>I have a very sad announcement,
here at Abacus Farms, we have had a tragedy. > >On Friday, our
Friesian stallion, Ulrik died. > >Instead of rewriting, I am copying
a post I sent to someone individually, I >don't have the heart to rewrite
something right now. > >And this is a warning, to all those of you
especially in California, where >Oleander is grown EVERYWHERE!! It is so
deadly, and don't believe it when >they say horses won't eat it...a tiny
amount can kill. They can injest it >accidentally, and a few horses will
even sample it.. > >Be SO careful...get rid of it if you
can. >+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >Well,
we found out today what happened, and it is stupid and
senseless. > >We have a plant out here called oleander, it is used
everywhere, in the hwy >divider, as landscaping
material. > >It is actually quite a pretty plant, grows big, suited
to drought >conditions, has pretty pink, white or yellow flowers, and it
is DEADLY. > >We have NONE on our property...and there really isn't
any around us. But >looks like somehow, someone either dumped
clippings, or they flew out of a >truck flying down our road, anyway...we
had a big storm early Tues...HIGH >winds. Apparently blew these branches
around the front of our property. >Ulrik has been stalled while his leg is
healing, (and the other sad thing, >is that he was healing
MAGNIFICENTLY! We had x-rays done again a couple of >weeks ago, the
vet was so pleased to see it.) > >Anyway, in the dark, we turned
Ulrik out in the round pen. Apparently there >was some of these
branches in there. They say it is not palatable, but our >vet says
that probably more horses eat it than thought, and they don't have >a
necropsy, so they just call it colic. > >It looks like he ate some.
And I guess it doesn't take much. He was only >out for maybe 2
hours. He ate his dinner later when we brought him in, but >Wed
am...he didn't eat. We called the vet immediately, his heart and
all >other signs were ok, wasn't in distress, just didn't eat. By
Thursday, he >still didn't eat, vet came out again and gave him mineral
oil...still no >rolling, didn't seem in much distress. Fri am, his
gums were purple. Susie >threw him in the trailer took to UC
Davis. They treated him all day, saying >he was too unstable for
surgery, but at 5 pm, they operated cause they said >he was dying before
their eyes. They didn't find anything there, and he >never got
up. Got the results today, and bloodwork show this in his
blood. > >I am furious, so angry...and can't stop crying,
either, He was the heart >and soul of this place, you never met him,
but believe me, there won't be >another like him. > >After
getting the results today, we patrolled the property, and found
small >branches of this shit in a few places, and friends said there was
some in >the ditch down the road, too. Not big stuff, but looks like
someones >clippings. A big majority of what we found was blown up against
fences...NOT >in paddocks, thank goodness. And thank goodness no
other horses ate >any...like I said, they SAY it tastes yucky, and most
horses won't eat >it...but our vet has had 6 out of 7 horses in a single
paddock eat it,... > >so, Ulrik fought it to the end. Even thru the
surgery, he wasn't ready to >go...he was stolen from
us. > >thank you so much > > >Holly
Zech >Pleasant Grove
CA > >www.abacusfarms.com
