Diesel's Journey Takes a Turn

Back Tracking to Last Saturday, May 7th
Diesel seemed a little off today.  Almost stiff.  He didn't have the sparkle or spunk he always does.  Did he fall, did he get kicked, did he sleep in a weird position?  What did our little guy do???  I watched him all day and he was on his normal routine.  Out to the track in the morning (6:30 to 8:30) to graze, back in to have hay in his dry lot (8:30 to 10:30), then out for a little more grazing time (10:30 to 12:00), drylotted for 2 more hours and then out to graze one last hour for the day.  He wanted to go out and be with the herd.  He was eating, pooping, everything seemed normal except this stiffness in his forearm.

Sunday, May 8th
The same as Saturday.  When I would touch his forearm, he actually flinched, so I was sure he must have taken a tumble and hurt himself.  Well, we will just watch him like a hawk and hope he begins to improve.

Monday, May 9th
Diesel seems a little better today. He is moving a little looser and still eating good.  Again, normal routine and watch his every move.

Tuesday, May 10th
This is the day everything changed.  I noticed right away in the morning that he was shifting his front feet back and forth - that's it - RED FLAG!!!  I immediately went in to call the vet. 

He said he wouldn't be able to get out until after lunch and to "hose down his front legs for a minimum of 20 minutes every 3-4 hours.  It sounds like laminitis."  Out came the hose - Diesel does not like water, so this was a bit challenge for him.  But he stood so good.  It must have felt cooling and relieved some of the inflammation. I stayed home from work today, so Lea and I could take care of him.
Lea and I have been taking online equine courses, so we got out our notes and looked up laminitis symptoms.  There it was, he had 7 out of 10 low-grade laminitis symptoms.  How could this be???  I thought we had done everything possible to avoid this kind of thing?

We waited patiently for the vet and he didn't get out until almost 5:00pm.  But, he is worth waiting for - he is a brilliant vet!  He spent 90 minutes with us and could see that Diesel was already improving just from the hydro therapy.  He put him on 4 doses of Banamine (pain killer and anti-inflammatory) 12 hours apart and another 24 hours of hydro-therapy.
How could this have happened?  We watch our boys so closely, know the symptoms of laminitis (or thought we did), keep the grass on the track very short.  What went wrong? What did we miss?  How could this be?



Diesel getting hydro therapy on his front legs

Well, I have now heard from several vets and other horse friends that this spring - the grasses are out of control with sugar.  Must be the right combination of cold/rain/warm/sun to make the grass grow like gang-busters and the sugars to be extreme. That helps to explain some things.  Must have been too much grass - even the small number of hours they were out was too much.  Dang!

Getting the Banamine in Diesel was a huge relief for me knowing that soon he would be more comfortable.  Like a child, when your pets hurt - you hurt!

Wednesday, May 11th
Stayed home from work today so that we could continue Diesel's care.  Same routine - Banamine every 12 hours and more hydro theraphy.  Diesel was clearly more comfortable today.  Thank you Lord!  Getting the Banamine in him was an interesting endeavor.  We had to change our tactics every time to try to administer it to him.  He is one smart cookie!  Anyway, we got it in him - slowly and patiently.  It is so good to see him feeling better.  But, with feeling better comes more spunkiness. 

Monday and Tuesday he didn't mind staying close to the barn - he was a hurting little pup!  But now that the Banamine is kicking in, he wants so bad to go back out to graze and to play!

Sadly, he has to be dry lotted while the other boys are out.  We kept Scout close by in the outdoor, so Diesel toughed it out pretty well.  He always had hay and we had a big grooming session today to pass the time for him.  He is a good little patient!


Such a good boy!



Hydro Therpy and Kisses!

Thursday, May 12th
I typically don't work on Thursday, so it was good to be home again.  Lea and I continued pretty much the same routine as Wednesday.  He is doing great and off the pain killer.  Feet feel cool (versus very warm when inflammed), sparkle in his eye is back, and he even trotted a couple of steps!

Friday, May 13th
Wow, what a difference a couple of days can make. Diesel is completely off the hydro therapy and the pain killers and today he did a full out trot! He is pretty much back to normal. It has been a long and worrisome week, but I am happy to report that we have his feet stabilized and what I am calling Phase One complete. 

Now on to Phase Two - what do we do with the track.  It is clear that he no longer can be on the track - even as sparse as it is, there is too much grass.  Plus, Scout has gained a little weight this spring and we decided that whatever treatment Diesel gets would be good for Scout too.  So, we are looking for an excavator to come and completely scrape the track down to dirt.  We will leave a few pockets of grass for them to nibble, but mostly they will just get hay on the track.  More on "Phase Two" next week.

Diesel is having a great day, not happy to be dry lotted, but he is tolerating it well.  Maybe tomorrow we will turn him out for some play time.

Saturday, May 14th
Today was a very windy day.  Lea, Allison and I decided we would take everybody for a walk on the track.  But, the horses had other plans.  It was cold, cloudy and very windy and I think everybody was feeling pretty spooky.  The horses were about to explode into a Seabiscuit moment!  We immediately abandonded that plan and got Eddie and Scout back in their paddocks. 

I decided to turn Diesel loose out in the outdoor arena so he could run off some much needed steam.  And boy did he.  Wish I had brought out the camera - he had a ball!
He ran around like a maniac, he bucked and jumped, rang his neck around, and ran all over the place.  He was so glad to finally get out and stretch his little mini hinny legs and have some fun.  We even let him graze a little. 

So, now it is time to implement some changes in his life and make some necessary track changes too.  We had a big grooming session with all the boys and even Diesel stood to be curried off - which he never does!  I think he was so happy for the attention and freedom of running around.  It was a glorious day and I am so thankful to our vet for all his help getting him sound again.  We did two laps around the track and a nice fast pace and I think he loved the exercise.  This will probably be our routine for a while!

So, here we are to today, Sunday, May 15
Well, after church I went out and turned Diesel loose for 15 minutes in the outdoor.  He had so much fun taking a bite of grass here and there and chasing around.  I kept him moving for about 20 minutes and then thought I would take him for a walk around the track.  We almost got 2 laps in, but he was a little spooked by the wind and all the moving brush on the south line.  So, we got in a good lap and a half brisk walk.  After all that I let him loose to graze in the outdoor which has very short grass.  He only got 5 minutes (literally), but seemed happy and content with that.

Looks like the future will be a little different for Diesel and Scout.  No more lush grass or even sparse grass on the track.  More exercise for both of them and hopefully that will lead to a healthier lifestyle.
I am on a diet too, so this will be great for Diesel and I to get lots of exercise together.  I am committing to him a 1/2 hour to one hour a day of arena work, long walks, and a little snippet of grazing time.

Lea and I would like to try some soft line driving with him.  Since we know that he was abused in the past - the bulk of it looks to be from driving.  If I can convince him that line driving (that would be with no cart - just long lines) is fun, hopefully he will respond positively.  It is clear that he loves us and trusts us (especially after having to give him four doses of Banamine), so I think it will go well!

I am so looking forward to the future with him.  What I thought would be a dry-lot prison sentence has turned into an opportunity for him and me to bond closer, get more exercise, and have lots of fun!

I will be posting here regularly to chronical our journey of a healthy lifestyle change for a little equine guy!  Hope you come back often!

Marianne and Diesel!

Ramming Speed!

Now, I bet you wouldn't put that title right along side a sweet little mini hinny???  

But, that is just what it describes, DIESEL!

In case you don't know what a mini hinny is; he is 1/2 miniature horse and 1/2 miniature Sicilian Donkey.  He has very horse like traits (versus the long donkey ears), and other characteristics that puts him in the hinny category.

Because Diesel is a miniature little guy, his diet must match his size.  BUT, Diesel likes Eddie's hay better (our almost 16-hand gelding).  Eddie gets some alfalfa because he is a very big boy with very big nutritional needs.  Diesel gets VERY NICE straight grass hay.  He is, by no means, starved - he pretty much has hay available all day long!  We have also put in a Paddock Paradise for he and Scout to share to be sure they get lots of exercise, lots of movement, some grass, feeling like they are out in the pasture, etc., etc., etc.  Bottom line, Diesel has got a REALLY nice set up here.

In order to accommodate each horse's special dietary needs, each guy has his own paddock.  That way at feeding time, there is no fighting, no dominance games, and everybody gets the right kind of feed according to their waistline!  And Diesels happens to be the biggest.  We are working on that!

Anyway, in order to keep his "Princeliness" out of the big boy's hay, we had to up our "security" (if you will).  In other words, despite the fence dividing the paddocks we had to add snow fencing to keep Diesel on his side of the buffet table!

 He is SO mad about this.  He is a roamer.  He loves to be on the move.  So, the fact that he 1. can not roam everywhere he wants, and 2. he cannot get to the really good alfalfa hay has made this a very unhappy little mini hinny.  It actually is sort of cute!  We give him so much love and attention, that I am sure he will get through this.

That is Scout the paint and Eddie on the right.  They are just so good about this new little change to their paddock - truly, they could care less.  They take these changes in stride!

But not Diesel.  Now to the reason for the title of this post.  Diesel, today, decided he was not happy with the new arrangement and "head-butted" smack into the fence and ripped it open (the fence that is, not his head!).  Ah, now he can get back over to Eddie's side of the paddock.  So, we tried to shore it up (in the freezing cold, I might add).  And WHAM!  He rammed right through it again.  There was just no stopping this little guy.  He was quite determined.

I think Lea finally got it fixed so he couldn't go under it (yes, he did that too - do you see that orange fence that is touching the ground - he somehow went under it), he couldn't ram through it, and he was finally contained.

I do feel kind of sorry for him.  He doesn't do real well with change.  I have learned a lot about how he sees the world by reading Temple Grandin's book, Animals in Translation.  If you have animals - read this book!  It will completely change how you interact with your pets!

Anyway, here is to a better day tomorrow for our little guy.  Lea and I will shower him with lots of love, take him for walks, and help him through this little crisis he feels he is being put through.

Lots of love and lots of carrots always help make things right with the world!

Marianne

One Little Moment

It has been really hot here lately – humid and in the 90’s. So we aren’t doing very much with the horses. They are turned out to pasture, occasionally hosed off, and then brought in to their dry lots/stalls to rest, sleep, eat, and be in the shade and in front of their fans. They seem very happy with the routine and look forward to when we are out and being busy in the barn.
Since Diesel has come to the farm, we have had no expectations from him. We wanted him to learn to trust us, become part of the herd, be healthy, feel safe, and just take some time to settle into our farm routine.
He has been here for 16 months. He has simply become part of our family. However, since we really don’t ask much of him, he sort of just goes along with the herd. When Scout and Eddie are being played with, Diesel usually just comes along and hangs out. We know he has been trained to drive, but that seems to have been a very frightening experience for him. He sees no point to the Parelli games, so he just goes along. And that’s okay!
He loves long walks, treats, and scratches – so that pretty much is what we do with him.
Some days I wonder if he is bored. As he just sort of has that look about him. On those days I will take him for an extra walk (or ask Lea or Allison to), groom him, or just hang out with him.
But this morning, we had this moment. It was a moment that I have longed for since he came to live with us. He was just waking up from a nap when I went over to take off his fly mask and just say hello. I took off his mask, proceeded to give him some gentle scratches and he leaned over to me and put his head right up next to me. He just leaned on me, sort of laying his head against me. I softly whispered in his ear and he didn’t move. I kept talking softly, just telling him how much I loved him, how glad I was that he was with us, and kept on scratching. He continued to lean on me. We just stood for a moment, together. I could really feel that he felt safe; new he was loved, and seemed to be content.
It was a moment I will never forget; because that moment was the reason we spent 6 months trying to rescue him and spent the last 16 months building trust. What a gift that moment was. How lucky am I that I had the opportunity to experience it. Thank you Diesel, for being a teacher of patience, a companion like no other, and a little donk who is willing to share his heart!
Love, your mom - Marianne

Catch Me if You Can!

"Ellloooo!!!!!!!"
This is Diesel.
I have found a new game!
And it is FUN!

So, the humans put me in the same paddock as the bi-colored wonder. (aka Scout)

 Then I sneak through the fence...

And get in with the monochromatic hypochondriac.

And he chases me!

UGH!

So I kick him with my powerful little distal appendages!

Then the quiet human scolds the Edward, and I get to run back into my pen.

It's like a game of tag.

But I always win.

The End!

A New Friendship

Well, I have not been here in some time. And that is a good thing! Only because things are going along really well and Diesel is just being allowed to be Diesel! Diesel is really doing great. I think that is because we have no expectations from him. We have decided that "doing" specific tasks are something he finds intimidating. So, we have come to enjoy long walks all around the property and that is really helping him connect to us. I think he see a purpose for being with us.
He and Eddie have struck up quite a keen friendship. We have always put Diesel with Scout since Scout was the easier going in the herd. They always got along great and Scout doesn't ever "pick" on Diesel because he is so much smaller. But Diesel has had other ideas.
When the herd is dry lotted, Diesel and Scout are right next to each other, so we would very often open up the gate that separates them and they would be together. Well, Diesel can then get easily over to Eddie. The two of them would play through the fence. It was really something to watch. They seem to have formed quite an attachment. So much so, that Diesel started to walk and wiggle through the fence and we would find him in Eddie's dry lot.....with Eddie!
They would nap together, Diesel would eat Eddie's hay with him. It is really rather amusing.
Now, the whole reason we always kept Diesel and Eddie separated was because Eddie is almost 16 hands and Diesel is 9. Eddie is the herd leader and VERY playful. So, a few times when they accidentally got together, Eddie would want to "play." We were worried that Eddie's play might inadvertently hurt Diesel. So, we, us humans, decided they should be separated. Diesel thought differently.
So, almost everyday, Diesel slips through the fence and there they are together. We keep a watchful eye, but so far-so good!
So, the mostly unlikely friendships can form when you least expect them!
Way to go Diesel. You know exactly what YOU need! :o)
Hope to keep you updated more regularly on the life and times of our little mini hinny!
Marianne

I love my walks!

Yes, Diesel loves his walks!


Lea, the quiet and shy one comes up to halter me. She slips it over my nose, and gently lifts it behind my ears. I love how gentle these people are.
She opens my gate and leads me out to the yard, where I graze and munch on some clover. But she has one thing that makes me REALLY interested!
Her treat bag.
She wiggles it and I lift up my head.


MMmmmm.......... Pure BLISS!

sweet feed.


My favorite!!!!!!!!


So I eat some more grass, before we go on a walk. Through the pine trees, under the wahoo trees, through the mosquitoes, and then through some bushes too.
I love these walks and they make me so interested.
Then she wiggles that treat bag again...


MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM-MMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!


More sweet feed!


I love it.


I love these peoples!




~Diesel

Herd Dynamics with a Mini Hinny

Last week Eddie our big gelding got hurt. He had a bit of a tussle with a T-post....and the T-post won! He cut up his backs legs pretty bad, so he had to be stalled and kept sort of quiet. So, when one of our horses are on "bed rest," we keep the whole herd together. When one is stalled, everybody is stalled!
Luckily it rained so we would have kept them in anyway. But Diesel wasn't too happy about this arrangement. Eddie had to be kept in his stall or paddock for about 4 days. Lea would hand graze him, so we would put Diesel and Scout in the outdoor to at least get a little grazing in and some exercise. But Diesel, again, wasn't too happy about this arrangement.
He is a funny little bug. When he wants to go, he sure acts like he doesn't need his herd. But, if Scout and Eddie leave, better not leave Diesel behind.
Every day we bring in the horses and feed them at 5:30. If the weather is good, we leave their stall doors open and they can come and go in their paddocks. If it is too windy or crummy weather, we close up their doors. I think one of Diesel's favorite time of day is after we feed and go back out about 7:00, he loves to be taken out of his stall and taken for a walk and a graze. No problem leaving his herd behind. He really acts like he could care less.
BUT, a couple weeks ago, our trimmer Mike was out to trim up the big boys. So, while Eddie gets trimmed, Scout usually grazes so they can see each other or vice versa.
Let me tell you what a fit Diesel threw. He could not see them and he wanted out! I have never heard him be so vocal. He has the kookiest little whinny/bray thing. He was fit to be tied!
So, interesting how herd dynamics affect him.
Kinda' my way or the highway! Go figure! :o)