The owner of these animals (Gerry Bateman of Equestrian Adventures) cooperated fully and completely with this inspection.
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| From January 2016: "Bateman says the horses garnering criticism for being neglected or underweight are older and just aging naturally" |
The visit was the result of a recent examination by a veterinarian hired by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office to check the horses after allegations of abuse and neglect were received. The doctor gave several recommendations to the owner.
Based on the recommendations made by the veterinarian earlier this year, the owner reported that he had changed the type of feed that he was providing to the horses to a much more expensive, custom-blended feed containing higher levels of fat and protein and has been supplementing this feed with corn as well as hay, the press release states.
Upon a recommendation of the veterinarian, the owner also changed the type of worm medication that he was using for these horses, the release stated.
“Officers were able to observe several hundred pounds of feed in both the barns where the horses are fed and in an adjacent storage building. Officers also examined the horses and found that these horses have gained significant amounts of weight since the last visit...,” according to the press release.
“There was an ample supply of grain at the facility and the owner was actually heading out to purchase additional hay when investigators arrived at this facility,” said Fayette County Sheriff Steve Kessler. “The look of these horses has significantly improved over the past six weeks.”
The sheriff’s office will continue to monitor the conditions of the horses, a press release from the sheriff’s office states.
Back in January, Bateman was on the defensive and said, "If you look at my herd in general, you'll go 'Well why is there 23 large healthy horses and two skinny ones.' I hope that people will come to me and let me explain to them about how this works."
Well, Mr. Bateman, how "this works" is that older horses need more care. Just like when you get to be 80 years old, you'll need more care. You'll probably need softer food to eat, food that is probably less spicy so as to not affect your stomach, you'll need to go to the doctor more often, the cold will affect you more than it did when you were in your 50s. I hope you learned from this experience and will continue to care for your animals properly.
(Register Herald - Feb 20, 2016)
Earlier:
As a horse owner who has cared for my older animals into their 30's and even 40's, this is very concerning to me. I see over and over again that it's attitudes like this that force hundreds of people caring for older horses to end their horses lives prematurely, or sell them off, just because the public thinks their horses are starving, when they are just getting old and frail.
ReplyDeleteIf you see a fat old horse, it probably has Cushings disease or is insulin resistant and is prone to a very painful condition called laminitis, which can lead to founder, crippling and euthanasia because of the pain.
This is what Secretariat was euthanized because of http://hoofcare.blogspot.com/2011/10/secretariats-death-by-laminitis.html.
When the public freaks out when they see skinny older horses and demands that older horses be over fed for their age and level of work, they are putting these horses at risk.
We are still in early days understanding the link between diet, weight and this disease, but I can tell you that lean horses are rarely at risk.
And if laminitis weren't enough to worry about, there's always the kill buyers waiting for owners to pass along their older animals just because they know older horses are more difficult to manage. It happens to the best of them - http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/23/sports/horse-racing-1986-derby-winner-was-slaughtered-magazine-reports.html (Because slaughter of horses for consumption is now illegal in the states, horses are crammed into trucks and shipped to Canada or Mexico).
I can tell you that my oldest, 42, was trotting around the pasture with his tail up the day before he died. Was he lean? You bet he was, he had no teeth and ate only mash, most of which dribbled out of him mouth when he chewed, but he was happy active and lived a lot longer, and sounder, than most horses.
Think I'm cruel for letting his ribs show?