Photos - before and after.

[Tami Pinell]

These are photos of the mares and foals that were in the pasture where the Nelson waterer failed to work. Today for the first time since this ordeal happened, I was able to walk up to the waterer where I found Julia dead and not cry. If you look you will still see her halter laying on the ground were I took it off of her and threw it.
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/farm/waterers/killer2.jpg
The valve is still in the down position were it is stuck - thus NO water will flow into the bowl.
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/farm/waterers/killer3.jpg

This is Margi the day she delivered Angel at the vet clinic and this is how she looked when I left to Mississippi.
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/margi/2005filly.jpg
this is her today when I went up to check the waterer in the broodmare pasture
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/margi/Dec2005.jpg

These are the two other mares that were in the pasture that survived - the Chestnut is Laura's mare Marisol, the other is my fino mare, Remmy.
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/marisol/marisolremmy.jpg
Here they are today...
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/marisol/Dec2005a.jpg
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/remmy/Dec2005a.jpg

this is the black colt that was born and is the youngest....
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/remmy/2005colt1.jpg
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/remmy/2005colt2.jpg
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/remmy/2005colt3.jpg
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/remmy/2005colt4.jpg

This is Julia and her foal as I left her for my trip.
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/julia/2005filly1.jpg
and felina and her foal
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/felina/felinabest.jpg
http://www.morningstarpasofino.com/mare/felina/2005filly.jpg

Dehydration can happen very quickly and it can also happen very suddle, let my misfortune be a lesson to all - check your watering system on a daily basis. I was only gone for 4 days, the morning I left I checked them, when I returned home - Julia was dead and the others were almost dead. Treatment and recovery is a slow process - no matter what anyone says, We did what needed to be done and it has gone very slowly here and thankfully without a fall back - Marisol still looks very thin but due to her founder she can not throw on weight - she is slowly but surely gaining it back. Every mare and foal looked like a walking skeleton, stuff that nightmares are made of. I have not done anything to add to there stress, they have only had support and care - thus when I see the other fillies I feel really sad, they should have stayed here and not had the added stress of changing their lives. That could have waited just like it did for Captain and this black colt. I did not take a photo of Captain before he left, I should have. I'm hoping that Jennifer will send me one soon. It's just hard for me when I see such a huge difference between the girls and the boys. None of the mares had or have now any milk - This black colt was the one that we all worried the most about for he was born during this and we were not sure if he had cholestrum but his labs showed he did (if not he would have died). I'm praying that the serum for the girls get them back on track so they can bloom. That would make my Christmas.
As of this evening ALL of the waterers at the barns have been changed. The pasture waterers still have to be changed and I check them daily. And just because I put in new ones does not mean that I do not walk in each stall every day and I am now putting my hand in each no matter how cold it gets - I'm not just looking. Everyone that helps me also knows that every waterer has to be checked. It is not a question of if they want to.... it's required. Learn from my misfortune.

[motorgypsy]

Misfortune strikes any chance it gets and no matter how hard we try we are always going to forget something or someone else will and there will be dire consequences. It breaks our hearts when we try so hard and still something bad happens to those we love. May your luck turn good and your critters all thrive and these bad things become faint memories - just enough so they know they aren't forgotten and were loved.

[CarolU]

Tami, it just breaks my heart to see those pictures - as I'm sure it did for you to post them. I know how hard this has been, but if your posting them reminds one person to check daily and saves one horse, it will be worth it.

My hay man went on vacation two years ago. The boys he had feeding and watering his 30+ head of horses, missed one of the water troughs and he lost 4 mares and foals. You are right, it does not take long.

It's very easy when we have modern convienences like waterers to trust them to work properly. It's just sometimes we shouldn't.

I am so sorry for your loss. Julia looks like she was a wonderful, beautiful mare. I am sure the guilt you feel knows no bounds.

I hope the pain heels in time...I hope the lessons learned this hard way last forever for everyone here who have become part of the those fillies' lives. My husband always thinks I'm such a worrywort, but he doesn't realize how fast things can happen.

[Monty]

Having had to deal with a colic due to horse not drimking cold water - I check the tanks every day - not just in the winter - even though we have float valves in them in the summer -
I missed the first time the story was told - Here's hoping for a better year for everyone! :roll:

[Heidi]

I always check my water tubs.

When I was a kid I found a chicken chilled to the bone in one one day. I didn't ride the pony that day, I plucked the chickie out and put her in a box and brought her inside for the night.
She laid a transparent egg during the night. The shell was NOT hard, it was like a see-through skin. She was fine to return to the chickie-herd the next morning.
I fear finding a drowned animal in them. I'd like Kenny to weld me a metal 'tank ladder' for accidental dunkings.
I use a sheep tank in the summer and a taller tank in the winter. The small tank allows for faster water turnover and easier clean up while the larger one in winter holds more water if the hoses freeze so I can wait for a 'warm' day. With one horse I don't use my floats anymore.

I am sorry for your losses, you and Shelley...but I am also glad that you posted this as a message for horse-people to be able to learn from, too. When we confine an animal, we are TOTALLY responsible for their care and wellbeing, because they are unable to leave and find it themselves.

Healthy as a horse. They really are delicate animals, though...
Heidi

[Carol Nelson]

Oh, Tami, my heart is just breaking for you...I am so, so sorry...
Thank you for sharing your story with us...hopefully some if not all of us have learned from it. It has left a huge impression on me. I was taught a long time ago that the one thing most important in a horse's regimen is water. This only reinforces that. God bless...if there's anything I can do...

[Barbwire]

I think another lesson to be learned here is, make sure you have responsible people watching your animals while you are away. Tell them to check the water no matter what and make sure they know enough about horses to tell when something is not right.

I am afraid to go anywhere and have anyone watch my guys because of stuff like this can happen.

[pnalley]

I truly hope this is a wake up call to ALL of us.

I do not have auto waterers at all, and never will. I like to know how much my horses drink. My husband & friend fed this AM, When I fed tonite I had one pasture out of water. Last night when I checked it was half full. They WILL hear about it in the morning!

[Beth Worden]

Tammi, this is heart wrenching. Thank you for sharing your worst nightmare. If it helps save one horse from dehydration, then your pain is worth your post. My next comment is in NO WAY a criticism, so please do not take offence. It is just my philosophy for buying land or a farm to keep horses on.

I was raised a dairy farmer and my parents also raised, trained and traded horses for a living. My father always told me to never buy a farm without running water on it and by that he meant a creek or river, not plumbing. I would never consider owning a horse without a creek (that runs year round) running through my pasture or short pasture (some would call it a paddock) area. Yes, I deal with mud, yes I have to chop holes in the ice when it gets below zero, and yes it is a pain to fence off so that the horses are not contaminating the creek, but the plus side is my horses always have fresh running water. I never carry water and I can honestly say I have never had a case of colic due to water or lack of it. I know I am fortunate to be able to do this but I never would have bought this piece of ground if I did not have the creek out back. And I never have a pasture without a creek.

Just something for folks to think about who may be looking to buy a place to keep/raise horses.

[Beth Worden]

One more thing...the red mare Marisol, I think I own her twin sister.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a196/pasobeth/de28001.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a196/pasobeth/solonaface.jpg

[Tami Pinell]

Several other points -
First of all, this post is to let all know that dehydration of any factor can kill a horse - even if you have buckets or a creek - you need to know what your horse is drinking. I have had one stallion that did not like the "smell" of the water when his bucket was washed out - he slowly dehydrated to the point that his labs showed a packed red blood cell count that could KILL.... we had no idea how he was standing there - HE LOOKED FINE! He was not even taken in for a colic or other related problem.... I was JUST LUCKY to find it on a routine blood exam for my horses in training!
Second - if you do not (how can I say this without it sounding bad??) have the knowledge or know what to look for or however it is nice to say..... the signs of dehydration (slight dehydration) then automatic waterers CAN BE a life saver - the new ones have water meters on them so you know how much water has actually flowed through them. I've seen horses play in the water buckets here in the winter time and dump them - thus someone else could have thought later in the day that the water had been drank - one needs to KNOW the water has been drank and not that the water is gone from the bucket or the thought that since water is there they ARE drinking it.
The last point is that I can not be upset with those that were here while I was gone - they are dear friends and my family - they have lived this ordeal right beside me - if they could turn the clock back and change it all - they would just as I would. The kind man that was also checking my herd was so upset when he was told the filies were going to Shelley - begged me to tell her no and he was going to come here every day to care for just the babies for free to help me out for he was here while I was going for 14-16 hours a day working, caring for 3 mares and 5 foals plus the rest of the farm.... we all have suffered through this. His comment was "I did not drive an hour trip each day while you were gone to watch your horses die - I'll take care of those babies if you need my help, tell her no, you're going to keep them." Maybe "I" should listen better..... hind sight is 20/20.

There are many points to dehydration and also the horses care if you should fine that your horse is dehydrated... if those on this BB would like, I will do my best to list the care and management on this thread that has been taught to me so IF (and God knows I hope never) you or someone you know runs into a problem such as this you will have a guidline to go by. If nothing else - I have lived through 4 different types of "reactions to dehydration", 5 if you wish to include sudden death, that you may learn by and what was done to bring the problem back to a healthy state. If nothing more, It will be of benefit if only one person learns one thing. Let me know - for it will not be a pleasent thread to read.

For now, I'm headed back out to check my waterers and work a farm.

[finolover]

what's this wet stuff drippin off my chin?
don't beat your self up....so sorry


Lost Caballos de Paso Fino
Somewhere in our minds eye, deep within our heart
there’s a land to where our paso’s go, when time for us to part
this fine land is so, far, far away, yet right ore that next hill
we sense they’re ever present, and know they always will

somewhere grazing peacefully, no pain, nor sickness there
belly deep in tender grasses, the weather always fair
clear streams run cold and ripple, with every turn and bend
never lonely for at each shoulder they always have a friend

their time with us was fleeting, as life was meant to be
why some went as they did?
is not for us to see
in that special land or’e that next hill, or is it just behind
I can see it, just as plain as day, somewhere in my mind

somewhere in our minds eye, deep within our heart
there’s a pasture where our paso’s go, when time for us to part
they lift their heads and look our way and nicker softly still
they will be there when we come for them, and know we always will

author Earl Schrum
06/17/05

[Beth Worden]

Tammi - Excellent points. And I echo Earl's comment about beating (dare I say it) a dead horse. I think the metered waters are the way to go if creek water is not readily available. As I stated before, where horse maintence (watering) is concerned I look at all the available senarios and go with what works best for me. One of the reasons I like the paso finos is that he is a horse that can "thrive on neglect". By that I mean he is a low maintence breed. Will my horses dehyrate in the pasture with fresh running water at their disposal at all times? Maybe. Will aliens abduct me today and probe my internal organs? Maybe. Will Antino Bandaras knock on my door today and beg me to run off and spend eternity with him riding horses and making mad passionate love every day? Maybe. Will I run periodic blood tests on horses that appear in all ways to be healthy and thriving to see if they are dehydrated? No. If a buy a horse that does not drink well - and I have had a few, I don't keep it. I trailride here, there, and everywhere and they need to drink on the trail, different water at staging areas and trailheads. A horse that is too picky about taking care of himself does not fit into my criteria.

And I, for one, would embrace any more information you post on this subject. Again, thank you for your posts.

AND, please folks, accept my humor as just that, humor.

[CarolU]

Will Antino Bandaras knock on my door today and beg me to run off and spend eternity with him riding horses and making mad passionate love every day? Maybe.

in your dreams! ;-)

I think in all our lives we live with many "if only's," if only I hadn't let the dogs out then, if only I had vaccinated sooner, if only I had done this myself,...etc."

Hindsight is always 100%, but by sharing these kinds of experiences, as hard as it is, we can help to save each other the pain Tami has gone through. Bless you Tami...

[Beth Worden]

Carol - Well, if COULD happen, right???? If you're gonna dream, then dream BIG. Oh, never mind, this will just get me in trouble....

[finolover]

oh i hope dreams come true, to offset all the nightmares