Post by snigsby on Jan 16, 2019 11:01:57 GMT
Rafferty aka BB is currently confined to a stable with mild laminitis. He's 14 now and,I put my hands up, he is fat and it is my fault. Vet has tested him for Cushings and it isn't that. So while he is in jail, I have worked out a completely new life for him.
He is on a diet. For ever. And I am not going to relent. He went out for the day at Xmas without his muzzle and bang! laminitis. He has been getting slightly sore feet since the summer but I never imagined that 4/5 hours in December could trigger an attack. He actually doesn't mind his muzzle. He is so interested in eating that he spent lots of time figuring out how to get the grass and almost none trying to remove the muzzle 
After negotiations with our vet, he is only having to stay in the box for one week, then he is getting Cute Little Boots with plenty of proper padding and will be allowed out on the sand paddock. As I feed them all on haylage from a big round bale 24/7, he will have to be separated from this by a new gate and only given measured amounts of soaked hay.
I don't know how his breathing will be on hay, no matter how heavily soaked, as he is allergic. I have a steamer which is how they usually get hay (eg in summer when haylage is not a viable option).
And he is getting partly clipped tomorrow
So 2019 will turn him into an entirely new pony. I am not sure how he will feel about all this but I feel sure BB is recording his thoughts on the Ipad right now......
