Beka's blog hop this week is: Metamorphosis
We've talked about what your horse doesn't like to do, and I don't want to confuse this with that. I'm not talking about personality quirks or training foibles. Tell me: if you could change something (or things) about your horse, what would you?
If I could change anything about Chrome the absolute first thing I would do is make his sweet itch (or NTWs whichever it is) completely disappear. As in never existed in the first place. It makes him absolutely miserable and it breaks my heart seeing him suffer. It stresses me out trying to figure out ways to manage it since there is no cure for sweet itch (there is hope if it's NTWs).
His sores covered in zinc.
The closest I've found to a cure is neem oil,
but if I miss a single day it's back to square one.
The second thing would be his club hoof and locking stifles... in other words his straight rear end. I think it's all interconnected. If he had ideal rear conformation the problem probably wouldn't exist. To me he's absolutely gorgeous the way he is, but something about his conformation causes his stifle to lock, so I'd make that go away too.
This is a really old picture, but the best I can find that shows his club foot at it's worst.
A video showing his locking stifle when it was at it's worst.
I actually forgot how bad it used to be,
but look at how scrawny his haunches were then! Yikes!!
Those are the two main things I would change. Anything else would be cosmetic and superficial such has a long, pretty mane and lots of dapples. At this point I wouldn't even change his color because I've enjoyed the graying process even though I said I would never own a gray horse. However I definitely wouldn't say no to a magically dirt and stain proof gray. ;)
Speaking of gray, I would also make him not ever develop melanomas. He may not anyway, but if I could change anything, preventing that would be one thing. Can we prevent stuff?? I guess if we're dreaming we can. I don't think I would change his height either at this point. I'm 5'10" so I always said I preferred taller horses, but really I'm comfortable on him and taller is just farther to fall haha.
Once again, that was a great blog hop Beka! Thanks!!
Ugh, yes on sweet itch! :( Red's is so awful, he's already starting to have issues!!! The thing that's helped best for us so far is using a skin so soft recipe for fly spray (store bought fly sprays make it worse for some horses) and the listerine recipe. And SWAT for bigger wounds! I'm trying Cowboy Magic this year.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever try the neem oil? It truly is really amazing. I didn't see a difference with the skin so soft recipes (tried several). They wear off too fast or something. I haven't noticed the chemical fly sprays making it worse, but I have to use it during the summer because of ticks... :\ I still need to try the listerine. I actually have my fingers crossed that Chrome's is caused from NTWs because that's more treatable, although not curable, than sweet itch. I dosed him with Quest last weekend because he was starting to scratch his mane. I'm going to keep him on a strict deworming schedule of Equimax and Quest all summer and see if it makes a difference. If it doesn't then it is definitely sweet itch and I'll look into allergy shots or supplements. It really is a frustrating thing to deal with. If you're able to spray Red everyday please try the neem oil. It made a huge difference when I could be consistent with it (there are sources to buy it in bulk cheaper than at health food stores). If you can't find my posts on it let me know and I'll give you the link. It needs to be done right before dusk when the bugs are coming out. If you wait too late they've already started biting. I'm sorry Red is already having issues so early this year. :(
DeleteYep. Sweet itch would be one of mine too. Dreadful! The only way I'm getting through it is they're weekly insecticide baths, and rugging them to their eyeballs.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't complain, the itch is SO much worse where I used to live (we managed to get through the itchy season with almost fully intact manes!!) but it's still there and it's no fun to see your baby suffering!
I'm sorry you have to deal with it too. I think the worst part of it is that there just is no cure for it. :( I'm glad you were able to move to an area where it isn't quite as bad. I have my fingers crossed we will have a good summer with less itching!
DeleteSweet itch sounds like quite a nuisance to deal with ): Fortunately my mare doesn't have it but I do wonder what causes it to occur?
ReplyDeleteIt's just an allergy to gnat bites. Some horses are allergic and some aren't. Just like some humans are allergic to peanuts and some aren't. It's just bad luck I guess.
Deleteaw that locking stifles video looks so ouchie! glad to hear keeping him in more regular work helps mitigate it!
ReplyDeleteThe good news is it's apparently painless. It might get a little sore, but it isn't as painful as it looks!! I'm very happy that exercising is helping! :D
DeleteI did not realize how bad his sweet itch got at times! Poor kid. Good for you for taking such good care of him <3
ReplyDeleteYeah it's really bad and it's something that gets worse and worse as they get older so there is no end in sight. :( I do my best for him though. Maybe someday I'll have the money to build a fully screened in barn, although I hate to keep horses put up it might be worth it during the buggiest times of day in the summer.
DeleteOh wow! His locking stifles really used to be a big issue didn't they?! Pig has problems with his sometimes if he's been out of work and stalled for a long time, but never like that. Being on full turnout seems to help him keep his back end in shape enough to mitigate the issue. Hopefully Chrome doesn't have as much of a problem as he gets older, too!
ReplyDeleteYeah I actually forgot how bad it used to be. It's because he moved from thirty acres on rolling hills to completely flat five acres. I'm hoping now that I'm riding more and he's built up muscles in his haunches that he has outgrown it. I guess it's possible it could come back if he was ever on stall rest but I hope not. Keeping him trimmed frequently helps too. :)
DeleteI'm really hoping to be able to find this Neem Oil here in central Canada; thank you for mentioning it. While I don't have a sweet itch problem, I'd sure like to try it as general bug spray. Nothing I've tried works here in the land of ginormous mosquitoes, horseflies the size of sparrows, etc. etc. etc. The only thing that gives them any relief is smudges.
ReplyDeleteIf neem oil would help at least to keep the ticks at bay, that would be even better!
You can buy neem insecticidal soap for plants but you want the pure stuff for putting on animals. It doesn't kill all ticks but it does cause the females to lay sterile eggs and can repel them too. People do use it on dogs too. Works great for mosquitoes. I think it even kills pinworms when sprayed under the tail. It really is amazing stuff. I hope you can find some. Just remember it is an oil so it can burn them on a sunny day. I put it on in the evening for that reason.
DeleteThat locking stifles video! Amazing! I've heard of it, of course, but I don't think I've ever watched it.
ReplyDeleteArchie occasionally gets hives from insect bites, but it fortunately hasn't been bad enough to warrant any major intervention. Maybe we should all just get neem oil just in case.