I have a Horse.

ChrissyBz

I already posted this in "the other thread"but I thought it was worthwhile re-posting here.

I just had a visit from my next door neighbor. Turns out that the people down the road that had the beat up small stallion that I kept rescuing... STILL have horses and she thinks it's one of them. Now I'm torn, they DO NOT take care of their horses, have not come looking, the owner lives in Miami, but, should I do the legally correct thing, and go there and notify them? Or do what feel right in my heart and just keep looking after her and racking up vet and feed bills? I know if she goes back, she'll more than likely end up dead. Marga told me(and she knows the care taker well) that Bree's better off here and she certainly wasn't going to tell them.:-/

A moral and ethical dilemma. Yipee Just what I needed.

Yes, I've been keeping all my receipts. Vet, care, feed, misc. So far I've spent about $600 bzd. Marga(neighbor) said they probably don't even know she's missing. My question... What happened to her Dam? A 10 month foal even though weaned wouldn't leave the safety of momma and the herd without something catastrophic happening. That I know of 3 horses from that herd have been hit and killed on the highway. One right in front of here,(killed outright) one had to be shot a mile down the road with a shattered shoulder.

Love's_Sophie

Hunger will make them leave the herd... And she has that independent attitude too, so hunger probably meant 'explore' options outside the fence for her...

Maybe get her freeze branded, so if they come lookin' for her you can ask for any 'significant' marks...if they don't point out the brand...Lol...Hmmmm...no way for them to prove it's their horse...haha!

I am not sure what I would do in this case...I feel for ya...Part of me would want to at least find out, and then see if you could simply adopt her for the price you've already paid for in bills (showing them proof of them), or if you could outright buy her. But then, if they decide to say no, then you are stuck not knowing what will happen to her...ugggghhhh!!!

Annamarie

if they haven't come looking for her, what's the amount of time they have to come claim her? if they don't claim her within that time she's yours right?

ChrissyBz

IDK, I looked the laws of Belize up on line. Saying basically, that there not being an oficial pound within 3 miles I become "the poundkeeper" by default. The also say I'm req to report to a magistrate my impoundment of the animal, which I tried to do, they told me to call public health. I had trouble getting through to them. The phone was busy for 2 hours. During that time, I called legal assistance, and THEY told me to call the Humane Society, (which I had already done the 3rd day after catching her) The last thing the magistrates office told me was to call the police which having dealt with them before on the last stray horse, I know that they're just not terribly interested. It's all very ambiguous here.

On the advice of the Humane Society I sent a timeline of EVERYTHING I had done with the horse up to last Friday, and she told me she would open a file, and to consider the horse mine.

STILL, having dealt with this herd and owner before(not truly knowing if she did come from there) The owner has "connections" he's VERY rich(and stupid IMO) He could make trouble for me.

I do know that Lilly, and the Humane Society WILL go to bat for me this time so at least I won't be fighting them alone.

It all may come to nothing. A couple more months, and she won't look like the same horse anyway.

Dakota Spirit

Would it be possible to call your neighbors and ask if they are missing a horse? I know you mentioned earlier that a lot of people claim animals that aren't theirs - but you could always have him describe Bree (in detail) before hand. At least then you could know one way or the other, if you need to worry about this man.

My only worry would be that he would then get suspicious and end up driving by your house looking for her.

Good luck and keep us posted!

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ChrissyBz

On another note, after her being wormed with Mebendazole on Friday night and watching her all weekend, her belly seems even BIGGER than it did before the worming. The belly pain SEEMS to have gone, but she's resting(down) more than I'm used to seeing. She's also not drinking as much water as I'd like to see. Especially as she's on hay 1/2 the day. I have in effect been free feeding her hay in an effort to keep her from over grazing and pulling up the short grass in her pen so she doesn't take in too much dirt. It's very clayey and not sandy but still. After all the colic issues, I've been hesitant to give her any grains at all over the last week.

I wanted to give her some psyllium to add extra fiber to her gut but she's REALLY not interested in it when I put it in a mash and I don't know about feeding it dry. Has anyone here ever fed psyllium? Wet or Dry??? I've read up on it and gotten conflicting advice.

The Vet book I have says dry mixed with grain, the horse forum says WET or you can cause colic from expansion in the stomach.


It would have been nice to get farther in my preparations BEFORE the horses arrival.

He doesn't even have a phone. and after the whole issue with the stallion a few years ago, they would DEF twig if I drove down there and asked about their horses. Only a caretaker lives there, and he doesn't speak great english. (Lebanese) It's not certain that the horse IS actually theirs so at this time I think I'm just going to follow the path of ignorance. There are three houses in the two miles between our property and theirs, it's not far, and we've got the best grass around.

If nearly three weeks pass and you aren't out looking for your horse and/or don't even realize it's gone then you're not looking after it very good anyway. It will be three weeks on Sat. Soooooo.

Especially, us being a restaurant and having a great deal of traffic passing through, we WOULD be the most logical place to put the word out.



I remember once we had a herd of 20 horses in the back yard. Another time it was 5 Water Buffalo. (now THEY did some damage) Our Breadfruit tree has never been the same. The Buffaloes walked RIGHT over it (it was 6' high) and snapped it in half. We never got compensated for that one either. ALL of these incidences have always happened at night.

Except for this last time.

Inga

Chrissy, maybe you already answered this but please do again so I don't have to read through so many posts. Do you have a fenced in pasture for Bree now?

ChrissyBz

Fenced corral yes. Fenced pasture... no.

So many things to do, so little time. She gets hay in the corral, which is actually better nutritionally than the grass. The hay runs 10-12% protein while the grass is only 2-3%.

She much prefers the grass though.:-/ I w did some lateral longeing today. walking, a very little bit of trotting, lots of working with vocal commands. Walk on, trot, whoa, back, etc. We worked for about 45 min. IDKW she's not drinking much water. Today, ALL day, 2.5 gallons. She may have had more in the last 1&1/2 hours. I'm going to check on her again in a bit.

ETA: She's tied out to eat grass 6-8 hours/day

Annamarie

unless she's on sand I wouldn't worry about giving her psyllium. the belly is probably "hay belly", watch that she's not getting too fat you should be able to feel but not see her ribs. so if the hay she's munching on has a lot of nutrition in it you might want to buy her a lesser quality hay to nibble on all day.

ChrissyBz

No sand, it's clay/dirt and I've been spreading shavings in the center for her to lay and roll on as she was beginning to lay down/roll in a corner and nearly cast her self a couple days ago. She does still try to graze what little grass is in there and it max 1-2" high. What's bothering me most is the lack of water intake. You can lead a horse to water...

BTW, we've pretty much decided(me and juan) that she can't have possibly come from the farm the other horses are at. He picked up the shavings there and talked to the workers.(mahogany furniture shop) and he saw the horses. They are WILD. no halters, they don't supplement or worm, OR WATER them. EVER. No way did she come from that halter trained, calm, and tick free.

BTW Annamarie, inquiring minds want to know... How's the little 'un treating you? MS going away?

And, she's def not fat. I can feel her ribs, can't see them, but if anything, she's lost a little off the top of her bum. I see a steeper angle there. No bum dimples. Her muscle tone looks good. I'll take new pics tomorrow. I'm really glad the ouchy belly's gone, she'll let me rub/push in front of her flank no prob now and that was strictly OFF limits last week.

Annamarie

if she's lost a little on the top of her bum i'd say she's just lost some muscle there. sounds like she's doing well! and I think you're right, I don't think she came from there. she looks too well cared for and tame to be from there.

as far as the little one, I've gone into nesting mode... started cleaning up the house and trying to organize a spot in the baby's room morning sickness is still there but I've cut back my meds to 1/2 what they were. I tried not taking them and was just miserably sick without them. hopefully it goes away completely soon. I do have a lot more energy most days now though, it's nice 2nd ultrasound is in 2 or 3 weeks, I can't wait!! we'll probably find out the gender at that time yay!

RubesMom

As far as books go, Chrissy, look into Monty Roberts if you have not already. He's a horse trainer who has been around for a long time, has a ton of experience, and is AMAZING. His work is based on his observations of how horses interact with each other in the wild, and he uses only nonviolent techniques. Fascinating stuff. Good luck with Brisa; I would've chosen that name, too.

ChrissyBz

I've read Monty's Book Shy Boy, Amazing story. I've got some great books on the way from Amazon.

Annamarie, I don't even want kids but I'm excited for you.

Rough_Collies2008

Chrissy, At this point...as long as she is drinking I personally wouldn't worry about how much(of course, still watch her). As long as she is drinking anything it is all good signs.

Sounds like she is doing really well though. Because you don't know when she was weaned, it is possible her belly is from the 'transition' period of going off of mom completely, and eating only hay. Some foals get a belly around her age, and they slim off a few months later.

Be sure to take plenty of pictures of Brisa, they change so fast!(I was looking at Texas's 5 month old pictures, and the ones I took last week...and it is hard to believe how much he grew already, and that he has a few good years left)

Sophie, I 100% agree about groundwork. My trainer is the same way when he breaks. He does groundwork first(with and without the saddle), including long lining(love long lining) and then the last month or two of training is w/t/c work.

ChrissyBz

I was wondering that myself. It would all be so much easier if I had actually BOUGHT her and could call up the prev owner for tips and advice and knowledge of individual quirks.

Her belly really does seem to have settled down. She's got a little extra spark these days, I'm trying to teach her to walk politely with us at the shoulder but Juan needs some training too. He lets her get away with unacceptable behavior, (like biting) and seems to have trouble with a happy medium of treatment. Soooooo, I'm training them both. I was laterall longeing them both yesterday. I sat in a cair and made him walk her and showed him how to make her behave.

It's funny, she doesn't try her funny stuff on me, but he gets kicked and bit a lot.(well, he's fast, so she hasn't landed a shot yet)

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