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Please Reply to: Lucie Hess appalucie@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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I lost my 29 year old appy  Monday night.  He has been a constant in my ever 
shifting world for 28 years.  He has had impactions for many years which were 
at the end of the rectal vault, I would "clean him out" and he would be "good 
to go" but lately he had not been doing well, losing weight and recently 
diagnoised as having Cushing's disease.

I had an necropsy done and recieved the results today.  I am completely 
horrified that the cause of his death was my mismanagement.

He was found to have a large mass of fine rock and gravel in his intestinal 
tract.
So here's where my responcibility comes in.  I have a set up where the horses 
have a small lot and can go in and out of their stalls at will.  I recently 
added an overhang to the barn, as I was tired of the horses having to struggle 
in and out during our rainy/snow/mud season.
Not more than 2 to 3 weeks ago,under the overhang I put two inch limestone 
gravel and covered it with "fines" or "screenings" of limestone.  Very fine 
pieces of stone, but bigger than sand.  My plan was to put it under the 
overhang, let it settle for awhile, then wet it down so it would get hard.

Well, it appears what happened is that the horses tracked in the fine gravel 
into their stalls and when Chief would eat his wet feed he would make a mess, 
(he had just a few teeth) then lick the remaining food off of the stall mats.

I kept the stalls clean , no shavings just mats.  If I saw  some rock I would 
sweep it out.  I sure didn't think this would happen.


Now I have to worry about my one remaining horse, he would also lick the mats 
to get up what Chief dropped, after Chief had finished
The vet at the Vet Teaching hospital here in town encouraged me to check for 
the gravel in his manure.  Just like you check for sand, with a manure 
suspension and to treat him with a Psyliiium product AND TO KEEP HIM AWAY FROM 
THE GRAVEL.

My concern is he may already have a concretion in his gut that the psyllium 
won't touch.

You have my permission to cross post the message to every discussion group that 
deals with horses.

I hope everyone will then learn NOT to put fine gravel where the horses could 
accidentally ingest it.

If I can help one horse and help a  horse owner to prevent a useless tragedy 
like this, perhaps I can get some solace.

The really stupid part of the whole thing is that I KNOW BETTER than to have 
SAND near feeding areas and not to feed on the ground in Sandy Soil, but I 
never had that thinking about this type of rock.

Sadly, Lucie Hess Columbia Mo. appalucieataoldotcom




===========================================================Many of the 
endurance riders in our top echelons of competition, now and in
the past, exemplify the 'common man' not the hierocracy. It is this
possibility, this chance to come to the fore, that makes endurance
competition of the Aussie/American type so much more desirable to part of
the world.
~  Bob Morris

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