Heavey horse? That's heavy, man

Now I should probably go back to an episode Sammy had that summer in the paddock.  I came out one day to hear him coughing and groaning, really breathing hard and just looking miserable.  I called the vet out and of course in the lapse of time, he had recovered.  It was determined that he probably had encountered some dusty hay and had a tiny heave-like episode.  Of course, by the time Dr. Frederickson got there, he was completely normal.  Of course he was!

So we got back from England, and he had been on the questionable roundbales for a couple of weeks.  He was now so bad that putting a saddle on and girthing it up caused him to drop his head to the floor and groan and cough.  It was heartbreaking. 

So I called my good buddy, the vet, out again.  She listened to his lungs and yes ma'am, he has heaves.  He had fluid in all four quadrants of his lungs.  The prescription, get him off the roundbales.  Great!  Going into winter and no roundbales.  What to do?

We put him on a course of Dex and Aeropulmin, a brochodilator syrup to knock out the inflammation.  He went back into a paddock.  And this time, rather than take a chance on bad hay again, we bought Chaffhaye, a haylage product in a bag.  We had to drive a few hours to pick the stuff up, but we bought a whole truckload.  We had to rent a trailer to bring it back on.  He went through a 50lb bag every 3 days.

It was one of the coldest winters we had seen in years and years.  I was used to Sammy being able to graze at will and stuff himself with hay as needed.  Having him on a strict diet, which I was totally controlling, he quickly began to lose weight, as seen in that second picture above.  During this time, the hubby was laid off and unable to find a job.  He went up to the barn every 3 days to weigh out and mix Chaffhaye and supplements in a bag to totally idiot-proof Sammy's feedings.  Even so, there were times he was missed.  By the end of May, he looked pretty rough.  We put him back out in the pasture, only have to pull him out again in July, since there was no rain and the grass wasn't growing.  They had to put out roundbales again.

Going into his second winter in a paddock with no shelter, and up to his fetlocks in mud in the spring, I knew we had to make a change.  Sammy was depressed alone in the paddock.  I wanted to find a plac where he could be a part of the herd year-round.

Time to move again.  After nine years at this barn, it wasn't easy to tell Barn Owner I was moving.  She took it hard, but I was relieved to find the new place and know it was totally willing to care for special needs horses.

And oh boy, is Sammy special needs, let me tell you!