Pepper plays in the rain!

Just letting Pepper out for a few hours of the evening. He gets a break from his grazing mask this evening!

Pepper (Hatticol) is a papered Paso Fino, and is 23yrs old. His father is Jaranero, full black in color and championship show line.

Pepper unfortunately grabbed some bad genetics from his mama, and in his older age we've discovered some serious health issues. Poor Pepper is diabetic and has cushings disease. If he was effected his whole life, we never knew, and his previous owner never told us about any health issues. The ONLY thing that was different with him compared to any other horses we've had was his mane. The muscle along the top of his neck was always very fatty looking, and would "rock" or "sway" when brushing out his mane. We just thought he held fat there (odd, we know), and he never showed other signs of issue or pain. Everyone (outside of family) always thought he was a pregnant mare, but we always left them to graze so assumed grass belly.

One morning he wasn't eating right, and was standing oddly with his head down. When the vet came to check him, she immediately diagnosed him with cushings just by looking at him. She followed up with all the necessary tests as well, and it was confirmed. Now we have to feed him special feed, and soak his hay in water. Soaking the hay in water for an hour will pull out the natural sugars, so that he can eat it without upset to his system. He also must wear a grazing mask now when he goes out.

It's been a struggle since his diagnosis, but we're doing everything we can to make his life better. Still learning about this for horses, as we've never experienced something like this.

Thank you for reading this far if you did! Hope you enjoy the video also! If you have any helpful feedback for his issues, we gladly accept any and all ideas to help make his life easier! 😁💚