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!
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