This morning I received a call from Dr. Erik Laarakker.
This doctor had offered last week, after he had been briefed on the situation of these foals, to do some research. For that reason, I sent them last week on Saturday some tailhair and a little bit of excrement from Aston & Amoroso, by express mail to the Netherlands. By email I sent him a general report, a report on what had happened to Aston happened (what, when, how, what medications administered, etc. ..) and the same journal about Amoroso, along with some pictures.
Dr. Erik Laarakker has a holistic veterinary practice. As you can read on his website : I quote: Bij de holistische geneeswijze gaat men uit van drie lagen: fysiek, energetisch en emotioneel/spiritueel.Onderzoek en behandeling zijn erop gericht is het dier in zijn totaliteit te behandelen en te streven naar een emotionele en lichamelijke balans.De combinatie van therapieën maakt het geheel meer dan de som der delen: men bereikt beter resultaat door de oorzaak op te sporen en van diverse kanten te benaderen. Free translation: In holistic medicine we look at the three "layers": physical, energetic and emotional / spiritual. Examination and treatment is aimed to treat the animal in its totality and to seek to find an emotional and physical balance.The combination of therapies makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts: you get a better result by detecting the cause and to approach it from different sides.
On the basis of different studies Dr.Laarakker found out that the horses had more fungi in the gut than is normally the case and they had stored a lot more waste than normal and this was especially apparent in the intestine and the liver. There were also worms and eggs present.
The problem would probably be the result of those 100 kilo's of lettuce and other greenery that they were receiving to eat every day while being with the previous owner .... they got greens by truckloads And apparently they use more pesticides in Spain edm and thus the situation for the horses did not improve.
And therefore the period of +-one week where they were only eating alfalfa on the vet's demand, did not improve the matter, because alfalfa is a green that has also been sprayed too.
As regards to the probiotics...it was a vain expense .... all I've given ... it will not have done them any good because of what is happening in their intestines. And just giving them alfalfa is out of the question in future ...Luckily I already changed that myself
To me, this also explains why all the littlens never got sick .... They weren' t with the big ones on the field at the previous owner (except Filly but she was like a skeleton and did obvious not eat so much greens in those last weeks) and had therefore not gotten excessive lettuce ... They were in fact a small stall with a little bit of straw.
Of course I am going to apply everything that Dr. Laarakker told me.and apply the treatment he prescribes to the horses. It is possible that this will be difficult and that they can get sicker .... As there is so much rubbish that should come out of their body ...
Therefor he has also asked to stay in touch, keeping him informed of the situation and contact him immediately when the horses deteriorate ... then we would also have to reduce the medication.
At least 7 °C was expected for the night ... but my car had ice on the windows.... So it has been very cold during the night, unexpectively.
After handing out the breakfast, I left immediately to go to the littlens with a new bag of food and alfalfa. Everything went well there, everyone was outside eating his/her breakfast. Then I drove to the horseclinic for Desinclor rose to disinfect the mouths and gums of the horses. Then I went to "Piensos Eloina" in San Vincente del Raspeig to find hay and linseed. I left with a little bag of linseed and he would send me a number where I would be able to find real 'heno' or hay. From there I drove back to Mutxamel where I bought a large bale (with 14 small bales inside) of beautiful white straw from Antonio... he just had a full trailer delivered.
Back home, I cleaned the stables and paddocks and I cleaned barlaw straw on a big plastic of 3 by 4 meter ...
And of course the barley straw also got soaked in my bath before giving it to them.
I heard that "Tot d'animals" in La Nucia would have hay at the proud price of 7.5 per baleor about the most expensive I've ever heard of. Tomorrow morning, after giving breakfast to the horses, I'll go there, and will buy some to try it out.
During the afternoon the mouths of the horses were checked again and later on neighbor Michael had some fun with the horses. And the gray learned today with cords really don't bite ..... strangely enough he had tremendous fear of cords... he began to gallop away if you would want to snap one on. So we did it the natural way...used it as a stroke and brush element, something nice, a second hand and later he even went into sleep with it (or he was pretending.... hahaha)
I had an appointment at 18:30 at the ranch to see some parents of children who would like to adopt a little foal .... but no one showed up. I stayed with the littlens for over an hour and helped cleaning the stables because the waterhose had been running on the ground and the whole stablefloor was wet .... So everything had first removed and replaced.
The littlens were allowed to walk outside for a while and made crazy shenanigans. Our Filly suddenly came in the stable with full speed and slipped & fell in the barn ...I quickly gave her a good treatment with the torch to limit the damage ...
This morning began with the preparation of the paddocks and stables for the return of the children. So the tractor was also used to remove the top layer to remove any bacterias as much as possible. The algae at the bottom was still wet from the rain that came down during the last month ...
Amoroso and Aston also returned to the group .... but that led to problems. Cubanito and Amoroso were always inseparable in the past, but when Amoroso was separated with Aston, Caubanito became friends with the Black Stallion ... and now Amoroso was no longer welcome.
And at lunchtime both Amoroso and Aston were pushed/crushed away and I had to put them back in the other paddock .... which was actually intended for little ones again... All the changes I made this morning with the ribbons had to be undone, to put it back the old way .... change pfffffff
The intimate friendship between the 2 is over ... Amoroso is excluded I began with the intensive cleaning of the barley straw. I remove not only the heads, but do everything in a large sieve so all the little pieces fall off too But it is slow ..... 2 hours for cleaning just half a bale
A picture of a hole, and the dirt inside, in the gums of Picollo.
Everything was fine with the kids today, so I'm happy .... I already have enough on my mind right now...
I work here like crazy to save these souls and everything around us is against us ....
If it's not the terrible storms or floods, it's the bowel problems and colic, and when the sun will shine again other problems arise ... We are TIRED of it TIRED ..... ENOUGH!
I gave them the whole winter stock of Chikiboy's avena and it is no longer available untill May... So ... Chikiboy no luck for you too! You search like crazy, you ask around, you call up .... and then comes a ray of hope .... you can get barley straw with wheat around .... Friends are amazed and want some too, even the DA is happy that I still could find it.
Marlies informed me on the danger of barley straw ... but here it's regarded as a delicacy for horses and they assure me that there is no danger, the way it grows in Spain could not be compared with the barley straw up North of Europe ...
Last night, I suspected that there was already a problem in their mouth ... today it was confirmed ....the hooks of the barley straw went into their gums and drilled holes ...with tweezers I tried to get everything out.
Last night and this morning I had already rinsed their mouths with kamomillethee. I'll try that again in a moment.
All straw edm has gone into the water today and was twisted, crushed and broken ... Tomorrow night Michael comes back to hold the horses so I can verify their gums again. If there is nothing new than this technique from today (Grinding, crushing, wet) does the trick and they have a chance ... Otherwise, I don't know what to do anymore foodwise...
I do everything I can .... and then they still punish us every day ....
Gelukkig blijven alle paarden eten... I'm happy though that all the horses are still eating ...
And luckily I already started Friday to adjust their diet just a little bit .... Yes, I have not told that yet .... Secretly they received just a little little bit of the new grains... 100 gr in stead of a kilo and 5% of alfalfa .... .... and everything goes fine ! Today I was already on 300 gr.grains and 10% alfalfa and it is still good ....
Their new chunk consists therefore mainly of grains: 42% crushed oats, 33% crushed barley, alfalfa 4%, 4% corn, 4% peas ,.... They love it and everything goes well ....
But my heart bleeds when I see this and feel how their mouth is hurting .... I would have loved to spare them all of this .... The tears jump into my eyes ... Why? WHY ? WHY? They have already been through enough .... and I give them everything and do all I can .... I look at no money to give them everything, I put their health before mine and then they have this experience ....
It is not fair!
And the kids .... 3 of them .... have a bit of nasal discharge and the water tap was not functioning when I was there so I could not go and get more .... So I sent them a text message so they would not forget to give the water to the littlens.
And I ?I went to the traumatologist in the afternoon.And I've deceided for myself that I'll not be operated on in May ... I have no time to lie flat and then to do the rehab after a knee replacement .... We'll see next year ... And for the rest ... oh well ... the fracture is still not consolidated and it won't without an OP...but this is so invasive that we exclude it provisionally. As long as I can manage the pain with the torch .... I'll continue as I am ...
The pictures are not good, but there was no other way ... I can hardly ask the horses to stand still for taking pictures of the holes in their gums...
And the first picture is their medication that I bought again today ...
Now I'm going to give the kids their evening syringe and I'll stay with them for a while.... Being strong together! Console eachother! Cry together !
Thursday AltaNero had straw packets in his mouth and on friday Cubanito had much saliva in his mouth ..... this afternoon at 5pm. they all had a lot of saliva in their mouth ...
So there is a new problem .... and my feeling tells me they have sores in the mouth .... of barley straw or the straw that I brought from the ranch last Sunday ....
Tonight I also gave Chiki some barley straw and no avenastro to the boys .... If Chiki has no problem it is the normal straw that's causing it and otherwise the culprit is the barley straw.
Tonight I'm giving them kamomillethee in the mouth and in the morning I'm calling the vet.
Thanks to the efforts of Irene, who sent a number of letters to various organisations, she got a phone call on thursday The holistic Vet Erik Laarakker said that he wants to help us .
He suggested we send 2 manure samples by mail from preferably the worst of the foals according to me.
I had to collect fresh manure in a plastic sandwich bag and put some aluminum foil around it to avoid any external contamination of substances. Also some hair from the tail was desired.
Irene reported me that the vet would personally and for free examine the manure for worms, intestinal flora and any bacteria in the intestines.
He also gave me info on Emanuelle Driesen, who is working here as a veterinarian. I rang her on Thursday, but unfortunately was not able yet to speak with her. I did leave her a message.
Yesterday it was not possible to have evertyhing in the house in time and to catch the manure because I needed help too for myself and I still had to buy some things.
This morning I waited in the stables ..... and waited ..... and waited.... They apparently knew there was something I wanted from them, haha haha
But patience is rewarded .... and so I could gather everything, packed it up and sent it. It was sent by express mail "emergency" and would in principle be there on Monday.
Tonight I will make a list of events and administered medication and will send the story with pictures to the Netherlands by email.
Ow yes .... I selected the manure of Aston and Amoroso
Meanwhile the horses are sunbathing now after eating their breakfast .... finally back a little sun and warmth ... although the wind is still blowing furiously now and again.
The sun shines, the wind blows, and it is quiet cold .... time to take a minute to inspect the fields .... It has rained enough .... what we have sown in September is now starting to come out well ... but with 2 months delay.
The horses are doing fine today ... everyone .... yes even Aston is making beautifull parcels ...
I had to go to the chiropractor to further unlock my neck and to have the epicondylitis in my right arm (due to the falls of the last month) treated. Monday I also have to go to the traumamologist.
Went to the ridershop and bought this.
Of course I went to the youngsters, as every day, ... I have also been looking for the straw-oat, alfalfa,.... supplier who dit not show up yesterday and who doesn't answer his telephone anymore.
Aston en Amoroso are enjoying the blankets for a 2nd night in a row .... they are a bit big, especially for Aston. .
Ow yes .... my quick design to get water into the mouth of a horse to rinse it out in case something is stuck
This morning, my neighbour Michael and I went to search for the culprit that caused that there was no reaction from the electric fencing ....
Cubanito, our grey one, had already pleated some poles and tested the wires.
The culprit turned out to be the poor conductivity of the ground. Therefor Michael made 2 additional grounding contacts and all the bad contact of the wires were redone.
The horses enjoyed the sun that finally shone again ... and most of them went to lie down and have a nice rest. But Aston was not feeling well and by noon he had the Niagara Falls again.
Together with Michael we moved Amoroso and the Black Stallion ....The Black back to the Cubanito and Altanero...and Amoroso with Aston. So I could give these 2 a bit more avena what would do their bowels some extra good. The other men had had fewer bowel problems, so.
At lunchhour I went to the kids and was shockedto see they had about half a bale of cebada to eat ... while it's a new kind of food for them ..... Although I had prepared all the food for the next 3 days, nicely divided into packets for morning, lunch and evening ... something obviously went wrong.I informed the man that they can only give the food that I have prepared before, because I want to avoid any additional problems.
Later at home I noticed however that the Black Stallion was lying down a lot and again focused on his box ... as if something was disturbing him ...and yes I did not see him urinate. So I warmed some water and gave him another internal wash.
So a busy day once again .... and Aston left me no rest .... I treated him with the torch again and did the extra points that Brian had communicated. You'll never believe it .... at 7 pm. Aston put the perfect pack down .... the best of them all
Searched for a new device ....and did not find it, so I opened it myself. Went to the store to get a new condensator, but later inspection by my neighbour Michael revealed nthat the condensator was not broken.
A new fuse was inserted and there was a good contact. Thuisgekomen bleek na plaatsing om 20u15 dat er niets veranderd was aan de situatie.....
But back home I installed it again at 20u15, it appreared that nothing had changed ... Well if it ain't the wires and it ain't the device, what then ?
Sometimes by night I already have forgotten what I actually did that day .... don't worry, it's just fatigue
The night was particularly bad ... every movement of my head awakened me because of the pain of the pinched nerve in my neck. Luckily I was able to visit the chiropractor this afternoon.
Like every morning it's a matter of preparing and administering oral syringes, feeding the horses and cleaning the stables and paddocks completely & thoroughly. And that should happen today too, but slightly slower and with less abrupt movements.
As I got ready to go to the chiropractor and washed my hair, I deblocked my spinal purely accidental and I had much less pain.... ... I therefor annuled my urgent appointment ....as he was taking me after his hours because it was urgent and now it wasn't anymore.
Given the good response of the horses on the "paja the cebada en rama" I phoned the supplier and ordered a load .... Normally it will be delivered on Thursday, if it finally stops raining...
The horses are meanwhile better again: Scores:
Altanero: 9/10 (always leave the door open he) ) Cubanito: 9/10 Black Stallion: 9/10 Amoroso: 1 pack less good in the last 12 hours: 7 / 10 Aston: No Niagara falls in the last 24 hours...still a bit soft sometimes ... but much better than sunday 4 / 10
In the afternoon I returned to see the little foals of course. They had to stay inside all day because of the inclement wet weather. Luckily they have an extra large shed where they can easily walk around in these bad days.
At 9 pm. the big guys got their 4th meal of the day and yet another day had gone ...
Once more I made a false move and I pinched a nerve in my neck ... a good start to the day soHmhm... HMHM ...
Quickly went down and excecuted all the tasks because I had to leave to go to Alicante. Meanwhile my neighbour Tony stayed with the horses. Aston was indeed quiet and had become a bit sad.... After seeing the inspectiondoc, I had to go to the medical horse clinic because my vet had enough of the fact that Aston still had diarhea. As everything was OK at home (I called several times .. yesyes), I went to see the little ones and they were all fine. Then I went to the pharmacy for an extra charge of medicine and then I went back home.
All horses were right up and everything was cleaned up ... I could not see what had been laid during my absence.
I gave Aston the antibiotics but was shortly afterwards shaken as he no longer had diarrhea ... During the whole period that I was downstairs with them they were no more waterfalls ... I was almost sorry that I had given antibiotics but well...it was too late now...
Also the rest of the day the packages were acceptable, yet not good but better than yesterday.
The DA was surprised that I had managed to find "paja the cebada en rama". Apparently, it must be totally different than the barley straw up North of Europe because here it seems to be one of the best for horses. And the one they delivered to me yesterday does not have those piercing stems and therefore can not cause damage to mouth and intestines.
So they had a bit this afternoon for the first time for dinner and again at 16.30 and 21u30 although mixed with oat straw where the grains are still and straw of oats and ...
Ow yes ... they are crazy about it and are even a bit wild when they see me coming down with it....
Tired and worried Ow ... did I tell you yet that it's raining again and now the stormy winds are heard and felt.
I didn't sleep much....Amoroso had spasms again last night and so I had to keep him in sight And for me that meant staying with him for an hour after he gets better again and then check on him every 90 minutes.
Fortunately he stayed well during the night.
The showers were not too bad ... we have been spared so far.... but it is very dark and cloudy .
This morning I had an appointment at 10 am. with my neighbours to go and pick up a large bale of straw that I bought yesterday at the ranch where the foals are. The weather was still threatening but fortunately it had not rained yet. We connected the trailer and went on our way. After we had put the big bale in the trailer we went to visit the 4 foals to say hello and stroke them. The objective is that the neighbours would go once a week to visit the kids so that they would be less alone .... At my place I was all day long in their neighborhood.
We hugged them and pieces of apple and banana (in fact my breakfast) were distributed.
On our way home we were stopped & put aside by the Guardia Civil....and I knew why but... well ....
So to the side and get out ... meanwhile I had my iron corset on top of my other one ... Madam, you know that car and trailer have to have the same nrplate ? But of course sir, that's how it is no ? Well damn, well I've loaned my trailer to a friend and they have apparently forgotten to change the plates again. Oh sir, I've got the plates at home. Why don't you come with us... I just went out to get some food for some starving colts that I saved...blabla blabla .... A vague memory of my old career in Belgium came back to the surfaceand my arguments took 5 more minutes ... but I did win all means ... Maybe he felt ashamed at what his fellow citizens had done to these foals ... and saying that both the Police and Seprona were informed about my actions ... well
Instead of having to pay 160 for the fine, I received a warning ...and that's a first .... whew an extra 160 for the foals so
Back home everyone was free and upright. And Amoroso put a nearly perfect package down for the first time in 3 days. The treatment with the torch must have done him good. During the afternoon cleaning at the paddocks of the foals, a truck arrived... and they thought of playing with my feet again. I had ordered 10 bales of barleystraw to see if the foals would like it and was well tolerated but he arrived with a full truck.
Well I did not change my mind and he backed off with the rest.
After the disinfection of the stables I took the time to briefly look on the internet about information on barley straw .... and so I learned to know the different types ... I was also warned about the danger of barley straw and so I decided not to use it today but to wait till tomorrow, so I could first speak with the vet.
During the afternoon Aston deteriorated ...He had another visit from the Niagara Falls. It was terrible .... it squirted easy 1.5 m far back ...
This could not continue and so I decided to give him a complete treatment with the torch and to also treat the points for viral infections. Luckily he was still playful and was still eating...
All in all a tiring day and tonight I will hold guard ... you can't be too carefull with Amaroso !
: it would
