Lotta's Story
Lotta is my personal riding horse. Shes also the horse I use for giving lessons. Shes a strong, stoic
horse with a sensible attitude but she's also a closet worrier. Shes been a worrier since the day I first
met her. You wouldn't really know this about her unless you spent some significant time with her and
really paid attention to her body language. She always tries to do the right thing, even if it scares her.
She just shoves the fear deep down inside her body and moves forward. When people do this they
usually get sick, and so did Lotta eventually.
She was born and raised on a ranch in Sebastopol. When she was young, her owners (not me) sent her
out for reining training. It proved to be a stressful situation for Lotta. She did her work, but she never
really thrived at it. She was retired to broodmare fairly young. Her owners tried to breed her year after
year, but it never took. When Lotta was in her early teens they decided to find a new home where she
could have a job. Thats when I met Lotta. I loved her from the second I saw her.
I purchased Lotta and trailered her to the ranch I boarded my horses at. Lotta was fine for the first
month. We played almost everyday. Her attitude was great, she was a fun horse. I started to notice
subtle changes, things like her coat not being as shinny as it had been. She was a little off somedays,
but I couldn't even pin point exactly in what way she was off, just not quite right. One afternoon I went
out to saddle her and I swear it seems like she had become slightly sway backed over night. It really
disturbed me. I had the vet out, everything checked out great. They said it was probably always that
way, and I just hadn't noticed. Hmmm. A few weeks later when I was grooming her and I brushed her
flank she lifted her leg to threaten me. Lotta NEVER did stuff like that so I called the vet again. Again,
everything looked great, no problems at all. They said she probably got stung by a bee???? I was at a
loss, so she got to rest for a week and things seemed ok again.
We bought our ranch in 2003, I moved Lotta over right away. The first few weeks Lotta seemed
average, no real red flags. But then I noticed she was dropping weight, so I increased her hay.
Sometimes she would eat, sometimes she didn't want to. She had also become hyper sensitive &
pushy. Not Lottas normal behavior. During that same period Lotta colicked. Vet said it was gas colic,
and treated it accordingly. From there things just went down hill. Lotta dropped tons of weight. Her
coat was long and dull. She was cranky and angry. I was at my wits end. The vet had no answers for
me, just keep giving her more hay supplement with grain. Well it was during this same time that my old
horse Dreamer had come to live with us. I was working hard to find him help and along the way I
realized that there symptoms seemed very similar.
I put Lotta on the same feed & supplements I had Dreamer on. Added some ulcer meds, and before my
eyes her personality went back to what it had been. She started eating good again, shedding out the
long dull coat, gaining weight, and going back to the horse I once knew. It took Lotta about 6 months to
fully regain her health, but she did and today shes great. Since she is a worrier, I watch her closely for
signs of ulcer flair ups but there really haven't been any, fingers crossed.
Today Lotta has an active life, playing with me, giving lessons, and hanging out with her paddock mate
Dreamer. Below is a picture of Lotta shortly after being moved to our new property. You can see in
this picture that her back just behind her withers has dropped, her coat is dull, shes lost allot of
muscle tone in her butt, and shes not to happy.
Lotta is my personal riding horse. Shes also the horse I use for giving lessons. Shes a strong, stoic
horse with a sensible attitude but she's also a closet worrier. Shes been a worrier since the day I first
met her. You wouldn't really know this about her unless you spent some significant time with her and
really paid attention to her body language. She always tries to do the right thing, even if it scares her.
She just shoves the fear deep down inside her body and moves forward. When people do this they
usually get sick, and so did Lotta eventually.
She was born and raised on a ranch in Sebastopol. When she was young, her owners (not me) sent her
out for reining training. It proved to be a stressful situation for Lotta. She did her work, but she never
really thrived at it. She was retired to broodmare fairly young. Her owners tried to breed her year after
year, but it never took. When Lotta was in her early teens they decided to find a new home where she
could have a job. Thats when I met Lotta. I loved her from the second I saw her.
I purchased Lotta and trailered her to the ranch I boarded my horses at. Lotta was fine for the first
month. We played almost everyday. Her attitude was great, she was a fun horse. I started to notice
subtle changes, things like her coat not being as shinny as it had been. She was a little off somedays,
but I couldn't even pin point exactly in what way she was off, just not quite right. One afternoon I went
out to saddle her and I swear it seems like she had become slightly sway backed over night. It really
disturbed me. I had the vet out, everything checked out great. They said it was probably always that
way, and I just hadn't noticed. Hmmm. A few weeks later when I was grooming her and I brushed her
flank she lifted her leg to threaten me. Lotta NEVER did stuff like that so I called the vet again. Again,
everything looked great, no problems at all. They said she probably got stung by a bee???? I was at a
loss, so she got to rest for a week and things seemed ok again.
We bought our ranch in 2003, I moved Lotta over right away. The first few weeks Lotta seemed
average, no real red flags. But then I noticed she was dropping weight, so I increased her hay.
Sometimes she would eat, sometimes she didn't want to. She had also become hyper sensitive &
pushy. Not Lottas normal behavior. During that same period Lotta colicked. Vet said it was gas colic,
and treated it accordingly. From there things just went down hill. Lotta dropped tons of weight. Her
coat was long and dull. She was cranky and angry. I was at my wits end. The vet had no answers for
me, just keep giving her more hay supplement with grain. Well it was during this same time that my old
horse Dreamer had come to live with us. I was working hard to find him help and along the way I
realized that there symptoms seemed very similar.
I put Lotta on the same feed & supplements I had Dreamer on. Added some ulcer meds, and before my
eyes her personality went back to what it had been. She started eating good again, shedding out the
long dull coat, gaining weight, and going back to the horse I once knew. It took Lotta about 6 months to
fully regain her health, but she did and today shes great. Since she is a worrier, I watch her closely for
signs of ulcer flair ups but there really haven't been any, fingers crossed.
Today Lotta has an active life, playing with me, giving lessons, and hanging out with her paddock mate
Dreamer. Below is a picture of Lotta shortly after being moved to our new property. You can see in
this picture that her back just behind her withers has dropped, her coat is dull, shes lost allot of
muscle tone in her butt, and shes not to happy.
Below is a picture of Lotta at her worst. This was not to long after her first colic episode.
Shes dropped tons of weight, her gut is sucked up tight, very tense to the touch.
Shes dropped tons of weight, her gut is sucked up tight, very tense to the touch.
Below is a picture of Lotta after about a year of recovery. Her attitude is back to normal by
now. her coat is soft and healthy, shes at a great weight, and her muscle tone has returned.
now. her coat is soft and healthy, shes at a great weight, and her muscle tone has returned.
Below is a picture from Jan. 07. Lotta has been very healthy for the last 3 years. No more
recurrences. Her diet today is very basic. She thrives on low sugar orchard grass, approx.
2 sups of grass pellets to mix her Dynamite supplements & Yucca powder in. Free choice
Calcium & phos. mix and a free choice trace mineral mix. When I know she will under go
something that may trigger an ulcer I add probiotics & supportive herbs.
recurrences. Her diet today is very basic. She thrives on low sugar orchard grass, approx.
2 sups of grass pellets to mix her Dynamite supplements & Yucca powder in. Free choice
Calcium & phos. mix and a free choice trace mineral mix. When I know she will under go
something that may trigger an ulcer I add probiotics & supportive herbs.