Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Truthful Tuesday: The one where I feel kinda maternal

I'm not the maternal type. I have zero interest in raising children. ZERO. But this weekend I felt an emotion I've only felt once before. It was the same feeling I had when Rio came home from Cornell. I don't know what it is exactly, but it is a good feeling. Sort of protective, proud, loving, excited... all at once. I think it's what parents feel when something good happens for their kid.

Jampy had a vet appointment Friday to get more x-rays done before he gets shod again this week. You guys. He got the BEST report! I mean, he's not magically 100% better from his founder, but he's responding remarkably well to the diet. Too well actually, which is the only negative. He's very thin. Much thinner than we really want him to be. When a horse founders, you need to put them on an emergency diet to get their sugar level back under control. It's a shitty diet for a horse, but it's necessary. And for Jamp, it worked very well and very quickly. Doc said he's had a few founders in the same time frame as Jamp, and he's leaps and bounds ahead of them all in recovery. BUT, because he's responded so well to the diet (and also the Thyro-L helped, which he's completely off of now) he's actually become a bit malnourished. Which is probably why he doesn't really want to walk when we go for our evening stroll.
This is my skeleton. His name is Jamp.
He'll never be able to go back on his old diet, nor have "regular" grain (which is fine, I'm not big into feeding lots of grain anyway). He can't sit with his face in four flakes of hay at each feeding anymore. And he can't go out and graze (so sorry buddy, that part blows). But there are lots of things that he can eat that will hopefully get the weight back on him. It's frustrating how slow that process is, when the losing happened so quickly. (Also, maybe I should try this diet?) Triple Crown makes a chopped hay called Safe Starch which he can have 5 pounds of three times a day. He gets one flake of regular hay 3 times a day (breakfast, brunch, lunch), and at dinner he can have two now. He's also getting one pound of alfalfa pellets and 1 pound of Empower boost which is a supplemental feed with high fat content. It really seems like a lot of food to be honest... But he was never an easy keeper. He ate a LOT of hay every day.
Sorry, I got to rambling there about food. Anyway, the best news of the day was that Jampy can start on medical paddock turnout.
"Yay!!! I'm LOOSE! OUTSIDE!" -Jampy
 Up until now, he's been stuck in his stall except for when we went for our evening walks. (Or afternoon on the weekends.) But now, he gets to go out in the small walkout all morning while Rio (who is still on small paddock turnout too...) goes out on the other side in the bigger walkout. And that is where my cold little heart melted a little. When I brought him out and unclipped him, he literally had the happiest look on his face that I have ever seen. And while I was attempting to enjoy that look, he squealed and struck out rather close to me, so I had to quickly remove myself from that situation... (It's a tiny walkout!) Anyway, he was so, so happy! He has to be supervised of course, no spinning, leaping, bucking, etc. But he can walk around and roll. And he's thrilled. I'm just so happy for him, I kind of want to squeal too.

Do you guys know this feeling? Does it have an appropriate adjective? Have you ever felt this toward your horse?

16 comments:

  1. I'm so glad to hear the diet was a success! <3 You should be really proud of yourself, you were so dedicated to his care - he's lucky to have you!

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    1. Thank you! I know you would do the same for your kids if you had to!

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  2. I need to go on the founder diet, too! But yay! Your hard work and diligent care paid off :)

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  3. It's so good to hear he's doing well; I know you've worked really hard to get here! Will he ever be able to hand graze or go out for short periods, even with a grazing muzzle, ever again?

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    1. Thank you!
      I haven't actually asked about the long term yet. I figure that way there's still hope for him. But I know many horses that foundered can have some grass in their diets, so maybe down the road.

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  4. Yay Jampy!! I totally feel you on the no maternal instinct, except when it comes to ponies!

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  5. This is such a fantastic update!!!

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    1. Thank you! I'm a proud mama. These old men horses I have are each pretty bad ass at recovery.

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  6. i need that founder diet too. LOL....i am amazed the amount of stuff out there now for feeding horses. I am still feeding (nasty ass) Bermuda..but supplement with Standlee alfalfa/orchard grass and also the Timothy by them. Just a tiny bit in with their bermuda. I know that cant work for Jamp but I love that there are SO many options out there for all horses. ALSO YAY on turnout ) SO happy for you all...

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    1. It's amazing how many options there are! I was doing the standlee chopped alfalfa at first, but it was annoying to feed, so I switched to the pellets. He doesn't love them, so I may switch to cubes. But he's eating them right now mixed with the Empower. So as long as he keeps eating them I'll stick with it. They're just so much easier!

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  7. Awww so so happy for Rio, and glad Jampy is doing well too, even if a little thin. I have definitely had that feeling when my Rio has come back from various injuries. Any time I see him happy actually makes my heart full. I am also NOT maternal at all.

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    1. Thanks! Right? I guess we are a little maternal, just not toward humans!

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  8. I'm glad Jampy is doing better! I know what you mean though, I've only felt that loving protective feeling towards animals, no desire for children at all.

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