a mare Ive been working with trying to save

Question
I have this mare that I have been trying to rescue, she was injured and had been starved down to a skeleton. I have been working on her injury which is a gash in her back right knee. Apparently she had been hung up in the fence for some time before the people went to find her (like a week or better). So she was starved down to nothing all the muscle mass is well was gone. I have been working with her for right around 3 weeks, feeding her lots of high protein grains and supplements that Mrs. Jen had suggested but today she has had a really bad day her legs keep giving out and she has spent a lot of the day down. She can't put the injured leg down it is obvious that she is in a lot of pain, but just a few minutes ago she was trying to use the restroom which from what I can tell she was trying to pee. She passed a lot of air (gas?) but barely squirted any urine. Is her kidneys trying to shut down? She normally drinks quite a bit but today I haven't noticed her to be sucking down the water but she is drinking, she seems to be having bowel movements just fine.

Answer
Hi Sam,

Thank you for your question and you are to be commended for taking on such a big task.

The first instinct for people rescuing horses is to start feeding them lots to get their weight up right away...and understandably so.  What you need to remember is that when a horse goes without food and starts into the starvation cycle, it's digestive system slows down in the name of preservation, and becomes 'accustomed' to processing very little feed.  It takes some time for the efficiency of that system to get back to where it used to be.  What this can mean for your horse is that it actually has trouble processing the food you are feeding until the system gets back into full swing.  The danger with feeding a lot of grain to these horses is that the stomach simply can not break down the grains the way it should, and the grains make it to the hindgut unprocessed...and this is a bad thing.  Starch in the hind gut of the horse will increase the risk of gas colic and make it even more difficult for the horse to process the hay/pasture that it is consuming.

The best approach to getting these horses back on track is to do so slowly and methodically.  Start by feeding quality forage (probably hay in this case as your horse is having trouble getting around) and make it available free choice.  I would strongly urge you to buy some 'Lifeforce Formula' from Alltech (you can buy it directly from them).  This product will act like a prebiotic that will get the horse's hindgut back in shape and capable of fermenting forages.  When choosing a grain, I would suggest that you stay away from starch for the time being...although you may be able to include some starch once your horse is feeling a bit better.  Pick something with high levels of fermentable fiber and some added fat (but not more than about 7% for now).  You can feed beet pulp as well as it acts like a top quality forage.

I'm not sure why your mare is having trouble urinating.  I would be a little cautious about feeding a lot of protein just yet.  The slower digestive system means that your horse may not be able use all of that protein, and excess protein needs to be secreted from the kidneys...so right now it represents a whole lot more stress on the kidneys.  To keep her drinking, make sure she has loose salt in her diet...you can add it to whatever grain you choose.

Good luck and if you have any further questions along the way please do not hesitate to ask.

Thanks, Corlena