Mohani's Battle to Health
By Seri
•
14th Nov 2010 •
4,746 views
•
10 comments
|
|
As you guys read in my last article, The Five Dollar Horse, I bought Mohani from his previous owner for five dollars and set out on a mission. That mission was to turn that poor stallion’s life around and to give him a chance to live it the way he was meant to the entire time.
The first day I brought him home, I let him settle in and sat in his pasture in the corner, making myself look as small and non-threatening as possible. I did this for time blocks of 45 minutes once in the morning, once towards noon and once around midnight. At the end of the last session he gathered up enough courage to nuzzle my shin out of curiosity.
When his first bout of colic came at about five hours later, I was frantic. I was so worried that I had fed him the wrong rations, or somehow had allowed sand to get into his food. I didn’t know what I would do if Mohani died because I didn’t feed him correctly. I get attached to animals very easily, and once I begin that bond and something happens to the animal then I’ll cry for months about it. I was still grieving Silver’s death even though that had been in the end of spring so I knew that I would be unable to deal with something like this at the moment.
My mother called the vet and he was quickly picked up and whisked away by the horse trailer that she (the vet) had sent over to us. I stayed in the back with Mohani, careful to keep a good enough of a distance away from him so that he wouldn’t feel cramped and confined inside of the trailer. The last thing we needed was for him to freak out because of claustrophobia issues.
Once at the vet I helped unload him and then I was taken to the waiting room. I stayed there for most of the day, only going home to shower, and eat something. Finally I received the news I had been waiting for. Mohani had survived the colic attack and although they wanted to keep him at the clinic for the night I was thrilled.
The next morning I woke up, did my chores, and went to school just like I would on a normal school day. I was desperate to see Mohani again and was overly excited when the bell rang. I got home, threw on my boots and went out to the barn. Mohani was attempting to swat flies with his shortened tail and I felt a tremendous amount of anger at whoever had set his tail.
Then not long after I had gotten back from school Mohani suffered a second bout of colic. For the life of me, I had no clue as to what was causing this, for I had sifted through his food specifically to make sure that there wasn’t any sand in it or his pasture and stall.
I got him to get up to his feet and walked him, nervous and scared. It felt like ages before the clinic’s van pulled up and I loaded him in and we were off to the doctor’s for the second time in less than 48 hours.
That was where I left off last time and I would like to tell you guys that he pulled through and is doing amazingly well.
Although he still has a couple of patches of fur to grow back, most of it has returned and his coat has taken on a healthy gleam. The shine you see in his pictures is his natural shine, he wasn’t even groomed at the time.
Mohani has had his first apples within the past week and I was quick to learn which ones he does and does not like. For instance, when I gave him the Granny Smith, he promptly took it and literally chucked it at my head. Luckily for me the apple chucking sessions were soon over as I discovered that his favorite kind of apple is the Macintosh followed by Red Delicious.
He has gained significant amounts of weight and you can no longer see his ribs (in an unhealthy manner) and he is putting on muscle as well. Mohani is still weak in the legs from the lack of movement and he does have some neck problems from being crammed into that tiny shed for such a long time.
There is a surgery available to fix the problem but that will have to wait seeing as I can’t afford it at the moment. Mohani’s feet have improved as well and I am happy to report that he is no longer tender (on/with his frogs) and will stand still as I pick his hooves.
I have been working him in the ring with a lunge line so that he can get used to different cues and to build up more muscle in his legs. My first attempt at a join-up failed and so did the second. Mohani simply wasn’t interested in me. As far he was concerned I was just another monster out to get him.
When doing the join up, I did not use a whip to make him go faster as some people do. I figured it would be to risky (since he was beaten with a whip) and decided to use body language to make him go faster, change direction, slow down and even stop. If I square my shoulders away from him and look at the ground by my feet I am telling him that I’m not a threat in any fashion and he will slow down. If I step further away and keep the same posture he will stop. However if I look up at him and deliberately step closer to him and keep my shoulders squared towards him he will take off again.
It took me three tries before a join-up became successful and I was thrilled when I heard his hooves clopping over to me before his head slung over my shoulder. When I moved forward he followed, when I stopped he stopped. I join-up with him daily now to reinforce that bond and to make sure that he knows that he can still trust me.
Mohani has his off days just like any other horse does only he can become dangerous if not handled right during one of those off days. I’ve been kicked, bitten and yes even crapped on by lovable horse. He has sensitive spots on different areas of his body and sometimes I’ll accidentally press down too hard on one and he will retaliate. I don’t hold it against him it’s just his natural way of defending himself.
The horse does have an amazing spirit and there is a subtle fire that is starting to spring to life and bring back energy to his eyes and the way he moves. I have decided that I will be returning to the show world if Mohani is willing to let me introduce him to it. It will be a very long time before he is ready but I don’t mind the wait. He has potential, I’ve seen him do an extended trot with the correct lead changes in his pasture out of a random whim, I’ve seen him jump over the 5’4 fence that surrounds his paddock. (We’ve changed the height to 5’7 now) Mohani also has the spirit of competition. The horse that lives in the paddock/stall next to him is an ex-racehorse that was fairly successful at the track and the two will go barreling along their fences each one trying to outdo the other and neither of them will stop until their foaming at the mouth from exertion.
Mohani also has an amazing sense of justice. An example of this would be earlier today when I brought a non-friend to the barn to see him. You see, she had been talking badly about my horse saying that he would never live up to be half as good as her pure-bred, spoiled-rotten Arabians. Knowing that Mohani could tell whether or not I like people I invited her over to the barn. She had just set her book-bag in the paddock (just barely inside it mind you) and had perched herself on top of the railing. I whistled and Mohani came out to greet me. As soon as he saw Kelly**(not her real name)** his ears swept back and he snaked his head in warning. I shook my head in a “no” not wanting him to attack her. So what does he do?
He attacks her backpack with a decadent pile of horse dung. Yup, that’s right, he took a dump directly over her book bag and she freaked. Karma’s amazing right?
|
|
|
ImaCoolCowgirl
He is so cute!! I hope you continue to update us on his condition!!
He is so cute!! I hope you continue to update us on his condition!!
|
Nov 14, 2010
• 3,735 views
|
|
|
|
mangomellen
loved it!! nice carma. hope he has a good life with you!
loved it!! nice carma. hope he has a good life with you!
|
Nov 14, 2010
• 3,706 views
|
|
|
|
weezapony
Mohani is awesome. I'm sure you two will go far, even if you can't show him for some reason or another. Was he ever ridden before you got him, or do you know?
Mohani is awesome. I'm sure you two will go far, even if you can't show him for some reason or another. Was he ever ridden before you got him, or do you know?
|
Nov 14, 2010
• 3,697 views
|
|
|
|
Castaway Wish
You might want to read "How To Think Like A Horse" I think it would be good for you.
You might want to read "How To Think Like A Horse" I think it would be good for you.
|
Nov 14, 2010
• 3,713 views
|
|
|
|
MardiGras
Excellent article! Mohani is gorgeous, and you are doing an amazing job with him!
Excellent article! Mohani is gorgeous, and you are doing an amazing job with him!
|
Nov 15, 2010
• 3,702 views
|
|
|
|
Fantasy Farms
He is such a pretty horse!
He is such a pretty horse!
|
Nov 15, 2010
• 3,721 views
|
|
|
|
Dreamer100
Cool! He is cute, and I am so glad he is coming around in health and life! I like his sense of justice, and I wish I could revenge on some people in my life, like that. Great article and beautiful horse! I can not hardly wait to see him all the way healed up and shiny. He is getting shinier. I love him already and you are doing a good job also.
Cool! He is cute, and I am so glad he is coming around in health and life! I like his sense of justice, and I wish I could revenge on some people in my life, like that. Great article and beautiful horse! I can not hardly wait to see him all the way healed up and shiny. He is getting shinier. I love him already and you are doing a good job also.
|
Nov 16, 2010
• 3,738 views
|
|
|
|
Madeirey
I love how he didnt like the girl and it was awesome when he pooed on it. I wish i saw that!
I love how he didnt like the girl and it was awesome when he pooed on it. I wish i saw that!
|
Nov 30, 2010
• 3,695 views
|
|
|
|
Thestral
I hope he doesn't have any more colic attacks, but by your words he seems to be getting better. He's gourgous!
I hope he doesn't have any more colic attacks, but by your words he seems to be getting better. He's gourgous!
|
Dec 2, 2010
• 3,729 views
|
|
|
|
Carpe Diem
That's so sweet and he is so cute! :)
That's so sweet and he is so cute! :)
|
Jul 13, 2011
• 3,698 views
|
|
|
|
|
More News by Seri
|
|
29th Nov 2010 |
Horse Stories |
Seri
He had been racing Warped Joys along the fence line when he slipped, fell and caught his leg around one of the posts. His right-fore had broken twice and his shoulder socket was shattered. I was forced to choose between a costly s ...
|
|
20th Nov 2010 |
Horse Stories |
Seri
Some of you might be wondering what Aromatherapy is. Aromatherapy is known as the use of natural based oils for the care of different ailments. The oils used in Aromatherapy are very concentrated and, as a side note for those of y ...
|
|
31st Oct 2010 |
Horse Stories |
Seri
This past spring my mare Silver and I entered a show jumping competition. We were approaching a large double oxer in the jump-offs when disaster struck. Somehow Silver got her back legs tangled in the fencing and the moment of tha ...
|
|
16th Jun 2010 |
Horse Stories |
Seri
Have you ever felt the bond between yourself and a wild animal? This past summer I had the privilege of experiencing such a bond between myself and not only one wild animal but with eighteen wild animals!!
During the summer I ...
|
|
|