Monday, May 4, 2009

Empress Update

I brought MBJ Western Empress home on 2/26/09.


Remember this?




Well, here she is tonight. Of course the one picture from the back I got was way too blurry, but this shows her improvement at this angle fairly well. I'll get a pic that shows her stifles here pretty soon (hopefully one that's not blurry)! Oh, and that wet streak is Equi-spot. Tick season is in full force already!




Remember this shot (notice how sharp her pelvic bones are)?


Not the same angle, but you can sure tell a difference in her back/hip area (I apologize--I should have looked up the angles previously--I'll have to get real comparison shots soon :) !


And then there's this photos, from 2 1/2 months ago (seems a lot longer than that):


You can see now her backbone doesn't protrude nearly as much. She does need a lot more fat along her topline, but I haven't been pushing her at all because of the issues with her feet, so considering it's only been about 10 weeks and I haven't been pushing feed into her as hard as I would if she were sound, I think she's coming along very well.


Finally, remember her terrible coat, with the rain rot and rotten spots from laying down so much?


Well, although she has some more left to shed, all those nasty spots have healed up and are covered in brand new, healthy, shiny hair. This IS the same hip, same horse, 10 weeks later. I LOVE Shapley's MTG!!! :)

7 comments:

knoyes said...

OMG!!!!! I knew she would be looking good, but WOW, she looks great! Jessie, you should be proud, you took that half dead mare and in less than three months got her looking great.....way to go! Kim

Jessie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jessie said...

Thanks! She still needs to carry a lot more body fat but I am very please with how much muscle tone she's gained in such a short time. She actually has a forearm and stifle now! lol Her teats have dropped to look like a normal broodie instead of the raisins they were, and her backend isn't all sucken in, possibly causing infection like it was before. She's all filled out, now I just need to keep working on her feet religiously and add some extra fat into her diet to get her topline looking as good as the rest of her :)
She had worried me so much, but I am so relieved and thankful she responsed to the care she was given. She still cribs some, but mostly right before dinner, so I just let her--latest studies have shown in helps with digestion and considering she only does it before meals I think it's reasonable to allow it. She eats great (is the lead mare around here, funny enough) and lays down no more than any of the other horses do. I'm so happy it's turned out--thanks so much for all your kind words of support :)

Kristi said...

She looks fantastic!! I am so glad you found her--I had always wondered where she went. Kristi

Jessie said...

Thanks, Kristi. It's a miracle I found her based on the description "skinny, cribbing broodmare" alone LOL. I took a chance and asked--glad I did! The lady who had her just couldn't believe I knew her name, then was even more blown away that I had never owned her. She got confused and thought I had, but I kept telling her, no, I just KNOW her! :)

Theana White said...

Wow, Jessie.... what a great story! That mare looks so much better, keep your fingers crossed that Atari will make a full come back as well!

Jessie said...

I KNOW Atari will bounce right back--it will just take time for her to rebuild the muscle she's lost in canibalizing herself from lack of feed. She had to use everything in her body for that baby since she was getting nothing coming into her body, but I think you got her in time as she's in good spirits still--she's a fighter! :) Empress was a little different story--she suffered from some long-term issues and then an inexperienced owner / caretakers that didn't recognize the signs that she needed more than basic care early enough. Empress will always need a very experienced caretaker with a good eye to make sure she doesn't fall backwards again due to her issues (cribber, ulcers, ringbone, etc). That's why I'm so glad she'll be going to my good friend Vicki. She knows her stuff and will make sure Empress maintains her post-recovery look!

Atari's only issue was an indifferent / neglectful lessor, but you followed your gut and got her out of that situation in time. She'll be back to being her gorgeous self in no time!! :))