sweet feed and whole corn and he's risking foundering or colicing those poor babies :( I really hate to go behind someone like this, but I can't watch him kill another colt through ignorance. Mary is going to call Gaylon, the trainer who got Chuck into our barn. Gaylon is a good guy and knows his stuff so we're hoping that he can talk a little sense into Chuck. Please, everyone, have good thoughts that this situation can be resolved.

Seamus also received a wonderful donation of a TSC gift card today from our friend, Jen P. Thanks so very much Jen! I think we may end up using it towards buying Seamus a light-weight rainsheet for spring, I haven't decided yet. I used what was left on my Christmas present TSC card from my Dad and step-mom to buy him a heated water bucket on Saturday. I had one each for the girls and someone had to go without for Seamus to have one so I went ahead got another for the big guy :)

Oh, and I forgot my camera today so Week Two pics will be got tomorrow!

A little rant.

<rant>Well, tonight at the barn was a downer- the yearling TB died sometime today... I found him tonight when I went to clean stalls and bring ponies in for the night.

The real kicker of the matter is that this is one of the horses brought in by the trainer, Chuck, that had Seamus. There are currently 6 of various ages that this guy is responsible for, including the chestnut that died. One is a racehorse with a bowed tendon, one is a 2yo black filly, one is a 3yo bay filly (the filly I am trying to find a home for), and three yearlings (bay, bay, and chestnut). According to the barn owner, the yearlings and I believe also the 3 yo bay filly came onto our farm in bad shape- they came from the estate of Shirley Cunningham, a lawyer jailed due to fraud relating to the fen-phen cases. It's all more than I care to get into other than digging up a quick link, feel free to Google his name for more info (he was also a part owner of Curlin, it turns out). All of Mr. Cunningham's assets are apparently being liquidated and as I understand it, at least those four horses were there before they came here. I'm guessing no one was much worried about the horses on Mr. Cunningham's place since he's been in jail and apparently that didn't change much once they were brought to my boarding barn and dumped in a field and forgot about by trainer Chuck.

Last week I went out to check the condition of the 3yo filly and get some quick photos so I could post her on Facebook and ask around for a home for her since Chuck told me he was trying to get rid of her. She and the two bay yearlings were eating on a round bale the barn owner had brought out as he was tired of trying to get Chuck to feed the horses and just added the cost onto the board charge. While I was checking out the filly, I did notice the two bay yearlings were in rough shape, too. The chestnut was a couple hundred feet away and I didn't go up to him as light was fading fast. I did call the barn owner and we talked about the horses' condition and he said he would be keeping round bales in front of them. The filly is really thin, but not quite as bad as Seamus was so I felt okay with that and figured I would ask around for her without taking her on myself.

With so many eyes on him, Chuck started bringing more hay and feed out to take care of the horses better and he found that the chestnut yearling had (I assume) been kicked in the groin- the swelling was *very* bad when I saw him, it would make any man cringe... so the chestnut was up in a stall all week and seemed in decent spirits when I saw him until tonight when he is dead, instead. Why he died, I don't know, I can only guess. Some good guesses would include his condition which was very bad before he finally got hay, and then feed when he came in the barn. It's possible his body was too far gone and shut down. It did look like he had moved his legs a lot as he was laying down where he eventually died, and the fact that he seemed pretty bright earlier this week, despite his injury, I tend to think that maybe he coliced. There was a FULL ground feeder of textured feed and whole corn in the stall, I would guesstimate 6lbs of feed or so, and if that's the way Chuck started refeeding this yearling, he as good as invited colic in the front door and asked it to stay for tea *grrrr* It took me 10 full days to work Seamus up to eating 6lbs a day, split between two meals, and he is a large, full grown horse! 

The sheer incompetence of Chuck really floors me and then I had to tell Mary about the yearling and she is HOT. She's already been on a roll about this guy since Seamus got so bad and I took him, I heard this week that she is talking about him up at the Jot-Em-Down which is a store just down the road which is where a lot of racetrackers hang out, including Chuck. She said that he comes up there standing people's lunches and beers and acting like a big shot, meanwhile his horses were left out to starve. And now it seems it's feast or famine for the poor horses since Chuck doesn't have a clue on proper horse care, really. I will be keeping a closer eye on all the horses, as will Mary. We're worried about colic in all of them since the barn owner said Chuck is now feeding them... if he feeds them like he fed that poor chestnut yearling, more of them will be dropping like flies.

And it's sure no wonder ol' Seamus wouldn't or couldn't win races for this jerk! </rant>

Anyone want a pretty (and skinny) 3yo bay filly before Chuck manages to kill her, too?

Baby, it's cold outside!

Tonight all the ponies got to come in so Seamus won't be jammin' to the radio by himself all night LOL It's a nearly full barn with my three, Mary's one, two "on break" TB racehorses, and a yearling TB with an injury all up as the temps are due to drop to 14 degrees by morning with snow showers. Hope they all don't throw a party tonight...

Yes, Seamus is now a "pony" since he's joined the family, no matter how short or long term that will be... I've called the mares "ponies" for ages as even though they are horses by birth- they are ponies by size. Seamus is already getting just as spoiled as the girls so "pony" it is ;) The munchkin brought them all carrots tonight and Seamus loved his, then he came into a clean stall and ate his dinner while I let the girls graze in the lane by the fields and got all the stalls ready. Before I called the girls off their grass picking I got another large area of rainrot cleared off Seamus, his left side over his ribs and down to his hip. MTG is the BOMB! A couple of applications of that and the stuff is much easier to pull off and it's great for hair regrowth, too. It still annoys Seamus but I just put a lead rope on him and give him reminder tugs when he starts moving around. I can see an improvement in the shine of the his hair (where he still has it LOL) and am noticing him filling in just a little bit more. Still got one more side of him to de-rainrot then I can try and get him cleaned up a little!

Ah, and a friend figured out how to get a direct link to two of his winning races this week so enjoy :)

Indiana Downs 6/23/07
Indiana Downs 5/18/09

New blanket, rope halter intro, and he's feelin' fine!

So today was a little random, we got in the new (to us) donated mid-weight turnout blanket from awesome COTHer SonnysMom and fit it to Seamus today after working on his rainrot a little. It's an 80" and he swims in it, but it's in great shape and he needs it so that's all that matters! He will "grow into it" a little bit when he gains some weight, though it will always be big. At least his bony butt doesn't stick out the back LOL

The other thing that happened today was something I've been thinking about since he came in... introducing Seamus to the rope halter and lungeline while he's still too quiet to argue about it. The thought is that it will make it easier when he's getting fit again to teach him to work on the lunge. I learned to use a rope halter to do groundwork and lunging last year from the NH-type trainer I sent my Paso Fino mare to for 30 days and I quite like it. I did need to learn so that I could bring Sugar home and still do her groundwork and then I used that knowledge to teach my TWH mare, Belle, to lunge and learn some groundwork that she was missing. It's been a great way to work the horses and I want to extend that training to Seamus while he's here.

The ground was thawed today as it got into the 40's and all Seamus did was to walk some slow circles around me for about 10 minutes, tops. He was much better going to the left, the right needs work. I don't want him to get excited with the process (not really a problem as it turned out) and I want to do this once or twice a week so that when he is fit and ready to begin his re-training as something other than a racehorse, he has a start with his groundwork without us ever having to fight about it. We will also start some desensitization once I remember to buy a new carrot stick, my old once having lost an argument with the mower last summer so it's now just a stick... a useful stick for sure, but I'd like one with a string again, thankyouverymuch!

And having an ear rub for a job well done:

After the non-traumatic introduction to basic lunging, Seamus had run of the barn aisle while I cleaned his stall and put some stuff away. He sure knows where the feed room is and has no problem trying to put himself in there with me which is a rather tight fit for a large Thoroughbred gelding (or a small TWH mare but that's another story), at least he backs up easily enough with a hand to the nose and a verbal command... Reminder to self- ALWAYS shut the feed door behind me! Needless to say this is one horse who doesn't have claustrophobic issues LOL But he seems to be in good spirits and is his personality is emerging, I think he's going to be one of those nosy, goofy geldings that everyone loves.

'Night folks!

One week down...

...now maybe I can stop expecting to show up at the barn and find Seamus dead in the paddock! Okay, okay... so maybe I'm a little melodramatic, but his condition was kinda scary last week. The first photos I took of him actually make him look like he carried more weight than he did. He tottered around like those steps were gonna be his last and I'm glad to say his walk is a little more firm now and his body doesn't look quite so dessicated.

The vet came out today to do Seamus' exam and draw blood for a Coggins test. Dr. Burnes spent quite some time listening to his heart and gave me the news that Seamus does have a heart murmur and was likely born with it given he is still a relatively young horse. He did say that it will probably not affect him in any noticable manner, though. Seamus was a fidgeter, but I took hold of his lip and in true racehorse form he stopped moving entirely for quite some time.

I did get some new photos today:

And here are two headshots; as you can see, Seamus has a fine profile and very expressive eyes:

And before I leave you for the night, I want to give a great big shout-out to COTHer SonnysMom for sending Seamus a nice mid-weight blanket and a bag of horse treats. I am ever so grateful to the folks who have sent Seamus donations of any kind- we've had several monetary, the blanket and treats, and the initial vet work donated to the big guy... much love and our undying thanks for helping us get through the first week!

Rainrot is the devil...

I've had to deal with rainrot on a few occasions (and always Thoroughbreds), sometimes I even thought it was a pretty bad case I was dealing with. But it turns out that those times were just practice for getting Seamus *sigh* I have to work at the patches slowly because it does bother him and he's starting to get the energy to let me know instead of just taking it. I've heard that the spots don't hurt, but it must be at least a little uncomfortable for the horse to have patches of hair and a skin layer come off, sometimes causing several square inches of almost bald spots. Seems like nerve endings might be exposed or something... regardless, both of us can only take it for so long- him from the discomfort and me getting tired of making him uncomfortable :( Today I even got my foot stepped on, though I'm glad to say Seamus moved off readily enough. I guess that's what I get for standing at his butt constantly annoying him, I'm just lucky he's not trying to kick my head off!

But his butt from the hips back is almost rainrot free, course it's also missing a lot of skin and hair:

 

The areas over his ribs are going to be even worse, they are solid patches of rainrot. We will start on that this week, I will check for any missed spots on his rear-end tomorrow while waiting for the vet. I'm also glad to say that the swelling has gone down in his hind legs, and after I had a good long talk with the vet on the phone yesterday about whether or not to go ahead and start antibiotics or wait until he was seen. We opted to wait and the swelling went bye-bye on it's own LOL

I know getting him back up to weight is going to take lots of time, but I'm glad to say that I think I am already seeing some miniscule results- he doesn't seem quite so shrunken and tottery now, it's like he's starting to seem a little more solid. I will try to get some pics from the side tomorrow as tomorrow marks one week that he came into my life and a re-introduction of food into his!