I hate moving Ben my goal is to find him a forever barn always. So with much research we found where we are now. It has trails directly off the back of the property & an indoor ring, outdoor, owners right on property, fed free choice hay. The biggest thing the turnout. Ben would now have a big field to be in all day long finally. When I moved him of course I was a nervous wreck but who isn't? I loaded up the Ulcergard tubes & put him on Vitamin C more immune system support & off we went. He stayed on Ulcergard for close to a full month when we first got there because I knew he was a nervous type of guy. He blossomed at this barn. He was putting weight back on eating hay like it was going out of style & was just so relaxed & happy. He had his spooky moments & hyperactive ones but that is not abnormal for him after all he is an in shape Thoroughbred.
We had such a blast learning how to trail ride when the weather warmed up & I knew a friend from a previous barn there & made a new friend. We became a little trail riding group. We trail rode all summer long & Ben had never looked so good he was at his maximum weight per his vets (never heard that before). He was pure muscle & shine all thanks to waking the trails 3 times a week. He was getting great quality grass hay in his Nibblenets both outside & indoors unlimited, 2 scoops Triple Crown Senior twice a day, 1.5 pounds Nutrena Empower Boost. That was all & he was on the same food at my previous barn minus the free choice hay but he was supplied hay through out the day. Supplement wise he was on Platinum Performance CJ formula, Smartdigest Ultra, Salt, U-gard, & Vitamin C.
He started not finishing his hay as much as he used to some days but then was normal others I mentioned this to the vet & not much was thought about it. I knew he was having his teeth done in the next two months so I figured maybe he needed them done sooner because he still looked fabulous & was acting normal. This was very late summer time wise. Next came not finishing all his grain. That was told to be attributed to his supplement that he had once eaten with no problem. He was only leaving a handful or two at a time each feeding sometimes less or sometimes he would eat just fine. So we tested him without his Platinum Performance CJ for a week & he ate all his food. So you think oh there ya go there's the answer right? We went back & forth trying different CJ flavors for a month until I finally just gave up entirely with it.
September rolls around. I changed him to SmartGI ultra instead of just plain smartdigest ultra for the added stomach/ulcer support. Two days into that supplement I go to the barn that evening & he was pawing, lip curling, & restless. He was experiencing his first ever colic episode in the 6 yrs I have had him. Vet immediately called. He was given a fluid to make him drink a bucket of water (the name escapes me) & a shot of banamine. He was fine afterwards it was a mild gas colic which was possibly thought to be the new supplement or the weather change maybe. You know they never really know what causes it 100%. He was put on Aloe Vera Gel twice a day afterwards & switched back to smartdigest ultra. He did good for awhile.
Fast forward to December mind you he had blood work & it was 100% perfect this month. The end of December something wasn't quiet right with him. He began stall walking obsessively. He was still eating, drinking, passing things through normally & weight wise fine. He would settle after I took him out & tended to him so maybe he was anxious I was coming? After a week of this I decided I wanted a vet to look at him to figure something out. Well the evening before the day I was going to call he didn't eat his dinner....hmmmm... so I walked him around gave him banamine orally & put him back in his stall to see what he did he settled & started eating some food. I thought ok but I'm still calling the vet tomorrow. Next day rolls around Ben doesn't eat his breakfast. Good thing I was having the vet out anyway. Vet comes (January 2nd Happy new year) drenches him with fluids via tube & IV fluids, along with banamine & a short course gastrogard for a few days. He was then put on Papaya puree as well.
That entire month of January he was not a great eater we kept going back & forth with the vet maybe its this supplement maybe its that one. Why? Because when you took out supplements he would eat fine but he would also eat it with the supplements some days also. I moved him to 3 feedings a day 1.5 scoops Triple Crown Senior to split it up more so it wasn't so much in one feeding. When he left food it was again never more than 2 handfuls if that much. He was eating hay fine. Everything else was working & his weight was fine. He was also put on Assure Plus for sand even though he was always on Sand clear vet felt it was a superior product so he started his 5 week purge per the package instructions.
February rolls around. The worst & best month I suppose. I decided to start him on Succeed Vet Formula for the best GI health possible & take him off the smartdigest ultra clearly it wasn't cutting it! He had left some food in his bucket one night not much but I was desperate so I gave him banamine & saw a tube of gastrogard & gave him 1/4 tube. The next day he was back to normal so I continued the 1/4 tube (mind you I was always in contact with my vet every time I did something with him I don't self treat) Shortly into this month He began stall walking again & not eating I got a call from my friend... Ben's possibly colicing again. I automatically call the vet on my way to the barn so it saved time. He had spasmodic colic given the usual banamine & drench & this time vet gave him the Panacur Power Pac. 3 days later same situation again I was in tears at this point broken down. Why did this keep happening what was I doing wrong what was I missing? Everyone had been telling me I was doing everything perfectly & a great mother to him but I did not feel like that at all. My friend walks in picks me off the floor literally & helps me get him through the colic type episode. Vet was not needed at that point. I decided to start him on a course of Gastrogard it just pointed to ulcers but no one thought he had them. I did so I proceeded. He was doing better than ever for almost a full week with the Gastrogard he was eating drinking I saw Ben again for the first time. That was short lived because that weekend everything went down. He was fine that Saturday fully normal in every way. Yes his weight had dropped about 50 pounds, but if you where constantly sick back & forth wouldn't yours? I get a call bright & early that Sunday Ben coliced overnight he was found cuts all over his face dried up sweat everywhere , blanket torn, pawing, not eating, wild eyed. I cried the entire way to the barn. When I arrived I didn't even recognize the horse looking back at me. He had clearly been rolling in his stall manure on his legs dried up, dried blood from cuts that covered his face, curled fur from the sweat that coated his body. He was through the worst & settling down but none the less vet called again. I was told this was just something he would do & I was told to treat him medically myself & he didn't really have answers as to why. My friend had inquired if it could be ulcers he said no because I had him on gastrogard. He was given banamine & drenched the usual we had become so accustomed to. He did not recover though & bounce back like he always did. He refused to be stalled from then on. Every time he was put in a stall he would walk nonstop. He would not eat his usual Triple crown Senior & only ate some hay. I even gave him another dose of Banamine that Sunday evening which was ok per the vet he had seen. He still was not himself I called the office after I was again in tears Monday morning. I spoke with this time our usual vet who had been working with us & knew Ben & I very well. She recommended feeding him a mash & gave me a few options as to figuring out what was wrong with him. She said I could try a few other supplements or take him to the hospital for a "scope & scan" as it's called. After careful consideration I chose not to keep wasting money on supplements that may prove nothing & try & find some real answers. So I opted for the hospital trip. I was reluctant because he had not been trailered in over a year since we moved barns & it was over an hour away. He would also need to be fasted as well or 12 hours. I needed answers I owed him to help figure this out. In the meantime he was turned out 24/7 due to the fact he would not go in a stall. I found a mash that was healthy & perfect thanks to a friend called Cavalor Mash & Mix & he began eating again. He was doing ok until our visit. Also a side note during everything he always had normal manure & he only became slower motility wise only sometimes during a big episode otherwise it was considered normal all along.
Next post will be our visit to the hospital.
Here are some photos from throughout the year & some of this year.
I do some photography & he is my best subject.
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