WHAT YOU NEED:

1. Someone with access to medical supplies.  A local sympathetic veterinarian is a good option.
2. A high quality food.  Frozen Mysis or a high quality flake can be used.  My preference is PE mysis.  It has an outstanding nutritional profile.  It is 69.9% protein and rich in HUFAs.  For more information on this particular brand see www.mysis.com.
3. A very narrow catheter.  I use a plastic intravenous catheter with the introducer needle removed from the center and properly disposed of in a sharps container, perhaps prior to leaving the vets office with your supplies.  I would suggest an 18 to 25g depending on the diameter of your horses snout.  I used a 20g on my 6 to 7" erectus.  The smaller the horse or the narrower the snout the smaller the cathethter you will need.  The cathether size is inversely proportional to the # gauge it is assigned.  So an 18g has a wider lumen than a 24g.
4. A 1cc syringe.
5. A bowl.  It should be wide enough and deep enough to allow for your horse to remain submerged while your assistant holds him and you administer the feeding.
6. An assistant.  Preferably someone who is not to squeamish.
7. Tank water.
8. A spoon.
9. A small bowl.
10. Distilled water.
11. An area to work that is well lit.

WHAT TO PREPARE:

1. Gather all your supplies.
2. Review the GI tract of the seahorse in Seahorse Anatomy 101 in the syngnathid.org Library.  Pay particular attention to the esophagus, stomach and intestines.
3. Clear and clean a well lit work space.
4. Wash and rinse your hands well.
5. Prepare the food by placing a small amount of previously defrosted and enriched mysis in the small bowl.  With the convex side of your spoon, mash the mysis into a smooth paste.
6. Add a few drops of distilled water and mix thoroughly.  You will need to experiment and play here a bit in order to get the paste to a consistency that will easily, smoothly, and consistently flow through the tip of the catheter when gentle pressure is applied to the plunger of the syringe.  The smaller the diameter of catheter (larger gauge #) you are using the more dilute and thinner the gruel will need to be.
7. Once you have a consistency you think is appropriate, draw some of the gruel into the syringe and attach the catheter to the syringe.  The tip of the syringe is usually threaded and the catheter will screw on to it.  Gently apply pressure to the plunger of the syringe to be sure the gruel flows through the tip of the catheter easily, smoothly and consistently.  Adjust the consistency of the gruel as necessary by adding more distilled water or more mysis paste until it flows smoothly through the catheter with VERY gentle pressure on the plunger.  No force should be exerted at all.
8. Flush the syringe and catheter several times by drawing a small amount of distilled water into the syringe and pushing it back out.
9. Draw into the syringe a little more gruel than you intend to feed.  I fed 0.2ccs to 0.25ccs to a 6" to 7" erectus.  You are going to have to estimate the appropriate amount based on the size of your horse.  This is where the Seahorse Anatomy page will come in handy.  Since the seahorse's digestive tract is basically a straight tube from snout to anus you can use their length as a general guideline to estimate the portion size.

   Start with the plunger of the syringe fully depressed, pull up on the plunger and draw about 0.3 to 0.4 ccs of the mysis mixture into the syringe.  Any air in the syringe will need to be removed.  Invert the syringe holding it vertically tip up, plunger down.  Gently tap on the syringe several times.  The air will displace the gruel appearing as a bubble at the tip of the syringe.  Gently depress the plunger with the syringe remaining in the inverted position, so you will be pushing up on the plunger.  Continue to depress the plunger until all the air has been expressed from the syringe and a small amount of gruel appears at the syringe tip.

10. Attach the catheter to the syringe and prime it by depressing the plunger until a few drops of gruel emerge from the catheter tip.

OK now you are ready to actually feed the little bugger... whoops... sorry... your sweet little hunger striking horse.

HOW TO DO IT

1. Pound up your assistant.  Take a few deep breaths and relax.
2. Fill the large bowl with your horse's tank water.
3. Remove your horse from the tank by gently scooting him into a small container and gently release him into the bowl of tank water.
4. Have your assistant firmly but gently hold the horse, keeping him submerged at all times.  His head and neck should be between their thumb and forefinger, snout pointing up, with his body lying across their palm.  Encourage him to curl his tail around their pinky.  This will help to keep the horse calm.  If you have never held a seahorse in your hand you may be surprised at how strong they are.  He may struggle or even snick.  Boy oh boy was I surprised at how powerful their snick is.
5. Take the previously filled and primed syringe into your dominant hand.
6. Loosely hold the horse's snout between the thumb and forefinger of your other hand.
7. Closely observe the snout tip.  It will open and close in synchrony with his respirations.
8. As the snout opens insert the tip of the catheter into the snout about ½ way between the snout tip and trigger.
9. Slowly and gently depress the plunger.  Try to time injecting tiny bits of the gruel just prior to the closing of the snout.  If he is ingesting the gruel you will actually see him swallow and pass some of the food through his gills.  He may snick, it will feel strange but don't be alarmed.  The first time my boy did it I thought for sure the catheter would break off in his snout.  It never did.  He did however dent it a bit.  That snick is powerful!

Wooooooo Hoooooooo!!!  That's it!  You did it! Tell him what a good boy he was, return him to the tank, give yourself a big pat on the back, thank your assistant and take the rest of the evening off in front of your tank with a cup of tea... well... OK, if you insist a cold beer, a glass of wine, or a good stiff drink of your choice.  It wasn't that bad now was it?  I bet it was easier than you had anticipated.  I thought it was.

SOME TIPS

1. Practice pushing the gruel through the catheter.  If it is to thick it will stick and you will need to push harder.  You will need to thin it with some distilled water so that it flows out smoothly.
2. Ask your veterinarian for several size catheters.  Use the one with the widest diameter (lowest # gauge) that will easily insert into the horse's snout.
3. Have the vet remove the introducer needle in his office, so you do not have to worry about needle disposal.

I hope you never need to use the information I presented here, but if you should I would like to wish you good luck and hope this article has proved useful.