More "construction", a roomate, & an abscess!!

Well, its been an interesting two weeks at the Kotz Hotel. There have been many changes for Lola and she has been handling it well. First change came a week ago when four loads of lime were put into Lola's pen!! My Dad had some lime delivered so we could help control the mud issue. Thanks goes to Joe Boge for helping with moving the lime with his skid loader! Always appreciate your neighbors! The next change came when JD returned home after an extended stay at the "Moore Retirement Pasture". We decided the put JD with Lola because each one of them needs special feeding arrangements and it would make chores much simpler having both horses separated off from the rest. Plus it gives Lola a companion and with the cold winter approaching it will be good for the both of them! So let me tell you about JD....

JD is a 30 something grade horse that has been in our family for over 10 years. We purchased him from the Herbst family and he was my horse for many years. I showed him in 4H and local shows, attempted to ride him in western pleasure (head set was way to high), and even tried to run a few barrels...JD is not very fast. He was a great trail horse though and did great in parades. I eventually moved from JD to Buddy and then to Hank! JD has been a great family horse and has given many pony rides to not only kids but also adults. In July I received a call from a family friend of ours, Tammy Moore, and unfortunately one of their horses had passed away and their other horse, Smokey, was very upset, so I offered to Tammy JD to be a companion for Smokey for as long as they needed. JD went to the Moore Retirement Pasture and really enjoyed himself but the day did come that JD had to return home. Now he is a companion for Lola!

When we put JD in with Lola at first he really didn't care and to be honest wasn't too happy. He kept pacing up and down the fence like he wanted to get back out in the pasture with the rest of the horses but eventually he settled down. Though Lola and him are not the best of friends and I think there is a mutal understanding between the two that they just stay out of each others way. The same weekend we put JD in with Lola we made two feeding stantions that would allow the horse to walk in and eat with out the other horse pushing them out of the way. This helps us in feeding and being sure that each animal is getting the feed that they need. Lola's feeding program is similar to JD's. Lola gets six pounds of Equine Senior and a pound and half of Strategy with two pounds of Amplify per day. Where as JD's feeding program is eight pounds of SOAKED Equine Senior per day. JD's feed is soaked to help him better eat since he does not have many teeth.

Now to the abscess. As many of you know we have been dealing with this abscess for some time now and I have good news...it finally blew! Tim McDermott came out and took out part of it up in the toe one day but the abscesss actually then moved back to the heel where we were encouraged by Dr. Beecher and Tim to continuing soaking the foot in Epsom Salt and warm water. Plus Dr. Beecher had us put a Davis Boot on rather than just using the duct tape to keep the hoof covered. Last Monday the abscess let go and you could tell immediately! Lola began to walk around much better and we are back on the road to recovery!

If you would like to see more pictures of Lola and her time at the Kotz Hotel you may become a fan of Three Rivers Town & Country Store on Facebook and check out the photo albums.

Lola's Feeding Plan and Her 'New House'

It was another good week for Lola...she had more visitors, she is at her full feeding rate of Equine Senior, and she has a 'new house'! We did have a couple bad marks this week though. First, we discovered that Lola has some bad manners that need to be taken care of ASAP and she has become a kicker. Get well notes can be sent to Danyn for taking one in the hip! My dad needs a congrats for dodging a hoof while cleaning out the stall. We are now beginning some ground work and teaching manners to Lola because that type of behavior will not be tolerated. Our other bad mark of the week was a small case of thrush. Thanks goes to Danyn for coming out to help me clean out the hoof and treat it. Lola's hoof is doing much better now after another 5 days of stall rest. (Source: 'Fast Facts' http://www.thehorse.com/pdf/factsheets/thrush/thrush.pdf)

Lola's Feeding Program
Currently, Lola is being fed 8 lbs of Equine Senior (4 lbs in the AM an 4 lbs in the PM) plus she is getting hay 3x/day. Equine Senior is a forage based feed that will can be used as a complete feed, which means hay doesn't have to be fed with it), or as part of a feeding program with hay. Because Lola was severally malnourished it was important to begin her feeding program very slowly and work on getting her gut moving again, with Equine Senior we can do this because of the quality sources of forage that is included in it. For example, under normal conditions a person can change a horse's diet over a period of 7 to 10 days; in Lola's case it took us 30 days to reach a full feeding rate! Obviously, the goal to feeding Lola is to not only provide the nutrients she needs such as protein, vitamins, and minerals but to also provide enough calories for weight gain. To add weight to a horse, or to anything for that matter, we need to feed enough calories to EXCEED maintenance. With Lola's feeding program we are doing just this...we are not only meeting her maintenance caloric needs but we are exceeding them. Eventually, we will wean Lola off the Equine Senior and switch her to Purina Strategy. Strategy will be a wonderful fit for her once she begins to add a little more weight. But we have to talk about that feeding program at a later date!! At the moment the good majority of the calories is being provided by forage (hay and in Equine Senior). This week we are going to start adding in Amplify, a 30% fat nugget, at 1/4 lb per day and slowly increase that amount until we get about 2 lb of Amplify per day. Amplify will provide another source of calories...FAT! To learn more about Amplify visit: http://horse.purinamills.com

Lola's New House
It was a busy day at the Kotz Hotel on Saturday, October 24...well at least so I've been told; I was actually out of town judging at the Block & Bridle LNA Show in Ames. The construction project has been in the works for a few weeks now. Dad and I knew that Lola has not been very happy in her stall, and a good indication of that fact was when she dumped about 8 gallons of water in her stall! Dad and I have been talking about how we needed to build a shelter in the dry lot for her so that way she could take cover when the wind picked up or the rain came down but she would still have the opportunity to head back out when the sun decides to peak out. Dad had throwen out a few differnt ideas for shelters that we could do and one evening when he was talking to a friend of ours, Kenny Bergfeld, the two of them discussed options. Kenny told my dad about the shelters he has built and that they were reasonable in price. Best part it that it could be on skids and be portable! Just what my Dad and I wanted! So Dad and Kenny talked and a date was set. On Saturday morning a big blue Dodge pulled into Lola's dry lot and it was full of materials and supplies to build a new shelter for Lola. Kenny Bergfeld stepped out of the Dodge like a modern day John Wayne, but instead of a six-shooter he was packing a nail gun. When Dad heard the Dodge pull in he stepped out of the house with the utility belt fastened and circular saw in hand, he peered out over the deck to the dry lot with a gaze like Clint Eastwood...The two men were ready to work! Luckily there would be two strong, intelligent woman (Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane type women!) to keep them inline and moving through out the day! These woman are known as Janell Kotz and Hannah Bergfeld. Ok maybe it really didn't happen that way but it sounded good right?

So, the construction crew consisted of four people: Dad, Kenny, Kenny's daughter Hannah, and my Mother....Mom was a very integral part of the day making numerous trips to Menards as she dealt with a very uninterested employee in her pursuit to find a 12-foot board, and she also made an extremely important run to Rhody's Food & Spirits to ensure the other team members were well fed with delicious, warm burgers. Plus you will also not notice my Mother in any of the pictures because she was always the one behind the camera....this seems to happen a lot....but we do appreciate her for all the great photos we have. The construction crew worked hard through out the day building the frame, setting it up, and putting the tin on. From what I've been told by my Mom our Clint Eastwood (Dad) and John Wayne (Kenny) were even having nail hitting contests to see how many swings it would take each one of them to get the nail in....At one point during the day Jane McCall stopped by to check on the construction! She was happy to see the construction taking place and that Lola would have a shelter out in the dry lot so she wouldn't have to be in the stall all the time. After many hours the project was finished and the final product looks amazing! The shelter is going to be perfect for the winter because it will allow Lola to stay out in the dry lot for the majority of the winter days! It should be noted though that we did have one minor accident though...Kenny had a minor run in with some boards and his cheek seems to have lost the battle...no guts no glory I guess!

To see more photos of Lola and the construction project visit us on our Facebook Fan Page! There is a link in the left hand navigation for your clicking and searching convenience!

Lola Goes to the Dentist

Hello Everyone!

Yes, I know this blog is running a little late behind schedule....I do apologize. Hopefully everyone has been enjoying Lola's twitter updates as well. Well, Lola has had only a few adventures over the last two weeks. We had a few visitors from Fran Minnaert from Purina, Aunt Jodi and Auntie Danyn, to my Uncle Karl and his daughter Lauren, and we even made a new friend, Mrs. Smith! Mrs. Smith was a passerby that had noticed Lola a few different times and admired her as they drove by in her car but on a Sunday afternoon my father and I were out by Lola and Mrs. Smith happened to drive by at just the right time. She stopped and introduced herself and told us how she has loved horses since she was a small child. She petted Lola and talked to her a bit. Before she left Mrs. Smith was very generous and provided us with a donation to help with the care of Lola. Thank you to Mrs. Smith because through her support we were able to purchase another mat for Lola!

By far the biggest adventure for our foster horse was her visit with the dentist! That's right a dentist for horses! Horse's teeth are unique and require regular examinations by a veterinarian to ensure that there are no abnormalities that could cause abnormal chewing patterns, bit discomfort, excessive wear and premature loss of teeth.

FYI: Horse's have two sections of their teeth, the incisors (in the front) and cheek teeth (in the back). Between these two sections is a large space. The incisors, found in the front of the horse's mouth, are used for grasping and tearing food where as the cheek teeth, the premolars and molars, are responsible for grinding the food. The horse's teeth are constantly erupting out of the gums as they age...this is why many horse people will check the horse's mouth to help determine it's age! Below is a diagram that show how a horse's teeth changes over time (Information Source: "Understanding Your Horse's Teeth" Manuel G. Himens Jr. DVM. ) (Image Source: http://www.thinklikeahorse.org/age_horse_teeth.jpg)

As humans, we usually chew in an up and down fashion but horses are not the same, they chew in a circular motion, which can cause some abnormal wear patterns. Some common abnormalities include: hooks, ramps, waves, and points.

• Hooks: (caudal) "Dominant lower or upper last molar overhanging opposing molar." (rostral) "Dominant upper front premolars overhang lower premolars."
• Ramps: "Excessive height to lower front premolars."
• Wave: "Molar arcade develops an uneven 'wavelike' appearance generally involving many premoloars and molars."
• Points: "Sharp points that generally form on the outside of the upper molars and the inside of the lower molars."

(Information Source: "Common Equine Dental Malocclusions" Advanced Equine Dentistry. Thomas J. Johnson DVM .)

Due to these abnormal wear patterns it is important to have a horse's teeth checked at least annually by a veterinarian and if needed the animal's teeth may need to be floated. Floating a horse's teeth is almost like filing your nails. Most veterinarians today use a powered file to fix abnormalities in the teeth.

On Monday, October 12 Dr. Christine Woodford came to visit Lola and check out her teeth. After inspection we noticed that Lola had a slight wave and some hooks that needed to be fixed.

(Above: Lola's teeth before. Notice the hooks on first premolars on both sides.)











(The pictures above are of Dr. Woodford floating Lola's teeth.)


(The picture on the left is a side by side comparison of the difference between the two premolars. The premolar on the left has not yet been fixed and the premolar on the right has been fixed. Notice the difference! The picture on the left is the final picture when Dr. Woodford finished.)






Thanks goes to Dr. Christine Woodford from Veterinary Integrative Performance Services (VIP's) for donating her services to float Lola's teeth. www.vipsvet.net

Week One

Well, we have come to a close on our first week with Lola! It has been a pretty busy week for us at the Kotz Hotel with many visitors for Lola. Dr. Beecher came by one day to give her the vaccinations that she needed, some friends and family helped to feed her through out the week, she had a photo shoot for the TH, was put into a chute to be weighed, and had some visitors just stop by to say 'Hello'.

(Pictured to the right: Jaime Nedved came out to visit Lola!)

TH Article
On Tuesday I received a call from the Photo Editor at the Telegraph Herald (a local newspaper in Dubuque) and they had heard about Lola from Jane McCall when she had put out a press release about the horse last week. The Editor told me that they were interested in interviewing me and taking photos of Lola that day! A journalist soon called me and asked some general questions about Lola and my thoughts about her....what is she being fed, how much is she being fed, what should she weigh, what did I think when I saw her, ect...Then around noon that day another young lady came out and took many pictures of Lola from her eating to her standing next to another one of our horses to show a comparison shot...wow, what a difference between the two animals! After everything was done they told me that the article was supposed to be published the next day! What a quick turn around! If you would like to read the article yourself go to: http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=258329

Weighing - In
Last week my boss, Dale Hefel, suggested that we use the company's digital scale to weigh Lola through out the process so that way we have exact weights and can accuratly monitor her recovery. What a great idea! Only one small problem...where to store it at the house? The scale as to be set back up on the trailer each time to that it doesn't ruin the weigh bars....thus the idea was formed that every two to three weeks we will take the scale to Lola and weigh her. At first we wanted to trailer Lola out to the store and leave the scale set up in the warehouse but I thought that would be too much stress on Lola at this point to be trailering her off the property that much. Well, on Tuesday of this week Willie Waters loaded up the scale with the truck and hauled the scale over to Siepple Road! When he got their I had Lola ready in her halter, the scale was set up and she loaded onto it like a dream! Now, take a guess at what she weighed....I know I couldn't believe it....Lola weighed 750 lbs! WOW, I didn't expect her to weigh that much! I suspect that our goal weight will be close to 1,000 lbs.

Feeding's
There have been a few volunteers that have helped with Lola over the last week...Many thanks to: Grandma Kotz, Danyn Maroney, and Lauren Kotz. We really appreciate you're help and I'm sure this won't be the last time you are thanked. I do have to laugh because when it was my grandma's turn to feed her she called me and said, "Well, I just pulled in to feed Lola and she is looking at me awfully expectantly!" Let me tell you, Lola is very used to being fed four time a day and she knows what time to expect us! When you come by her area she will knicker and whinny at you and then begin to paw at the ground like she was saying, "Hurry your butt up!!!"

(Pictured: Lauren feeding Lola)

Our feeding rates have also been slowly increasing over the week and we are currently up to 2 1/2 lbs of Equine Senior per day! Tomorrow, I plan on increasing her evening feeding by a half a pound, which will put us up to a 3 lb feeding rate. As you can imagine we are still a ways away from reaching our feeding goal! Our end feeding goal will be 10 lbs of Equine Senior per day. Eventually we will begin to switch Lola to Strategy but until we get her gut going again and she has added weight we will not make the switch. However, to help provide extra calories I plan on adding Purina Amplify into the diet at 2 lbs per day once we get her closer to our goal feeding rate of Equine Senior.

One thing I do have to add is that we ask that when you drive by Lola's home you don't stop and treat her with any food. I know it maybe tempting to give her a treat but we promise you that she is being well taken care of. Right now she is on a very strict feeding schedule and we encourage you to just admire her and watch her as she goes down the road of recovery.

See you next week!

Katie Kotz
Equine & Lifestyle Specialist
Three Rivers Town & Country

The beginning of the 'Fostered Horse Project' at the Kotz Hotel

Hello everyone, my name is Katie Kotz and I am the Equine & Lifestyle Specialist at Three Rivers. Three Rivers is a cooperative in Eastern Iowa and the location that I work out of is the Town & Country Store in Epworth. I began as an intern in May 2006 while I was a student at Iowa State University and after graduation I accepted a full time position with Three Rivers. One of my main responsibilities is working with local horse owners to establish feeding programs for their animals that will improve health and performance.

Over the past few years Three Rivers Town & Country has been involved with the Dubuque Regional Humane Society through donations, events that they have hosted, and even events that other organizations have hosted to support them. Jane McCall has also been a friend of mine for many years...we used to team pen together over in Hazel Green!

On Tuesday, Setpember 22, 2009 Jane contacted me to tell me about a horse that the Humane Society recently rescued. She told me that it was a 4 or 5 year old horse that has been severally neglected and was in need of some serious TLC. Jane informed me that she already contacted my father, Kevin, to ask if our family would be willing to foster the horse and today she was calling me to see if Three Rivers would be willing to help feed the animal. I told Jane that I would love to help her out but I would need to get it cleared by Dale Hefel, our Operations Manager, first and I would also talk to Fran Minnaert with Land O'Lakes Purina to see what he could do to help us out! After some sweet talking and explaining the story to Dale and Fran they both agreed that Three Rivers and Purina would jump in to help save the day!

(Pictured: Fran Minnaert)

Well, now that we had the support from Three Rivers and our partner, Purina (Fran Minnaert, you're the greatest!), we just had to wait to see if my Dad could clear it by my mother, Janell, to become a foster parent. Most of you know my Mother but for those of you that don't my Mom has a huge soft spot for animals...this was not going to be a hard sell! Only one thing had to be made clear to my Mom....We are ONLY going to be foster parents and then the horse will have to be put up for adoption and will someday go to another loving home! (Ok, I admit I have to be reminded of that fact too!) As you can probably guess I called Jane McCall the next day to let her know the good news:

1. The Kotz family will foster the horse.
2. Three Rivers and Purina will help feed her

(The Kotz Family: Kevin, Janell, Katie, Jacob)

Now obviously I couldn't just keep this all to myself! It was time to start thinking as to how we can share this horse's story with the community! And here we are...the creation of the 'Fostered Horse Project' Blog.... With this blog you will be able to keep up to date on the horse's progress through out her time at the Kotz's. It is likey that you could read about some really happy times and possibly some not so happy times. Remember that with a starved and neglected horse there is always the chance of complications (I will post about some of the possible problems that arise with starvation later). But my hope is that you will enjoy reading about this horse and what is sure to be an amazing recovery over the next few months...who knows maybe you will be the loving family to adopt her someday! So let's get this blog going!!!! Oh and I almost forgot...this blog is linked into the Three Rivers Town & Country Store Fan Page on Facebook! Become of a Fan and keep up to date on her progress that way too!! Ok, so let's get back to the story!!

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You have probably noticed that this whole time that I have talked about this horse I never called her by a name....that's because no one knew her name! She needed to be given one! Again, if you don't know my Mom let me tell you that she loves thinking up names of animals, especially horses! You should have heard her when we were trying to name Hank! Oh, and that wasn't the name she gave him...he came with it and it just stuck, much to her dismay! She always said, and still does actually, that Hank is no name for a horse...too bad! When my mom heard about the horse she immediately started thinking up names, the first name she came up with was Lola...Lots of Love (no word for the 'a' yet in this acronym). I really liked this name but I asked her what she thought about coming up with a few names and maybe we could have the Blog followers vote on a name. Here is a list of some of the names she came up with:

Lola (Lots of Love)
Kira
Spirit
Checkers (Purina Board)
Liberty
Bailey
Belle
Echo
Sophie
JoJo
Diamond (In the Rough)
Lady

Just in case any of you lost track of our dates, it is only one day after this whole adventure began with Jane's phone call...it is Wednesday, September 23. During the day I talked to Aimee Dix with the Humane Society to set up a time when she could bring the mare over to my family's home; we set up a time of 6:00 pm. Well, before the mare came I did make a phone call to a good friend of mine, Danyn Maroney. Danyn is a very energetic woman with a passion for horses and has two daughters with the same passion for them, not to mention a loving husband who supports her! I knew that she would want to know about this new adventure coming to the "Kotz Hotel" (that's what Danyn likes to call our home). When I told her about the mare and its situation her heart went out to it...I had asked her if she would like to take part in this project with me. I asked her if she would be willing to come out and just give the horse the TLC it needs and deserves....to no surprise Danyn said yes!

There were a few preperations that needed to be made before the mare came to our home, the biggest one was to be sure that there was clean fresh water, a clean feed bunk for hay and grain, and a sign...Our family wanted to be sure that there was a way to make sure that folks passing by the house would know that the horse was a Rescue Animal from the Humane Society. So before the horse arrived my Dad found a piece of wood and got some black paint from the shop and made a tetemporary sign until a nicer one could be made. This should have been an easy task but our cat Scrapper was not making it easy...he kept wanting to walk across the board! Just what we need, cat prints on the sign! Luckily, Scrapper only walked across it once and actually managed to miss the wet paint as he did so!


Shortly after 6:00 pm Aimee and her husband Jeff arrived with the horse. When I went around the back of the trailer I could see just the top line of the animal; I knew it was a bad situation from the photos they sent me but it wasn't until then that I realized just how bad it was. We took the horse out and lead it into the pen that would become her new home. I was still in amazement that the horse even had enough energy to walk from point A to point B! You could see every bone in her body, her topline was gone, her neck was thin, you could feel her breast bone but she had a soft kind eye. I think she knew she was coming to a new home that was going to give her the attention she deserved. At the same time Danyn and her friend arrived to welcome the horse. Both of them were just as shocked at the state of the animal. How could anyone ever let her get to this point? But that is in the past and what matters now is getting her healthy. The first step with that was getting her feet trimmed. Luckily Aimee is also a farrier and owns her own business, AJ Farrier Service, so she volunteered her services and trimmed the mare up.

We are now back to the naming delemia....we were all standing there just calling this horse, 'Mare'. She needed a name. I told everyone about the name my Mom came up with, Lola and what it stood for...Lots of Love. But what does the 'a' stand for?? My Dad called my Mom to ask her. With the help of her sister, Bev, they came up with the acronymn 'Lots of Love Always'. We all started calling her Lola and it fit! So now our new foster mare has a name...Lola.Eventually our other horses realized that there was a new addition at the Kotz Hotel and they all came running up to greet her at the fence. Let me tell you it was quite the greeting...just so happens that Lola is in heat and our geldings found this to be very interesting! Once the excitement subsided we got Lola her feed for the evening. Some grass hay and a small amount of Purina Equine Senior. You maybe wondering why only a small amount Equine Senior and why Equine Senior? She is only 5 years old!

First, we are feeding only a small amount of the "grain" portion of her diet because Lola's digestive system is fragil at the moment and is not used to such a nutrient rich diet. It will be very important that we slowly introduce her to the feed. Second, we are starting Lola out on Purina Equine Senior because it has some really nice roughage built into it and will make it easily digestable for her. As she progresses through her feeding program we will eventually switch to either (Purina) Strategy or Omolene 200. In the next few days I will post Lola's feeding program so that way you can also keep track of how we feed a horse in this type of situation.

Last night Lola received her grass hay plus about a 1/2 of pound of Equine Senior. This morning when I fed her she was given the same diet. In the afternoon I will be going back out to visit Lola to provide her with more hay and around 5:00 pm she will get her evening feeding of another 1/2 pound of Equine Senior and hay. Over the next couple weeks we will slowly work Lola up to a higher feeding rate...in the next few months she is going to be a whole new horse!

You may be wondering how much Lola weighs and I will soon post her weight and will continue to do a weekly report on her weight and body condition score. What is body condition score (BCS)? BCS is a scale that we use to determine the overal condition of an animal by looking at specific areas on the body where fat deposits. These areas include:

1. Along the neck
2. Along withers
3. Crease down the back
4. Tailhead
5. Ribs
6. Behind the shoulder

BCS needs to be done by feeling the horse. Once you palpate (feel) the horse you can place the horse on the scale from 1 to 9. A score of one means the horse is 'poo' or severally emaciated and a score of nine means that the animal is extremely fat. Both extremes are not healthy. A healthy score is between a 4.5 to a 6.5, depending on the lifestlye of the animal. Our goal with Lola is to get her to a BCS of a 5. Currently Lola is a score of 1. A decription of a 1 is:

"Animal is extremely emaciate; spinous processes, ribs, tailhead, tuber coxae (hip joins), and ischia (lower pelvic bones) projecting prominetly; bone structure of withers, shoulders, and neck easily noticeable, no fatty tissue can be felt."


It is going to take a lot of hard work to get Lola to our goal of a BCS of 5 but I have no doubt that we can do it. Over the course of the project Lola's skin and hair coat will improve. Her hair will start to shine (which maybe hard to tell eventually with winter approaching) and her skin will improve and you will have the dandruff we see now.

Its going to be an adventure and I'm happy you all are coming along for the ride!

Thank you.
Katie Kotz
Daughter of Kevin and Janell Kotz (owners of the Kotz Hotel)
Equine & Lifestyle Specialist for Three Rivers Town & Country
"Your Partner for Growth Solutions"