# Strider, The Accident Prone, Auction House/Impulse Buy Foundation QH



## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

I figured that with continual updates to Strider, his life and condition, it might be best to move over to journals vs nutrition and pictures, though I imagine there will be plenty of both here!

If you missed it, basically I felt bad and did something stupid, and picked up the better looking of two QH colts at the auction a week ago. I've since pretty much made him a big sidetrack in my moving plans, prioritizing his care over everything else....so though I'm sorta behind, Strider has got his coggins results, rabies, some shots, dewormed etc, and is now off his breeder's property, which is great, considering she originally had 18 head, no power and was getting water from a neighbor's house!! yeek!

Anyway Strider is a good boy but he is definitely a handful in some senses. Now that he is feeling a bit better, he is showing exactly how accident prone a horse can be. He looked like Franken-Pony when he arrived...and that's way worse now that everything is medicated up, oiled and brushed out...

I've put MTG on all the parts that are healed(ish) with just a little scab or pink skin showing, I've put SWAT around all the open wounds, sprayed him with fly spray, and put Blue Kote (sp?) spray on the BIG looking wound he opened up on his leg. =/ I applied Swat around that too...I haven't put anything on his castration incision...the vet said it didn't need anything but me to lunge him daily and keep it draining.

This is Strider the day after I purchased him, still at the breeder's house:



*...and here is Strider yesterday:*






*And his leg =/*


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

Here is the original thread if anyone is interested in more backstory.

http://www.horseforum.com/horse-nutrition/feeding-small-stunted-impulse-buy-foundation-209522/


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## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

Can't wait to see how this one develops ...


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

He already looks so much healthier and perkier.


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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

He sure did manage to acquire a lot of cuts. He's definetely in a better place-I hope he does well for you & can overcome his rough start.


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## toto (Mar 3, 2013)

Would ya look at that shine! :thumbsup: like his name too.


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

Went to see Strider today...not sure how long we're supposed to continue to lunge him to make sure the incision stays open for drainage, but I'm going to assume he meant more than a few days. 

The BO followed my suggestion to put my shetland colt (crypto) in with Strider. Pumpkin is sort of a "special" case...he's not all that sharp, if you know what I mean. Anyway him and Strider are getting along FABULOUSLY. I saw Strider place his forehead against Pumpkin a couple of times and they seemed "huggy". When Pumpkin spooked, Strider ran with him before figuring out nothing was wrong LOL. It took Pumpkin a sec, but he calmed down and followed Strider...anyhow they seem to have a good bromance going...the BO is monitoring, of course, but with Strider and Pumpkin out of the way together, it simplifies turn out of the ponies.

Anyway, I can't say Strider looked "better" today but he is definitely happier with a horse companion, and just as personable with me. Him *and* Pumpkin greeted me today, and they both approach me when they're free to do other things. It's a marked contrast to at least 2 out of 3 of my female horses! LOL

Anyway here are the updated pics of Strider and his bro Pumpkin, taken on my shiny new phone that I am still trying to figure out:

(ETS: They are both on the very small side for their age, so they have that in common. Vet says that Pumpkin, sadly, is probably not going to grow much bigger, if at all.)


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

Grr, had a post half written up and my computer froze!!! X_X

So, I think I messed up a bit. Because we were so behind on moving and preparing our house to be rented out, I decided to skip going to see the horses yesterday. Lo and behold, despite being outside and moving all day and all night, the area where Strider's testicles WERE looks a lot more swollen than it did previously =/ Despite this, he seems to be more energetic, so the food is definitely helping him out quite a bit.

I took him away from his new buddy, Pumpkin, and that's where things started getting a little more suck than usual. Pumpkin was not a happy camper. He started like pacing in front and calling for Strider. Strider would call back, then we got him over to the wash bay, and sprayed him down, which he was ok for. When my husband went to go get the sweat scraper, I pointed the hose at Strider's incision, and let it hit there for a minute until a bead of pus/drainage fell off, hopefully reopening the area a bit, since I"d really like the swelling to go down.

Yeah..Strider DID NOT like that. It just went a bit downhill after that. We took him to the sun to brush him off, apply Blue Kote to his leg, MTG to all his various healing wounds, and then flyspray all over. He kept wiggling and being obstinante. He was definitely not as calm as he usually is. I finally braided his hair out of the way and hubby took him to the arena to try lunging him for a bit. Yeah...that didn't work out so good. He didn't want to walk, and after we did get him going for awhile and tried to take him OUT of the arena, he was balking at going outside. O_O. It's like he couldn't make up his mind! Finally pulling and tapping at his butt, we got him back to the roundpen where he's being kept temporarily, and him and his buddy Pumpkin promptly trotted over to the other side like we were the devil... Five minutes later, I offered Strider some hand pulled grass and he walked right back up to me.

So I'm not sure what happened today. He was much more well behaved before I pointed a cold hose at his injury, so that was probably hurting. I took him away from his new buddy, which upset the both of them, but dammit, they need to get over that stuff right away...and the better nutrition is definitely bringing out a little more personality in this guy. I can't say I'm entirely surprised...if he was going to be completely 100 percent easy the whole time, there'd be no challenge in that, right? *sigh*

So here's some Post Bath pictures of Strider from Today:






Sorry if they suck a bit, I forgot the real Camera at home.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

My gosh, I can't believe how much Strider has filled out in such a short time:clap::clap:

Are you taking all the horses to CA with you? 

I had a 4-horse open stock and only three horses, when I moved from PA to SoCal some years back. 

It sounds like you've got more than one trailer full


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Ah, I wouldn't worry too much about a few bad days at this point as they are just bound to happen. At least you know he's feeling better if he has the energy to be obnoxious LOL.

I agree with Walkin, he's looking so much healthier already. Don't be surprised if you go to see him one day only to find that he's shot up a few inches in height.

He'll likely be a challenge, but I'm sure he'll turn into a very nice little horse with you.


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

Walkin...we are taking the horses to CA with us...and the trailering part is going to suck. Thankfully, DH has "volunteered" to do that part. 

Smrobs: I'm definitely glad he's feeling better enough to be obnoxious! I KNEW her horse's apparent calm behavior couldn't be ONLY her training, given how scrawny those fellas were! I will be completely and totally happy if I wake up one morning and measure him at a few inches taller LOL.

That being said, I finally made it out with a measuring tape today. We taped him at 12.2 Hands. Crossing my fingers that he can grow another 8 inches!!!! The way he eats, he may well make it LOL

Anyway, went out today and tried my hand at using a thinning comb to trim down his mane. It was a first try and his hair was a bit wavy from the running braid, so it came out a little "meh". I'll work on evening it out a little more another day when it's less fluffy in spots.

I also noticed that little ginger hairs are starting to poke out of some of the big facial wounds. YAY!!!! =D He won't be franken-pony forever! His leg still looks like crap, so I blue koted it again, then cold hosed his castration wound. Again, not his favorite thing in the world, but this time I was more considerate of pressure.

Here's some pix of Strider as of this afternoon:



"Whatcha got there?"


(nothing edible. grrr)


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## cakemom (Jul 4, 2010)

Isn't it amazing how quickly babies come around?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

Grr, so update:
Looks like we're calling the vet again. =/

The area where Strider stuck his leg through the top part of the stall door looks "oozey" and there's some pink from blood. Honestly I think it had a larger scab area (there's a yellowish part covering the wound), and I think he reinjured it or cracked it, so it looks quite disgusting. 

It doesn't smell or anything, but he's limping on that leg now....so ...vet time. I have been rinsing it out with water daily and spraying it over with Blue Kote, but it is apparently not enough.I swear this horse has the biggest death wish!!! We just need to make sure that he's good to go before the move.


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

Ok, so I haven't had much time to mess with the horses the past few days. I realized that I've been sadly neglecting (not REALLY NEGLECTING, like starving kids neglecting, but...) my other horses. Mama Pony has had a complete bad hair day since I got Strider, and she has HAIR! So the day before yesterday I set about grooming her and braiding that hair until my forearms cramped LOL. I still haven't got the back feet able to be picked, but considering all the time off, I did touch far down her leg again without getting pegged or even kicked at, so that's a plus. I also administered booster shots to the ponies, as well as redosing everyone with flyspray, which seems to sadly not be working AT ALL this year. =/

It was also great to see Mama Pony (she is very submissive) pin her ears and bite towards Strider. She is usually totally nervous at the sight of another horse, skittish and submissive...I'm glad to see her giving Strider a little $%^&.

We did give Strider's leg one additional day to heal before calling the vet, and I think we did ok. I know this strictly shouldn't be done on any healING wound, people or animal, but I dosed his leg with peroxide two days in a row...and got some Vetricyn. WOW! The guy in the store said that the stuff worked great...apparently he had a cow that had a nasty, nasty infected looking scratch all down it's eyelid...and the vetricyn helped it heal up really fast. Well I have applied Vetricyn today and yesterday...and the wound looks so much cleaner with the edges clearly healed up. It no longer looks oozey and angry.

I will still probably have the vet out, since we are hoping the Coggins paperwork will be in by tomorrow, but at least I know Strider's leg isn't going to fall off in the interim!

I'm also trying to teach this guy some patience. He doesn't stand STILL still when tied. He tries for a few minutes, but then he'll start to paw. If you say "NO!" very sternly (if you're watching), he will put the foot down with a guilty look on his face. But left to his own devices he is a bit twitchy, will paw, and will call out to his buddy Pumpkin.

(Hmmmm. I'm starting to wonder if the boys being bonded is going to be a greater PITA than it was worth).

There is an article in Equus (I think it was Equus) this month about herd dynamics and what it can teach you about your horse. It's going to be VERY VERY interesting to see how the new herd dynamic is going to work...especially once we go pick up my baby girl from Sacramento!!!! <3

If I had to hazard a guess though: Witch (20+ year old mare) top, Kiera 2nd (by default, she is pretty laid back....), Mama Pony (just because she nipped at Strider), then Strider (he nips at his buddy, but will share grain with him?), then Pumpkin. But given that none of these horses seems particularly dominant, I'm definitely going to be watching and learning.


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

Ok so things have been kinda hectic since we moved....it has been pretty rough. I haven't actually spent much time with the horses. It's been SO HOT. I know it's been affecting the horses, it has to have been....we saw greater than 100 degrees a few times out here! LOL

Anyway I've been worried about Strider and his progress, or lack thereof, so I finally got out there tonight to take a picture. The good news is, most of his old wounds are healed over and the hair is growing back. The bad news is that mares are apparently nasty cranky creatures, so he has a few teeth marks here and there. My filly looks FAR worse though lol

So Strider is approx 13 hands in the rear now, and he taped in at approx 450 pounds today, which is still horrifyingly low to me. I'm going to order another kind of dewormer today because his tummy still looks bloated to me, and none of my other horses look like that. Then again, all my other horses have meat on their bones, and he doesn't.

From Today:




He was also being a butt because his grain was near, and unlike before when we first got him, hubby couldn't simply manhandle him into obeying. So clearly he has more energy and life to him now...just wish results came faster =/


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

NOW



BEFORE


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Oh, wow!! He looks so much healthier. I agree he's probably still got a pretty decent worm load, but he's slicked off and shiny .


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## oobiedoo (Apr 28, 2012)

Wow, he looks so much better. I can see that big ole foundation butt now.  great job.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

oobiedoo said:


> Wow, he looks so much better. I can see that big ole foundation butt now.  great job.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


lol thanks....I honestly dont see it. hos butt still looks sunken in on either side of his tail...he looks so miserably tiny next to my 2 year old filly, who was born the same month as him, but is 15 hands at least, and looks like a horse, not.....a scrawny baby thing.


Im hoping tje breeder was right, when she said his parents and her others were slow to mature. I just wish he would shoot up a hand overnigjt, ya know?

@smrobs, I guesa shiny and slicked down does mean healthier in this case....I think I mightve brushed him once in the past month!


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## apachiedragon (Apr 19, 2008)

He is likely putting a lot of that feed energy toward growing up instead of out. If he was malnourished while trying to grow, it will take a good long while for him to catch up. Just keep doing what you are doing, he definitely looks better. And they ALL go through the fuglies when they are growing. Can you get a fecal done on him so you can see what type of wormer would be the most effective or if he actually needs one? It could be that his digestive system is still adjusting from the move and all the added groceries and hasn't leveled out yet.


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## busysmurf (Feb 16, 2012)

Hands down, he's made a HUGE improvement!! He's looking good


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

I can get a fecal done on him as soon as my husband receives some of the money he is expecting, or I get my first paycheck, whichever comes first, undoubtedly my hubby's money at this rate LOL. Until then I think I'll get some Quest Plus. I ordered it last night but the order didn't go through, so looks like I'm gonna be hitting up the local tack store.

I *DID* spend some time obsessing over these pix last night, and I DID see a difference!!!!! YAY!

If you look at his spine in the bath pictures, which were a few days after I got him, or even the pictures from when he was at his breeders...there is a sort of dip on both sides, with his actual backbone sticking upwards.

If you look at the NEW pictures...no dip on the sides of his spine! =)


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

he is seriously looking much better. you should be proud. he has made major improvements! you can see a spark in his eye now. not the dull lifeless brown things he once had in his head.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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