Handsome had a rough night!

[KimM]

My poor old man. The stable owner called me last night. Handsome choked on his food. Has anyone ever had that happen? Apparently he took too big of a bite of his grain and it got stuck and he paniced. She gave him some ace and he calmed down and finally got the blockage out. Poor thing, the grain started coming out of his nose.
Has anyone ever experienced this? I had not seen it before. Handsome has only been sick twice in his whole life - he's 22 yrs. He's only coliced once and had the flu once (because some idiot put her sick horse out with all the others) and my poor boy got it the worst. He's never had any issues.
Could this possibly mean his teeth need floating again? Since he is a senior now, are there any other things I should watch for? Any words of wisdom would help here.

[PMattix]

AW! Poor Handsome!

How is he now?

[Tom Lawless]

Yes, any news on the poor guy?

[Halo]

I am pretty sure you have to get their teeth floated more often as they age. Cassie did this once when she got into the sweet mix instead of her senior food and got too big of a bite. We called the vet out and he fixed her right up but now he comes out and looks at her every few weeks to keep an eye on her since she is 24. He just stops by when he drives by and checks her out. We really have an awesome vet

[TikusMom]

OMG!!! Is he okay??? It's possible that he may need his teeth floated, but it may mean that his teeth are worn down to the point that maybe he can't chew as well. Def have the vet look in his mouth. Is he on pelleted feed or sweet feed? Does he have unlimited access to hay? If he's only getting a flake or 2 of hay a couple times a day, it's prob not enough. A gentleman his age should have free choice hay, for physical as well as mental health. If he's really hungry at feeding time, then chances are high that he will bolt his food, and since his teeth aren't what they used to be, it could cause problems. Also, try putting a large rock or salt brick in his feed bucket so he has to forage for his feed and not take huge mouthfulls.
I hope he's doing well now! I'm so sorry!!!

[KimM]

He's ok. Thank God. The barn owner gave him a shot to calm him down. Poor guy passed feed through his nose. She said he was ok. I went out the next morning and he was still a little "high" from the sedative, but glad to see momma. He's so pitiful when he's been hurt, sick, etc. He always walks over to me and puts his head against my chest and just closes his eyes - like a little kid.
This happened on Thursday. BY Saturday he was back to his old self.. I knew he was ok as soon as I got out of the car and he heard me and started nickering for me. The barn owner mentioned putting rocks in his bucket too so he can't get such a big bite at once. I'm going to have the vet come out and just do a complete physical, including teeth, and blood work on him and see if has any thing else he needs. He gets senior feed and he gets 4 flakes of hay a day - T & A - good hay. Since it's so hot here, we turn them out at night in the summer and during the day in winter. Also in Florida, he also gets his metamucil once a week here due to the sand. Don't use salt blocks down here as much because of the heat, but I'm thinking of getting some electrolytes to give him with his age and the heat here.

I'll talk to her about giving him some more hay throughout the day. He's so cute. He has the old man pot-belly and starting the get the sway back, but you'd never know he's 22 when he starts running through the field. IF we put a pair of jeans on him with a tool belt, he'd look like those repairmen that come to your house with the crack of their butt hanging out and the big pot belly. LOL

He's my "child" that's been with me the longest, next to Cash and Sydney (terrier mix who passed 3 yrs ago). Handsome will be 23 on April 1, 09 and I have had him since he was 3 yrs old.

[Addicted to Tequila]

The teeth are not the main problem.

Yep... some horses bolt their food. A brick in the feed bucket works better than rocks or even better you can get a mineral block to put in it! Bran mashes are good too... but you would be hard pressed to get someone to go through the trouble for you.

I would be a bit concerned though. If he does not usually bolt his food... you might want to keep track of his weight. It could mean that he was not being fed. As horses are MAJOR creatures of habit (the fids are NOTHING compared to equine scheduling!) it could be as simple as the barn owner running an hour or so late. Crap happens... but the owner should have just been upfront about it. But it could also mean that he has learned to really hurry up and eat what he can and when food is available.

BTW... when was he last wormed really good? Do you rotate wormers?

[KimM]

I didn't think teeth were the main problem, but I'm getting him checked anyway. Just a good overall physical. I have a new vet that I really like that the owner uses.

He's never done this before. His weight is good, in fact he may be a little overweight, like his momma.. LOL. He's 16 hands and weighs roughly 1200 lbs. He's fed in the field in the evenings and no other horses are turned out with him in the field, so its not a competitive thing. Anyway, Handsome is the first in pecking order out there when they are turned out together.

Fortunately this is not a "commercial" barn. It's their private residence and they just have 3 boarders because she had the extra room since her horses were away in training. She did give him bran mash the next morning and honestly she would have told me if she was late in feeding. She'll give them anything we ask her to, be it bran mash, supplements, etc. She's a wonderful lady and treats them like they're her own, so I'm not worried about that in the least.
He's wormed once a month with ivermectin usually. It seems to be the most effective here. I used to rotate but some wormers don't cover the "critters" here in florida.. nasty ones here in Florida. That's another thing that's different in Fl. They have to be wormed monthly and it's better to give them PSYLLIUM once a week here and he gets all of this.
Oh and because it's so nasty, he's now on a schedule to get his sheath cleaned once every six months. I swear he swings that thing in the dirt everyday. I've never seen a sheath get so dirty so fast.

[TikusMom]

Kim, since he's getting Timothy and Alfalfa, see if you can get just a plain grass hay to offer him to munch on between turnout times. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just something to give his mind, mouth and stomach something to do. Glad to see he's on a senior feed, too.
I use ivermectin too every 6 weeks when the farrier comes (so I can remember! LOL!). I like it b/c it doesn't have the likelihood of resistance as most anthelmintics since it works by paralyzing the parasites instead of poisoning them. Sounds like you've had good luck with it too!
Anyway, I'm just soooooooooooooo glad he's doing much better!

[KimM]

I'll check out the other hay. I don't want to give him too much T & A. May b a little rich, I agree.