Rabbit's Weight

Even before we went to look at Rabbit, we were warned that she was thin. Her owner only had her from the first of June (just before Mayhem was born) until Sept when we picked them both up. Having a baby took a toll on Rabbit's body. I was going to take monthly pictures of Mayhem to watch her grow but I am a poor "horse mom" and never did.

I did snap a few pictures of both exhausted momma and baby the day after they arrived. You could easily see how exhausted Rabbit was by looking at her. Unfortunately she also has heaves which flare up almost constantly (except when it's 10 below!)

I've been worried about her from day one. Having never had a momma and baby before I was a little out of my comfort box but I knew Rabbit needed a soft place to land. And Mayhem needed a place to call home no matter what color she is. I've now started joking saying that Mayhem is my blue roan.

Because pictures speak a thousand words (even though I ramble alot), I thought you might enjoy what a few months of high quality hay and mash do for a body. Here's Rabbit the day after we brought her home.




I know the lighting is terrible and she's filthy. I forgot to grab the batteries so I was only able to sneak a couple pics before the camera died. But there's no more hips sticking out, no more flanks caved in, no more spine protruding. You can still see a few ribs but that might be just how she's going to carry herself.

I've left a blanket on her since November when we weaned Mayhem. Unfortunately the weekend we weaned Mayhem we had a storm and I didn't think Rabbit could tolerate the stress of weaning AND a storm so on went the blanket. I also thought Rabbit was still too thin and needed that extra layer.

I did wean Rabbit and Mayhem a month early (at five months instead of six). I didn't want to wait until Christmas time to wean, knowing full well that Rabbit's body couldn't handle that much stress.

So here Rabbit is five months later. It's hard to tell the weight gain in the first picture but just look at her neck. She's finally getting some weight back on her enough where she has a normal sized neck instead of that pencil thin neck. Poor old girl should never have been bred and she should have been treated like a queen instead of just another baby making machine.


Rabbit's front feet are goofy but she was too naughty for the farrier. She's old enough (19 yrs old) to know how to get away with some things. I told the farrier I would work with her and call next week. I need to mess with her a bit more to gain more trust. Right now I'm just the feeding lady, but I need to become more. We're working on it already. But Rabbit is one smart cookie.