Horses got fed twice! Ranting... bear with me!

[Dirty Little Secret]

My gelding has been on stall rest and is transitioning to turnout. I went out early this morning and put him and his buddy up from the field, fed grain and dumped grain for the other 2 horses who would be coming up within 30 minutes. I put my gelding up in wraps and left a note on the board that my 2 had in fact been out all night, been fed, and were good for the day.
Lady who also boards at the barn comes in and despite the fact that I told her that the horses had been out all night (told her last night before I turned them out) somehow she thought that I had turned her 2 out this morning and not given them time to eat their grain (hence grain in the buckets). She proceeds to get her 2 in, let them finish eating and then feeds my 2 AGAIN! I don't know what she was thinking- or obviously lack thereof. So of course, my gelding begins to colic but she thinks that his laying down is just because he's tired. I immediately go back out and give him IV banamine which almost immediately he perks up, and returns to normal. She says, 'well maybe he was a little colicky'.
Ugh! Some people! Just exhausting...

[RedTahoe]

Holy crap. Your horse colics from being fed twice? Poor horse.

Where did you leave a note? Next time, I'd bring a plastic page protector, a push pin, and leave the note pinned next to your horses' stalls.

[JB]

What does your horse eat that 2 meals of it would make him colic? :confused:

[trubandloki]

What does your horse eat that 2 meals of it would make him colic? :confused:

Let me add - what does your horse eat that 2 meals of it will make him show colic signs instantly like that?

[Bogie]

I'm at a co-op barn and over the years we've certainly had instances of the horses being fed twice by mistake. I, too, am surprised that your horse would colic because of that. Are you sure that was the cause? Do you feed a large amount of concentrate?

Over the years we've worked out a white board system that works pretty well. All notes are left in the same place and everyone marks down when they've fed. Communication is key because when you have multiple people taking care of horses something is bound to go wrong sooner or later.

I've also come to the conclusion that the best way to prevent problems from feeding is to feed "forgiving" types of feed. For example, I stopped feeding Purina Athlete (high fat, high protein supplement) when someone mistakenly fed it as pellets giving each horse more than two quarts :eek:. Now my horse gets a forage based diet and an extra serving mostly just makes him happy.

Hope your horse continues to be okay.

[BuddyRoo]

You thought you were being helpful feeding hers, she though she was being helpful feeding yours. Perhaps the new rule needs to be "unless someone calls and asks, stick to your own horses please".

Further, I don't see how two grain meals of a feed the horse is used to would/could cause colic--and especially that fast.

[Dune]

You thought you were being helpful feeding hers, she though she was being helpful feeding yours. Perhaps the new rule needs to be "unless someone calls and asks, stick to your own horses please".

Further, I don't see how two grain meals of a feed the horse is used to would/could cause colic--and especially that fast.

That's what I was thinking/wondering. :confused:

[saultgirl]

You are feeding the wrong feed if your horse is getting enough while on stall rest to cause a colic if feed twice.

It seems a lot more likely though, that the feed had nothing to do with the colic.

[mvp]

My horse has an opinion and wants to post.

I'm handing him the key board:

wer;lkahwer7u-']ui F-IN' SCORE ON THE 2-FER BREAKFAST, MANG! erwiousr.

He didn't get/couldn't imagine the colic from just one bender.

Back to him:

YOU SHOULD oipawuerpa;eknr NOT TELL ANYONE aqrefoauie;rhjnerf DOUBLE GRAIN IS A PROBLEM lkjaherp8oiaerhnae FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

See? Totally unhelpful.

[JB]

lmao!!!:lol::lol::lol:

mvp, you are soooooo gonna regret having shown your critter how to use the keyboard! I'm a'feered for all of us actually!

[dwblover]

I have been in a few co-op experiences with my horses, and my GOLDEN rule is no one touches my horses for any reason unless the horse's safety/life is at stake. I know that sounds harsh, but it's the only way. My other golden rule is that I don't touch anyone else's horses for any reason other than life at stake situations. I do my own feeding, turn-out etc, and they do theirs. Keeps everything nice and simple. Sure, it might seem a little bit easier to have people share responsibilites, but in the end it's just not worth the huge headache.

[Dirty Little Secret]

maybe it wasn't really colic but him laying down right after eating was enough to have me on red alert. He actually eats beet pulp and a ration balancer only. And not much of it (stall rest = no feed because no work).

[gloriginger]

Well you know, communication is only as effective as how well the person recieving the message understands, so if she was confused, seems to me that's on you.

Chalk it up to a learning experience and work out a better system so this doesn't happen again.

Personally, when I have been in CO-ops- I found the most effective, clear way to communicate anything out of the normal routine was to call. Had a few mix ups with notes, hurt feelings, misreading tone etc.

[Star Creek]

lmao!!!:lol::lol::lol:

mvp, you are soooooo gonna regret having shown your critter how to use the keyboard! I'm a'feered for all of us actually!


LMAO too. But note JB is sooo right on this one. First we showed the dogs how to use the keyboard, next thing I knew the dogs, horse, truck and trailer where heading down the road on their own.

Note stuck to my computer said, "Fed sael in Fresno. bee bak Wensdy.

[foxrider]

maybe it wasn't really colic but him laying down right after eating was enough to have me on red alert. He actually eats beet pulp and a ration balancer only. And not much of it (stall rest = no feed because no work).

Seriously, you are going to drive yourself around the bend if you don't relax a bit. I can't see an otherwise healthy horse having much of a problem with an extra bucket of beet pulp.

[mjrtango93]

Sounds like pony just wanted nap time. The horses at our barn that go out over night generally come in eat, and then are down for the count for a couple hours. Unless he was acting colicky (not just lying down) I wouldn't jump to colic.

Just for sake of asking......your barnmate does know that beet pulp needs to be soaked right?

[mhtokay]

colicky right after eating sounds more like ulcer issues then "colic". banamine will aggravate ulcers, of course. good luck with your new communications.

[merrygoround]

Depending on the volume of beet pulp,that could be the colic culprit. If the combined volumes of both feedings exceeded his stomach capacity, he would be in trouble.

At least, I would hope, laminitis should not be a concern. To me that is the more serious issue with double rations.