Horse rant.

Sometimes I would like to kick certain people. As in, hello? Anyone home? What the heck are you thinking? (boot, boot, boot)

Over a year ago now, Horsey Teen brought home 2 horses from a starving herd the SPCA had become involved with. Two horses had already dropped dead from starvation in the field. While the owner did throw some hay, 2 bales a day was NOT enough for the remaining 11 horses.

Daughter brought home one horse from the top of the pecking order, who was not thin because he beat out most of the others in the competition for food. THe little mare she brought home was bone thin, head hanging down by her feet, depressed and beat to crap, the result of the fights that took place over food. There wasn't a square inch on that horse that didn't have a scabbed over bite.

That horse (Lily)was pregnant and and had a foal this May. She was too young to be bred, her health was in a very poor state. I think it was a big strain on an already strained body. The only up-side was that she came here within weeks of being bred and throughout her pregnancy was well fed (even though we did not know she was pregnant).

THe rant is about the mental state that starved horses seem to acquire.

While Lily is going to make a very calm, gentle, patient mount, seeming the type that beginner riders or older pleasure riders would enjoy, she has her problems. Top of the list is her constant, psychotic need to be eating. This constant state of panicked, mental starvation makes Lily a bit of a management issue. She eats ANYTHING and EVERYTHING she can reach, without discernment or sense. In her pen she has eaten the limbs and bark off all the cedar and fir trees. They're dead now. She crushes and destroys fencing and gates by leaning and reaching through to whatever scabby shrubbery is on the other side. Worse is that she is teaching this obnoxious behaviour to her baby.

You'll see horses stand quietly, eyes droopy, swishing at flies. Never Lily. 100% of the time she is eating something. Manure, dirt, fence rails, tree limbs...it never ends. She is NOT starving and has not been for over a year. She gets almost a bale a day plus lactating mare supplements and still her mind is stuck in the mode that tells her she is going to starve at any second.

It makes me very, very angry at people who have no idea the long term, devastating effects that starvation has on a horse's mind. It overwhelms them. Starvation is a HORRIBLE way to die and coming close stays with a horse forever in many cases. You often have to fight (as a trainer/rider) to get that horse's attention off her stomach for 10 minutes. Horsey teen is frustrated working with Lily as she is constantly yanking out of hand to dive for every blade of grass or weed she passes. Horsey teen does not tolerate this behaviour in her horses, in halter or bridle horse is NOT allowed to dive for food. She has ingrained this in every horse she's worked with. But Lily's insane panic about food over-rides every attempt the kid makes to get through to her. So I would like to find that dweeb who bought all those young horses at local auction and them left them to starve or beat the crap out of each other for the few handfuls he did throw ...I'd like to find that guy and put the spurs to him!

As unpopular as this will make me, I will say it again. There are times and circumstances in which a bullet to the head is a far kinder choice than leaving an animal to starve and die slowly from neglect. Lily has made leaps and bounds in her training (she was unbroke and is now rideable) she has a cute little filly at side, is a great mom. But is likley to pose a risk to herself for the rest of her life as well as require special watching and managing, because she is stuck in that panic state that tells her to eat everything she can because she never knows when food is going to end. What a horrible way for her to live her life. It makes me mad.

Well said.

Uno, I don't think this will make you unpopular at all, alot of us that have owned horses will fully understand what you are saying. It just breaks my heart that she has put all this work into the horse and food into her and she is still acting like that. Wondering if there is a horse person that knows of a way to break her ( Lily ) of this habit.

I think most horse people would agree with you 100%. In this current financial crisis people are either neglecting their animals to the point of severe crulty or trying to dump them on other people to look after if the done with them. I agree that euthanasia is a better option then continuing this cycle.

Her type of behavior shows up in many types of animals that have been starved at some point. I have seen it in dogs and cats and dogs can become very agressive about their food. You might look for a good cowboy that might be able to help with this problem.

Something you can try to help stop her from wrecking the fence is to run a hot wire just above your top wire/rail of your fence. She will take a couple shocksw before she realizes that she should not be reaching over the fence, but in the long run it will save you alot of money. The other thing that may be helping to cause this behavior is a lack of some trace nutrient. Try giving her a trace salt black or a minteral tub for horses. I know the mineral tubs sure helped my horses when they wanted to chew shrubs. Hope you can stop her destructive behavior before she hurts herself and your pocket book too badly!!

I agree, if you cannot care properly for the animal, and can't seem to find a good home for it, you should put it down so as to not cause it to suffer. I would not normally say something like this, but I do understand that people just are not buying horses right now. I have 5 sitting in my pasture that are not being used have been listed for sale a variety of times, and no one seems to want them. They do not belong to me, as their owner just could not look after them any longer so I took them in so they did not suffer.

Thanks everyone. Smoky River, she does get mineral salt (the brown stuff) but I do not know what a mineral tub is. Can you explain?

Had a wise horsey friend suggest putting a muzzle on her part time to teach her that reaching over the fence is pointless and after a while this might stop the fence wrecking. Friend also suggested a hay net, since Lily can eat hay at an amazing rate. A hay net will slow down consumption and maybe keep her busy longer, less time eating dirt, manure and anyting over the fence. I have not used a hay net yet because I worry about the foal sticking her leg in it. You would not beleive the ridiculous things a foal will do to pass the time!

THe plan is to sell Lily, she will be a great horse, I see pony club or 4H for her. But I would feel a lot better about her future if I could get her over this food obssession before she leaves my care.

fuzzylittlefriend wrote:

Her type of behavior shows up in many types of animals that have been starved at some point.

Even people. My FIL grew up poor. Hungry poor. If you were late getting downstairs to breakfast, there wouldn't be anything left. I have seen many times that he is incapable of bringing home any sort of treat and saving it for later. Such things must be eaten right away and, if it's too much to eat it all right now, he'll keep going back until it's gone.

Mind you, he's not an overeater. But his childhood experience just won't allow for any deferred gratification.

The mineral tub I am talking about is sold through UFAs if you have one near you just ask for an equine mineral tub. It has all the minerals and trace nutrients they need, and also have molasses in them. The tub is approx $60-$75, and I find when I purchase one with 10 horses it will last me approx 1 month. They do love it, and I only buy these every 3rd month so it is not quite so expensive. I suggested the electric wire as it gives a riprimand for reaching over the fence where the muzzle just inhibits the eating. I would definitely do the hot wire treatment if you are planning to sell her so the behavior of stretching over the fence is stopped. We had one Canadian here who would stretch over the fence snapping the top wire all the time. Once the wire broke, she was happy to eat the grass within reach and then return to the pasture (which has plenty of grass, actually way too much for them this year). We strung the hot wire and she got a couple good shocks, and has not stretched over the fence since. It has been just over the year since we strung the hot wire, she is now in a pen that is different from where she got the hot wire shock at and she still will not reach over, not even for oats when the kids forget a pail just on the other side of the fence. It sounds harsh, but really works and after she got a shock or two you would not even need to keep the wire live.

I agree with the hot wire, we just haven't got to it yet. It will be a logistical pain but perhaps our only option.

Fowler, your story reminds me of an ex jockey I know. He says now he can eat one plate of food and one only because if he goes back for seconds, it's like the floodgates open and he can't stop eating. He said for years, for his profession, to meet the weight requirements he existed on an extremely restricted diet and was hungry all the time. Now that he's not riding anymore he has to keep very tight control on himself or he will eat until he explodes. So maybe you're right, maybe there is some part of the brain that is triggered by hunger and seldom gets over it.

Uno, I had a dog that had starved. She was running in the woods and hunting to survive, but had some broken ribs that made it hard to hunt. It took quite a while, but I got her to come in the house, then to let me touch her, then to curl up by the stove all night. She was always hungry for the first several years. It did wear off, but I had to always have food in sight for her. After a bit, she didn't eat it, just wanted to know it was still there. She got to be a good dog after a bit, kind and wise. We had her 16 years. Sometimes she used to hide food, so we fed her dry dog food, as it didn't smell if cashed for later.

Jocelyn

Hi Jocelyn:

It is sad to see this long term mark on animals. We can only begin to wonder what they suffer to get to that stage. But I can say that so far, to my knowledge, Lily hasn't been stashing any food. If I find out she has been, I'll be calling Guiness Book of Records!

Hot wire is always the best way, however, in some scenarios, it just isn't functional.
From what you have described to me Uno, if you hotwired the top of your fenceline, that would stop her from going over the fence. Her starvation in her brain, and the fact that you don't have pasture, would lead me to believe that her next step would be stuffing her head through, or under the fence in any possible way she could.
I think the hotwiring option wouldn't be the best option for you, and would be a huge waste of effort.
This is what I picture in my head, so if I'm wrong on my assumptions, so be it.
I don't like haynets, nor muzzles, but they have worked for me when other options were not.
Good luck with dear Lily.
I would also suggest selling her to an approved home only, with pasture. This would keep her busy enough that you would never have to worry about hearing from someone that she destroyed their fence.

I agree that any sale of this horse will come with more than one full scale discussion about the horse's mental state. It makes me a very poor horse trader...but I have turned down sales if I thought they were not in the best interest of the horse. That most definitley applies here. And you're right, when it comes to getting over, under, through or around a fence, Lily shows astonishing Cirque De Soleil tendencies!