3equines
Posted : 5/2/2011 3:18:25 PM
I am pretty sure that Thunder has some TB in his breeding - he is not a registered QH and is very appendix-QH looking; has high prominent withers and an upright way of carrying himself with a long stride; he's always been a high energy kinda guy; my experience with TBs and Arabians is that they do tend to just burn up more calories, especially as they age (Thunder is only about 12 now but not getting any younger).
I have been the worm police since you clued me into the link between onchocerca parasites and sweet itch; the 'normal' equines get wormed monthly and my poor little Crystal is back on a weekly regimen, I use a standard dose tube for all my horses regardless of weight so Crystal pretty much gets double dosed (I doubt she is much more than 800 #). However, dear fiancee was a lax horsekeeper and Thunder has been 'his' horse for a number of years before I showed up and became 'barn manager'. I do like to watch the horses closely after worming and see what comes out of their poo; I once had a ' pity case ' that I wormed and the stool was literally writhing with red ascarids, its a miracle the horse did not die form an impaction, ruptured bowel or ulcers after worming him that time; it was a 2-YO paint gelding so he had youth on his side.