Yep I'm talking poop here. I am an expert poop watcher since my boy Ollie seems to have poop issues. However, I haven't been able to see his poops in a little while because he's turned out 24/7. This bothers me a little bit because I like to monitor how he's doing. Especially since I have him on GrandDigest and I want to see some improvement.
So the other day when Matt and I were taking pretty horse pictures like this one...
I saw Ollie off in the field doing his thing. Off I went with my camera so I could document it:
What do you guys think of it? It's an improvement of sorts. But this is about the best his poops have looked in the past too. Some form, still lots of water in it so they weigh a ton and they are not quite road apples. I'm hoping for road apples. Maybe this is as good as he gets? Should I be concerned?
I just don't know. His eating regime should be optimum for good poo. He gets lots of hay, especially on cold days, he can graze in the field all day and night if he wants and I give him 1 qt of Kalm 'n EZ from Kalmbach each day along with a little Cocosoya oil. Grazing in the field this time of year I suppose is good just to keep something in his tummy to keep the ph levels down. I wonder what will happen when Spring rolls around and we have lovely green grass.
Other things I've noticed is that he's not so sensitive to being brushed in the flank region. He's not so sensitive to being brushed anywhere right now! I can touch him anywhere without him sending me any warnings of "watch it lady!" Even girthing up isn't so bad anymore. Best of all is that there are no more green colored poop remnants around his lovely gray hind end. So that's all good.
I suppose we are on the right track. I'm just wondering if I'll ever see anything better than this.
In the meantime, my two guys love living in their huge Kentucky pasture:
I love that you ran off in the middle of a photo shoot to document manure. That's love.
ReplyDeleteIt's caca. Have you tried a different oil? That's the only thing I can think of that might make a difference. Lovely picture, lovely.
ReplyDeleteIs he drinking enough? Loose stools in people and animals often comes from some level of dehydration. Adding electrolytes to his supplements might not be a bad idea (if he's not on them already), as would anything you could do to encourage drinking.
ReplyDeleteYou and I may be soulmates in the poop arena.
ReplyDeleteAfter Lena's horrid colic two weeks after we bought her, I measure the poo pile.
But what I will share is that they pick up on worry on an amazing level. Hard not to, but worse to over-indulge in it.
I'm not too worried about his poops. I just monitor the poop consistency. If he happens to poop when I'm around I may go and check it out. He's outdoors all the time so there's no stall poop to view.
ReplyDeleteOllie is an excellent drinker. In fact, I will have to get a 2nd water bucket for him when they start to come into their stalls during the hot summer days.
The picture of this poop is one of his good poops. You should have seen his poop quality when I first got him. It was awful!! Just runny messes which got better and turned into cow patties. Thankfully we're continuing on in a good direction.
One other thing... the pasture my horses are living in has a heated automatic waterer. What a wonderful thing! My problem drinker, Toby, won't drink from anything else and he drinks often! What a relief that is during these cold winter months!!
ReplyDeleteJackson has poop like that too. It varies from squirty to somewhere between cow plop and road apples. He rarely, if ever, has road apples. As long as Jackson's fecal count is good, I don't worry too much. He has a sensitive gut. Like you I give him as much hay as he can eat. In the morning he gets just a smidge of vitamins and a probiotic in his morning bucket.
ReplyDeleteThey do look kind of wet and mushy, but not terrible. I imagine you've had his teeth done recently, right? You could try taking him off grain altogether for a few weeks and see if that makes any difference.
ReplyDeleteI would have thought oil would make it more runny, not less?
ReplyDeleteMy guy has apparently had runny poop at least since he left the track at 3 (9 now, and I've had him nearly a year). He drinks a LOT. About twice as much as any other horse I've ever had. The thought was it was actually a result of him drinking so much! I've been giving him a hoof supplement with probiotic (a SmartPak one, I forget the name), and it seems to be making a difference. We just had our weather go from highs in the 70's to highs in the low 30s, and back warm again now, and problems with frozen waterers and a broken well.... Even with that, his poop stayed horse-like instead of cow patties, and that's DEFINITELY the first time I've seen that happen in the year I've had him at a weather change!
To be honest, I have only had one horse that consistently had the giant poop pellets. She was a QH. All my other horses have been OTTBs and they've almost always had poop like you pictured. Occasionally, they'll be more formed but it does vary. I am no nutritionist but I think the only thing that'll fix it is more hay. Mine also drinks more than any horse in the barn.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHA... Mind if I borrow that lovely photo in case someone or something registers "High" on my B.S. meter? :-)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I'm glad you're making progress with poor Ollie's guts. I didn't realize that they could be so finicky. The WB I've been riding and his QH buddy both make gorgeous apples, so I guess that's a good thing.
@Net - you are correct. the oil probably doesn't help him but he's not getting much. just enough to make his powdered supplement stick. It also gives him good calories without making him "hot." A good thing during these cold months.
ReplyDeleteTo be total forthright - I have the oil for Toby who needs the calories. I just give Ollie a bit because of what I said in the first paragraph...
but Ollie is doing well! check out my latest post.
@ RiderWriter - feel free to use the photo! LOL!
consider that it could be ulcers- pretty common, especially for OTTB's. I found a good an affordable alternative to ulcer guard- it's smart gut ultra or something like that. Has fantastic ingredients and it works. At any rate, don't think you should accept this as normal and let it go. It's a sure sign something's going on. Best of luck.
ReplyDeleteThanks Courtney for your comment!
ReplyDeleteI know he is recovering from ulcers. There's no question about that. And that poop photo is one of his better poops so he's on the right track for recovering. We've gone through a course of Gastroguard (chaching!) and I've got his diet down to the ultimate diet for a horse with ulcers - no sugar/ low carb feed with 24/7 turnout in an amazing 55 acre Kentucky grass pasture. I'm giving him probiotic/prebiotics to reestablish those micro organisms in his hind gut. I think he's on the right track and I'll continue to see improvement. It's just a matter of time while his gut continues to heal.
He's SO MUCH better now and like a new horse! I'll continue to give poop updates on my blog every now and again. :)