09/10/2022
Meet Manfred, aka Manny, named after Manny the Mammoth from the movie Ice Age. Our Manny, much like the one from Ice Age, is also a gentle giant. Manny is another one of our pulls from the feed lot in Texas. When he got here, he needed A LOT of help. He has received it in the form of a sponsorship from Slam Dunk Sports Bar in Norco. A huge thank you to them for helping us get Manny back on his hooves.
Manny was severely underweight, and his intestines were FILLED with sand, so he’s been eating his little heart out and gaining weight. When horses are filled with sand, we give them psyllium which helps push the sand out, so they do not get a blockage or impaction colic. These draft horses may look big and mighty, but their gastrointestinal tracts tend to be a little sensitive. So, rather than giving Manny the full dose every day, we did half doses until he reached the final amount. To say we were a little nervous about it was an understatement. Thankfully he was able to do his round of psyllium with no complications, and he is now sand free and able to continue eating with no worry of the sand.
Manny was also recently visited by the dentist. Let's just say Manny had lots of “cavities”. Horses’ teeth are constantly growing, and they wear them down by chewing their food. Sometimes they do not do a very good job wearing them down evenly, so they will get sharp points which make it painful for them to eat. This is probably one of the leading reasons Manny was so underweight. Manny also had a wolf tooth which needed to be removed. Wolf teeth are a pointy tooth within a mouth of smooth teeth and are normally removed when the horse is young, but Manny’s had been allowed to stay. Oftentimes wolf teeth will get in the way of the bit when ridding and are VERY easy to hit when bridling and unbridling, which is painful for the horse. To make Manny’s life a little bit easier, his remaining wolf tooth was removed.
Manny has already made so many good steps while being here and has gained a good amount of weight, but this is only his beginning. Stay tuned to see what a gorgeous animal he will be when he is back to 100%. The last two photos are from Manny when he first got here. If you would like to help support horses like Manny please donate to our GoFundMe https://gofund.me/377c6332 to help us continue making the lives of the horses pulled from the feedlot better.
