[spirithawk06]

Hi, all. It's been a while since I was on here but I have some questions for any horse experts out there.

I was just informed last night that my Godfather was giving me his 8 month old palomino filly (pics added). I haven't seen the lass since she was 2 days old but I found out that her dam sickened and died (old age and the winter was rather harsh). I don't have recent pictures of her yet. I'll see them this weekend.

So this little gal is 8 months old and orphaned. My Godfather said that the grass is having trouble growing because of the rain (the horses are turning the ground to muck) but his herd has been thinned out and they are going block off half the pasture to let the other half dry and the grass grow. So as soon as spring kicks in good, there will be an abundance of grass and fewer horses to compete for it. He is also selling some of the others. He was going to auction the filly but when I offered to buy one of the horses, he refused to let me pay for one and gave me the filly. He said he wouldn't get more than $25 for her anyway because she's so young.

Here's my problem. I can't see her until this weekend. I'm a student teacher and she's staying back in my hometown. Parran said she's eating what little grass there is and hay, but she's skinny. Should I buy her some supplements in addition to the hay I plan to haul down there for her? If so, what kind of supplements? Does she need to be on some sort of milk replacer at 8 mo just to supplement the grass and hay? I think he feeds them some sweet feed or grain but I'm not sure.

Thanks ahead of time for the info.

I'm thinking of naming her Belle Liberté (Beautiful Freedom). She was born on the 4th of July.

 

[spirithawk06]

Adding to this. Found out that she shouldn't need milk replacer but if anyone could answer my question about the supplements that would be great. Thanks

 

[spirithawk06]

Unfortunately we don't have an equine vet close by right now (I'll have to do my research to find one) and I won't be able to take her to one until May. I will be getting her vaccines and stuff when she puts on some more weight. I don't want to chance giving her something her immune system can't handle right now since she's skinny from winter. Hopefully she'll be in better shape than I'm anticipating but I'll see this weekend.

Thank you for the link.

 

[spirithawk06]

Update:

So she's already pretty much halter broken! It went much better than we anticipated. Within an hour we had her halter on and she was following on a lead rope. She stood still while I brushed all the snarls and mud out of her coat. I'm really excited. She's rather skinny but there is hay there and the grass is starting to pick up. I'm doing research on supplements and will be worming her if the warm weather keeps up for the next week or so.

Still a little torn on her name and I forgot my camera so I can't put up new pictures. She's nearly white right now with her winter coat but her mane and tail will be a rather blinding shade of white and she has a blaze down her forehead. Her coat is only a couple of shades darker than her mane and tail right now but her sire did the same thing. He's almost white right now but he was darker during the summer.

I'm thinking of naming her either Liberty Belle or Firecracker. Either would work. She has some spunk but she seems pretty sweet and affectionate.

 

[spirithawk06]

Thank you everyone for the comments and advice.

Unfortunately, I lost Liberty not long after I got her. She fell into a canal and drowned when she couldn't get free of the mud.

RIP Liberty.