Sham after recovering from near-starvation

A happy, comfortable, and healthy Sham

Shami

Aging horses have special problems, and teeth are often at the top of the list. Shami is a large part-Arab pony, a handsome chestnut gelding with a wide blaze. When he was 24 years old, he was turned out in a large pasture for the summer with another, younger horse. There was enough grass and hay for ten horses -- but Shami nearly starved to death because of his teeth. His owner returned from a three-month absence and was appalled at his condition.

Because of his age, many of Shami's teeth had fallen out and the teeth that remained didn't align properly. Everything he tried to chew simply fell out of his mouth. The younger horse was in fine shape, but Shami was horribly emaciated. He'd been starving to death, surrounded by food.

Shami's owner called Eye of the Storm, desperate to save this pony. He arrived at our farm in terrible shape. Not only was he dangerously underweight and weak, his hooves were also deformed from laminitis.
We tried a number of feeds for Shami, but he wasn't able to chew them. We finally succeeded with alfalfa hay cubes soaked in water to soften them so he can swallow and digest them without chewing.

The top picture shows a happy and well-fed Shami, after he recovered from near-starvation. Sham's muzzle is green and fuzzy from the food he now eats: alfalfa cubes, softened with water.

Once Shami started gaining weight and energy, his hooves began to grow in strong and healthy. Foundered horses can recover from laminits if the damage isn't too bad, but their hooves continue to grow unevenly for a long time.

Apparently, the hay cubes Shami was eating helped his hooves as well as his weight. Shami's alfalfa cubes are rich in vitamins and trace minerals, including beta-carotene, which is essential for healthy bones and hooves.

While his weight and general health improvement were immediately obvious, the new hoof growth continued to amaze us. In a relatively short time, Shami had grown completely new hooves. For a year, he wore shoes to protect his soles, but after that we just trimmed his feet. He hasn't needed shoes since then.

After Shami recovered his weight and health, he was placed with a new owner who dotes on him. Shami still goes to work occasionally, helping a new generation of young children learn to ride and care for horses.

Update:
One day, a friend of a friend visited Shami's adopted family. She sat at the kitchen table and told a sad story of how she had given her little Arab horse, JoJo, to a man who said he wanted him for a child in his family. The man turned out to be a horse dealer and sold the horse to someone almost immediately. The dealer would not tell her where he went and she had been looking for him for years.

She sobbed as she told this sad story. As she looked out the window, she noticed Shami in the yard. "That pony looks exactly like JoJo!" she said. She ran out the door saying "It's him, it's JoJo!" And that is exactly who it was! What kind of a miracle is that? What an incredibly happy ending. So many of us have lost horses that we loved, never to find them again. I am so happy for that woman. Now she is at peace, knowing he is safe and loved.

As it turns out, Shami is now 32 years old and still going strong. He is also a registered Arab, though only 13.2 hands! We just love happy endings!

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