It is with a heavy heart I write this post. Nash’s condition did not improve over night. Despite all of our efforts last night which included a broad spectrum of Antibiotics, Anti-inflammatories, and fluids through the nasogastric tube I found him in worse condition this morning. The neurological condition/disease/infection that he had was starting to effect his muscular function. He was using all his might to stay up right all night. By this morning, we confirmed his bowels had completely shut down and there was nothing else we could do.
I took the morning off to be with him for the last hour before the vet came. I found him this time laying down and struggling unsuccessfully to get up. I sat with him, talked to him and cried. It was a peaceful time in his stall. Thankfully Rachael came over to support me through this process and say her goodbyes. We were with him through the passing and it was the best way for a loved horse to go; I held his head the petted him and was there for him the whole time.
These are the last pictures I have of him from the past 2 days.
These some of my favorite pictures of him. The professional photographs are the work of Judy Reinford.
Nash is not eating barely anything. He is chewing really slowly when he does and seems like he forgets to swallow. I tried twice to get the doxy in him today. First time it poured right out of his mouth. Second time. I had to stick my hand in to get him to open his jaw and I think he swallowed most of it. Last night since 10. He didn’t drink water. But yesterday day time had like a half a bucket. The only thing he seems to want to eat is grass and now this morning he is only nibbling here and there. Still walking like he is drunk, which seems to have gotten a little worse.
Poor guy, he has been through so much with his hernia surgery last year and now he is not feeling well again.
9/1 We first noticed something was wrong when the Farrier was out to trim the horses hooves. Nash seemed to be in pain in the back end. He didn’t want to pick up his back legs, especially the left. His left leg muscles was also quivering. He was also kicking out when we tried to pick up his back feet. (The night before he was noticed to be stomping he back left foot)
9/4 He was pain free and able to pick up all 4 feet with no problems
9/21 He was able to be ridden in a lesson.
9/27 He was showing signs of pain again. He was wobbly on his feet. I tried to ride him but decided he was too unstable. During this past month he was loosing weight. He was eating his grain but maybe not “fighting ” for his share of the hay with the herd (8 horse 2 donkey).
9/28 A chiropractor came out and gave him an adjustment. He said his hips and left back knee were out of alignment. The left hip was higher than the right. He seemed to walk away with some improvement.
10/1 He was back to being stiff and sore in the back end. He was put on a muscle relaxer and “bute” a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). We thought it was a pinched nerve in the spine cause issues down his leg.
10/5 Medication did not seem to be working. He stopped eating all of his grain and was only picking at his hay. He still seemed to want grass but also started to chew on the wood. Vet said this was because of the bute so now he is getting Pepto for horses and a probiotic, to settle his stomach. He received a mild sedative and cortisone shots in his lower spinal area. If it is a nerve issue this should improve the situation in 2-3 days.
10/6 He received a therapeutic massage. He tolerated it very well but was doing the stomp/kick with both back legs most of the time. No muscle issues found. We have ruled out the issue being nerve related and and are pursuing neurological origins of the issue. It could be:
Lyme Disease: A bacterial disease spread by tick bites. Read more about it here.
Clinical signs: Stiffness, lameness, muscle tenderness, Hyper sensitivity, swollen or sore joints, Behavioral changes – lethargic or “grump
Treatment: 30 days of Antibiotic
Testing: Blood test takes 7 – 10 days to come back
Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, or EPM, is a disease caused by a protozoal infection that affects the central nervous system of horses.
Clinical signs: stiffness, asymmetrical gaits and cranial nerve deficits, ataxia (incoordination), spasticity (stiffness, abnormal gaits or lameness, muscle atrophy, paralysis, difficulty swallowing, head tilt, seizures and collapse, abnormal sweating, loss of sensation and poor balance).
Treatment: Long term and expensive anitbiotics with, antiinflammatory therapy
Testing: We would have to take him to a local hospital for a spinal tap. They would have to sedate and restrain him for this procedure. At this point I am unsure he is safe to travel.
10/7 I gave him 2 grams of bute last night. It seemed to help as this morning, while still wobbly, stiff and uncoordinated he seemed in better spirits. Last night and this morning he ate a yummy warm mash of beet pulp, senior grain and treats. This morning he even decide to escape under the chain guard (across the stall door) so he could help himself to some grass while I was making his breakfast. As soon as he saw me putting it in his bowl he came back to his stall and ate all of it.
We decided the following course of treatment.
Start him on doxycycyline for Lyme disease. He should should signs of improvement in 2-3 days if this is what he has
Send off sample for Lyme disease test. This takes 7 -10 days for results.
If no improvement then we will consider testing or treatment for EPM.
This is a video from today so you can see how he is walking.
These are the pictures from when we picked him up. We were with several other adoption families who meet at the drop off point. The dogs were transported from Tennessee to just outside Allentown, PA.
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He is 3 years old and 70 lbs. Riley has spent the last 2 years of his life in foster care. He was living on a horse farm so he was already used to horses, sheep, cats and good with kids. We thought he would be the perfect fit for our farm and are thrilled his foster mom thought the same about us! This was this life before he came to us.
He is such a good boy! With in a few hours of being on the farm we were able to trust him to stay around and not have to use the leash any more. He comes when he is called. He loves his ears, chest and belly scratched. He is polite and has manners. He does not beg for food while we are eating. He gets along well with Piper. Here are his pics of his first few days with us.
For more information and to let us know you can help out please click here to go to the Facebook event page.
So after acquiring 100 fence posts at $1 each we are ready for part 2 of the paddock paradise track system. See the last plog post about part 1 here. This time we will be creating a track system for the horses to walk around the outside of the back pasture. See diagram below.
Diagram Key
Blue lines are fences that are already there. They were put up at the last fence party. To check out the post and see how much fun we had click here.
Yellow lines represent the new fence that will go up on the 18th that will have wooden posts and.
Red line is the fence that will be put up to prevent the horses from going into the newly dug drainage ditch. These post will be metal because we can’t get the tractor auger in that area due to the trees.
The horses will then have permanent access a 10 – 12 feet across track around the back pasture. The whole track system at that point will be a 1/3 of a mile the horses can walk on and check out every day.
Thanks in advance for your help and support of the farm.
Our efforts to prepare for massive rainfalls and winter snow melt continue with the creation of a drainage ditch. The farm is on a slight decline so we receive all the run off from the neighboring properties above us. The BF’s idea was to dig a ditch on the property line and connect it with a current ditch that separates the pastures. The ditch was causing major muddy problems with every rain fall so we decided to put culvert pipes under the high hoof traffic areas. In one weekend he was able to dig the ditch and put in the pipes. The end result is it looks like the earth was never disturbed. Big thanks goes out to him for borrowing the mini excavator from work and working his magic with the machine to give us an excellent end product.
“As a sophisticated herd animal, horses immediately begin building relationships with people as members of their herd.” ~Dede Beasley, M.Ed., LPC, an equine therapist
“One of the many psychological benefits of spending time with horses is the tranquil nature they encourage within us.”
“A pioneering 2013 study from the University of Kentucky discovered that spending time with horses can help people develop a sense of empathy as well as enhance their social and leadership skills.”
“A study commissioned by the British Horse Society in 2011 confirmed that regular horse riding and horse riding-related activities like mucking out stalls counts as moderately intense exercise and can help keep a person healthy. Additional research associates equine therapy with lower blood pressure and heart rate, reduced stress, and fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression.”
“The horse is the perfect mirror, they are very emotional beings; we’re only starting to realise how intelligent they are,” Gabrielle Gardner, a therapy counselor of Shine For Life,
On Sunday we had a visit from my college roommate and long time friend and her family. It was the first time meeting her 2 girls and we had a blast! We did everything we could on the farm in a few hours time: Met the horses, climbed on the hay, met the goats and donkeys, gave the donkey’s carrots, brought the donkeys back to the barn from the goat’s pasture, tacked up Heather for a pony ride, rode Heather around the riding ring, gave the horses and donkeys treats, gave the goats stale crackers, played hide and seek and scavenger hunt in the house, had tuna fish sandwiches for lunch, colored in the coloring book, went on an ATV ride and collected rocks. Phew busy day but we had so much fun and the girls loved every minute of it.
Earlier this week I cut the back pastures. Really it is so boring going up and down. Keeping the wheel in the track of the last run. Piper came out to join me for a bit. Which was surprising as she hasn’t done that in as while. It is like she is taking over some of Shadow’s jobs. The sun-setting was beautiful and the finished product is even nicer. I guess it is an okay way to spend your evening.
How are your Pastures?
Hard to think about pastures when all I have is a soppy mess, but taking care of your horses pastures is like grown a crop of vegetables. I don’t have a green thumb but am trying to give the Farm horses the best quality grass. Here is where you start.
Golden Spike Farm's Plog 
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