To the man who was pressured into calling me to trim his pony, only after his neighbors called the police,
Posted Jun 16, 2014, 7:08 AM UTC
8715
8
Oh noo ): Must've been so painful for him
2
Let me guess - he was hovering all over you too watching you work to make sure you didn't "screw up".
5
Actually he didn't even show up. He told me to just charge his wife, who was home. I ended up charging triple my normal trim rate, and going down by 10-15 dollars each trim until I reached it. Then his condition got worse, (spring grass founder) and I gave him a choice. Turn over a field and dump sand, or surrender him. Otherwise his feet would fail and he would need to be euthanized.
3
And?
1
I've seen where they usually put the horses under and have a machine that lays them sideways to really get to work on fixing hooves that get that long. Insane!!!
3
Unfortunately, I don't have access to sedation or a flip table, though it would have been a luxury at the time. On the first trim, I was there for four hours, and made fitted Styrofoam boots for him, because due to the length of foot, he had been walking on the soft tissue on the back of the leg, the heel buttresses. Part of the leg that should never touch the ground. I built a bevel into the boots, that supported the back of his foot and forced his weight back onto his foot, and secured it on with a duct tape pad with fell off a few days later when it needed to. He has not walked on the soft tissues since then, thankfully.
3
Sounds like he's on the road to recovery, but I presume you have a fair bit of work ahead of you! Are they paying for it or is he going to need to get "rescued"/removed from the owner's lack of care?
1
He was in the owners care for 6 months. Then after his condition worsened, I convinced him to surrender the pony to a rescue that I work with. He is now living at All Breeds Equine Rez-Q in Marysville, Washington.
2
Good to hear it!
1
People disgust me.
3
I do not believe that he actively sought to hurt the pony, but he never made any effort to help him. He only fed his multitude of goats, and if the pony ate some of that hay, then oh well. His negligence astounded me.
3
Adults know that animals need food, and if you actively make a choice to not feed or care for your animals, you're activity deciding to hurt that animal. If he was an adult, he knew better. Don't give people like this any "benefit of the doubt", because people like this count on it. Then they turn around, get more horses/dogs/whatever and do the same shit over and over. I just came across a women on FB trying to sell a THIN horse. Did some digging and her horses had been seized multiple times for starving and neglect, but yet she kept getting new horses and kept coming up with excuses as to why they were so thin and starving.
4
That's sad. It only costs like 30 dollars for the farrier
1
He was so lame that he refused to walk on firm ground. The problem with that was that the only soft ground he could find was mud, which made his feet soft and moist, allowing the condition to worsen. I had to Bute him and wait an hour, then use a butt rope to get him to grass so I could work his feet. Poor little guy was such a trooper. Even in as much pain as he was, he gave me his feet when I asked and never pulled or tried to bite or kick. I have trimmed him 7 times since, and last month I FINALLY convinced his owner to surrender him to a rescue that I also work for. He is now happier, eating good food instead of only pasture (which contributed to his chronic laminitis) and being loved and spoiled rotten by kids who volunteer at the rescue every day. Unfortunately, even with the great care he is now getting, he will never be able to be ridden by the children though his attitude is perfect. The years of neglect and laminitis caused massive muscular and tendon damage in all four legs. He walks with an obvious hitch, but is pain free. His name is Toughy, and he is now located at All Breeds Equine Rez-Q in Marysville, Washington.