Suggestions on reducing the calcium build up in a Belgian's neck

Question

I have a 6 1/2 year old Belgian mare. She was a PMU. In her first 18 months, she was nearly starved to death, then rescued and over fed with lots of alfalfa. Consequently, her neck is HUMONGOUS!!!! She has a ' calcium hump' like a camel at the base that is not going away. She hasn't had alfalfa for almost 2 years (grass and grain hay only). Has anyone encountered this before? Any suggestions on how to reduce it? Ordinarily, I wouldn't care, but for what she is used for, it is inconvenient, but if it's just part of her forever, then that's how she'll be forever!

Answer 1

i think she would be a good project for a university if nothing else just to find out exactly what happened and possibly reverse it.you are right it looks huge and very uncomfortable to her.i wish you were up here in colorado so she could go to CSU for a full diagnosis of her condition.i had belgians and my biggest one was 2600 pounds and looked like a sausage on toothpicks and i had to have a custom collar made for him,he only ate pasture and i suplimented grain and alfalfa in the winter and he had a back like a kitchen table.i sold him to a belgian sled pulling team and they pulled over 9.500 pounds in their first contest.

Answer 2

who told you it was a "calcium hump" ??   Did you ever consider that it is just her conformation?  Usually horses encounter abnormally large necks from fat deposits, not calcium.  We feed all of our horses (40+) almost exclusively alfalfa, we have no "humps".

have you talked to your veterinarian?  

Answer 3

Calcium build up?  Are you sure she is not thick in the crest?  She is a draft breed.  Have your vet check her out.  Being PMU she really has unknown breeding and you have to deal with what you get when it comes to confirmation.  I have one too and she has her faults and her highlights, but she was not bred for ideal confirmation, although she is a beautiful mover.  A bit of advice since she is draft would be to consider starting her on Beth Valentine's low starch diet.  It will help with "tying up" problems which are common in drafts and also in PMU's.

http://www.ruralheritage.com/vet_clinic/...

Answer 4

Are these calcium spurs on the vertebrae at the wither?

I've worked with human conditions when calcium overload resulted in bone spurs...I don't understand exactly what you're dealing with so it's hard to come up with any ideas. Big help, huh?

Answer 5

Like everyone else is saying, draft horses do have very large sometimes crested necks. I feed Alfalfa to my horses on a daily basis and none of my horses have a problem with it. To find out what it really was i would call your veterinarian because she/he should know.

It could just be the way the horses is.