# Subdued Foal



## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

Hi, 

Me and a friend have recently got 2 miniature shetlands age approx 8 or 9 months. We do not know there history and when we got them they were petrified of us and one of them was underweight and has what looks like rainscald on his ears. They have both been wormed and due again in a couple of weeks. The smallest foal has out on wight in the 6 wks I have had him and he is now not scared of me yet he still seems extremely subdued especially compared to his buddy. They are on a big clean straw bed and have ad lib hay. I have been giving him a little fibre cubes soaked. They aren't turned out in a field, only into a large shed and taken for walks. The other foal leaps and bucks and squeals yet my little one just wanders over to the hay. He eats, drinks and dungs plenty. We do not know when he was taken from his mother or the kind of place he was bred at but I do feel he has had a rough start to life. He is certainly pitting on weight gradually but I feel he should have a wee bit more life to him. He seems depressed and I wonder if anyone has any advice or previous experience. 

Thanks

Lynsey


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

I would turn them out if you can....they do get depressed left indoors. also, they are very hardy and you really struggle keeping weight off them in winter in a stable. Any chance of any turnout? If you can catch one, the other will come too.


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

Hi Yes we are planning on turning them out, we do have a small field which would be suitable for them, its just at the moment we are getting really bad storms here so just waiting for the weather to improve slightly before doing so.


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

I really agree about the turnout. I honestly believe that any horse needs regular turnout to be happy and especially so with Native Breeds.

I rescued my Thoroughbred ten years ago. Although beautifully bred, an ex dressage and showjumping horse, he had fallen into the wrong hands and had suffered a terrible year.

He was very depressed when I took him. He wouldn't lift up his head or even try to look at me. Nothing seemed to interest him.

I made sure he was fit and healthy and then turned him out with another group of geldings. I fed him the best, gave him loads of love and very gentle handling and he turned a corner very soon, becoming the sweetest and most gentle horse I've ever met.

He's very confident and outgoing, but has always remained a calm horse. Maybe your little boy is just of a more placid nature than his mate.

If you're happy he's healthy, I would say definitely just give him time.


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

Hi Yes we are planning on turning them out, we do have a small field which would be suitable for them, its just at the moment we are getting really bad storms here so just waiting for the weather to improve slightly before doing so.


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

Thanks for replying, I totally agree regarding the turnout, our other horses are out daily no matter what the weather is, we just thought with them being babies we would be better keeping them in til weather picks up. I suppose they are hardy wee things though and to be honest I think my little one has been out since born so it may be that he is depressed being stuck in. He doesn't seem unwell as he has his appetite and goes to the toilet regularly. He seems to lie down a lot but then so does his wee pal. Hopefully weather wont be stormy tomorrow and I may try getting them out even just for a wee while to start with.


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

Good idea ......... even if you can only get them out for a couple of hours, it will help blow the cobwebs away.

Foals are a lot more hardy than we sometimes think and especially Shetlands.

The weather has been foul, I know, but I don't think they'll take any harm at all.


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

we have a shetland who is now 40.I had him 20 years . when I first got him, I brought him indoors and fed him and he started to lose all his coat..cos I was feeding him too well.He hates being stabled cos he can't see over the door.

There is a national shetland pony rescue in yorkshire called millhouse something.can't remember.,...they can tell you everything you need to know about shetlands.


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

Yes ive never had a miniature before but from what I have read up on them it is that they are hardy wee ponies, I have just been a bit concerned as his behaviour is totally different to his wee pals. We have two bigger horses on yard also and we are thinking about letting them go out with them also to give them a little more company and also to be around mature horses, I wonder if this is an important factor also?


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

are these ponies still colts you need to be very careful introducing these youngsters with any other horses or ponies.


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

40! that's a great age  yeah we took the top half of the stable door off to allow them to see out but to be fair they haven't bothered so far. We plan to have them out as much as possible but when we got them they were so petrified that we knew if we turned them out we would never catch them again. I think they have been treated quite roughly before but in the space of a few weeks they have got used to us and they know that we aren't going to hurt them.


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

Yes they are still colts. We have vet due end of month anyway and we will see then if they are ready to be gelded. Would turning them out with two other quiet geldings be an issue?


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

I agree, care does need to be taken turning babies out with older horses, particularly with mares, but I do believe babies learn a lot from being with more mature horses.

They need to learn manners and how to behave in a group and another horse can be the best one to teach them these things.


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

Yeah that's what I was thinking, My other boy is 26 and he is extremely laid back and very gentle so I would trust him a hundred percent. They have met each other over a fence but that is all so far. We don't have any mares on the yard. We have been advised to get them gelded sooner rather than later so as soon as they are ready they will be done.


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

LaylaB said:


> Yes they are still colts. We have vet due end of month anyway and we will see then if they are ready to be gelded. Would turning them out with two other quiet geldings be an issue?


many vets won't geld at this time of year.

You need to be very careful turning them out with any other horses or ponies.

Maybe your yard owner will be able to help you with this.........older horses and ponies will run and chase a youngster sometimes with terrible endings but with a colt.........quite likely they will hurt him.

Is there a manege or fenced in area you could turn out just the 2 of them to get the initial sillyness over with?leave a headcollar on with a lead rope attached.then you have something you can get hold of if they are being difficult to catch.

My shetland is so small there is no way he can see over a door even with the top half open.


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

my old riding mare was the most gentle creature ever and had been used as a broodmare before we got her.

Somebody turned a sec a colt out in the field with her cos they thought she was gentle and had babies etc.and she jumped on the poor foal and almost killed him.


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

Maybe if, as suggested, there is a ménage or separate area on the yard, if you could put the babies in there and introduce your quiet old boy to them, under close supervision?

If all goes well, you could introduce the other gelding and see how things go.

My gelding, for all he has had a bad time, very quickly came to be the dominant gelding in his group. There were twelve of them grazing together and we needed to introduce an 18 month old sports horse, only young but already fifteen hands!

We put him in the arena with my boy, (Paddy), he took him under his wing and when the baby went in with the group, Paddy took care of him.

I do agree, much care needs to be taken, particularly with mares as I already said, but you do need those babies to have regular turnout.

Well done for rescuing the little tykes.


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## AlexArt (Apr 25, 2010)

How long have you had them? I'd turn them out too as long as you've had them for more than 2 weeks, just incase he's got strangles. As others have said he's probably in shock and a bit depressed, especially if they have always been kept out. I'd also give him some probiotic or some such stuff incase he's been badly weaned and has a stomach ulcer, also if he's never been wormed before he may have a lot of worm damage to his gut which even though he's doing everything normally he may not be getting everything out of his food - time will heal that though, a vitamin lick should help to make sure he's getting all his vitamins and just hay - I'd avoid hard feed anyway but if he does have a damaged gut or stomach it will be harder for him to digest. 

I'd turn them out with your older gelding to start with so they buddy up, then they should be fine out with other geldings as usually who ever they've buddied up to will stand up for them if needs be. Babies are always far better out 24/7 and with other horses especially older ones to learn from and put them in their place. We always ran ours in a bachelor herd and had weanlings upto older breeding stallions in a boys herd and they loved it the big boys kept everyone in check and they all spent most of their day playing!! 
Gelding wise, get them done when the weather turns, we used to get ours done in march/april time before the flies appear so they could be chucked straight back out on clean pasture, it's not as if they are big boisterous shire horses or anything, and as long as they are not put out with mares they'll be fine, will also give the little fellows time to settle and make sure they are 100% first.


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

Oh really, yeah we can certainly turn the wee ones out alone, maybe best to just let the big boys speak with them over a fence. I knew of a mare years ago who shared a large stable with a lovely little Shetland and one day turned on it, she was kicking lumps out of the poor wee thing until someone got her out of stable, no-one knew how long it had been going on for, the next day the wee pony was in terrible pain and was pts due to suspected internal bleeding. I know I probably wont see a dramatic improvement overnight but hopefully will notice something even if they get out for a few hours a day until weather picks up :0


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

Thankyou for replying. we have had them nearly 6wks now. My Instinct tells me he has been taken away from his mummy too early but I don't know for certain. The other issue is that he shares a stable with his pal so I cant monitor exactly what he eats etc in a day. I have considered separating them in the stable but worry incase this affects him even more. I know my older horse would go insane being left in his stable so my plan is definetly turn out tomorrow rain, hail or shine and see how he is. We wormed them a few wks ago and they are due to be done again in a couple of weeks. He has a mineral salt lick in stable and ad lib hay. When I got him I could feel his ribs under his extremely fluffy coat but now can no longer feel them so he is gaining weight. When I went to get him when the man was leading him to the horsebox he was actually lying on his side as he was that scared so ive know idea what kind of start he has had to life. My gelding is the nicest horse ive ever met, ive had him 15 yr and ive never seen him so much as kick or bite another horse, he likes to keep himself to himself so im as sure as I can be that he would be fine but I would monitor them to begin with. Our horses are kept on a farm and there is only 3 big horses there, mines and an American standardbred who graze together and a nutty tb who grazes separately. Thanks for the advice, im definetly going to act on it


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

Best of luck to you.

Be brave, but cautious. Geldings are very good at sorting out a pecking order without violence.

If your old boy can get to know them, he will bring them into the group, I'm sure, but the advice to have them gelded in the Spring is really important.

Will you let us know how you go on? x


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

@sweety, thanks very much and yes will keep you updated


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## LaylaB (Jan 3, 2014)

Update: started to turn little roki out for short periods of time which he seemed to enjoy. He seemed a bit happier in himself but still very lethargic. He also started lying flat out in his stable and I would have to near enough pick him up to get him to stand. Once up though he seems fine. He is still eating and drinking. I got vet out today! After an examination she has diagnosed lung problems. She believes he has had pneumonia very young and that the damage he has to his lungs are irreparable. 

She believed it could have started off as strangles! His lungs sound creaky. Temp is fine but she says he will be very tired all the time as he has to use twice the energy just to breathe. She did not give him anything whilst out but has prescribed an antibiotic norodine and also ventopulmin. 50/50 chance whether this makes any difference. 

After this news we contacted the breeder. He got back to us straight away and said he would b down to see the foal. He did and he is adamant that he has never had strangles or pneumonia. He has told me to kp roki warm and give regular feeds. He thinks he is more likely to have pneumonia the now. I am going to have to take each day as it comes and see if the medication helps. The vet was quite young, done no xrays or blood tests etc but made her diagnosis . Part of me felt she was quick to write him off. 

I have my fingers x'd for this little man &#9829;


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