[READ DESCRIPTION] So yeah, Bat is back with me. Basically what happened is that despite the fact the the girl who was riding him was lovely, he hadn't been eating well ever since moving to the new yard. At first, the yard owner (and the girl's instructor) said he had gastritis and started giving him medication without speaking to any vets first.
I knew Bat didn't have any medical issues, but against my better judgement decided to leave it alone.
About a month ago I got a call on a Friday night saying Bat hadn't eaten anything in a week and had nearly coliced twice. I asked what the vet had said and the answer was that the vet hadn't seen him in nearly a month and that they didn't think it was necessary to call a vet. I told the guy that if he didn't call a vet, I'd do it myself.
Three days later with no news at all and no one answering my texts, I receive an incredibly rude message from the yard owner saying Bat's only problem was his old age, that he was over 20 years old and not close to 12 like I'd told him. Obviously, he was calling me dishonest.
After that everyone went silent again and at that point I'd been going on more than a week not knowing if Bat was safe or not. Then two weeks ago I got a phone call saying they were returning him because, after all, they couldn't afford a horse that cannot be ridden.
The first (and only) photo on the video was taken the day Bat arrived back here. By that time he'd spent 3 weeks with very little food and locked up on a stall for absolutely no good reason.
We did every single exam and the vet turned him inside out.
Bat's only problem was hunger. We found out the yard owner had been feeding him with low quality feed and that was why he was refusing to eat.
I
'm sorry for the girl who had to go through that because she honestly loved him, but any place that lets this happen to any horse at all is not a safe place to keep your horses at.
Today Bat trotted a little for the first time since coming back. We'll be keeping him in light work until he's better so he doesn't hurt himself on the field for having too much energy but also doesn't lose any more weight.
Sorry this got so long, but people need to know what happened to him. This could've happened to anyone, but all that matters is that it is not okay. No horse should have to go through what Bat did, especially a horse that you trust other people will care for.
All footage where I'm all in black and he's clearly just been washed is from a few days ago.
0 Comments