----- Original Message -----
From: Laurie Durgin
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 5:16 AM
To: Ridecmap@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: bald horses or move update, Kenny Rodgers had it too?!!
Well my fungal culture came back. Had some fungus'es(? I hate grammer).But not any that would cause that kind of pathological response. I stoppe d in the vets office and asked my regular vet(who got to the "beats me" point) and talked with him. Told him his partner said about thinking they were all developing a sensitivety to bugs. And his ideas to put them on steroids or stall them. Which ideas I told him weren't anything I wanted to do. He said if it were chicken mites they'd go away with the chickens(who all got done in this month by two maurading raccoons.
. Got my pet goose Max too, who I raised from an egg.(Maybe I'' ll have a coon hunt. )
Anyway I'm asking anyone I run into for ideas. At a feed store , this lady said it sounded like the same thing her friends show Tenn. Walker had. And after vets, ect. she tried MTG and that has worked for her. So I am trying that . And I will try mild shampoos on Rascal and try to keep him clean, in case it is fungal , instead or also. He gets it the most. I am also making him a head and mane slinky to wear inthe pasture. I can get fabric on sale usually. So if he tears it up I just have to make another. I got fabric and elastic for 8.00 $ the other day and will
try it on him.
My regular vet doesn't think steroids will work or that locking them up,(after of course I screen and ac the barn.(ha, not on our income,(I could sell the kids and go to work full time,,,hhhmmm some days I could see doing that,)
But his partner said when he was in vet school the country star , Kenny Rodgers had a bunch of horse who had a similiar type problem and athey had some boggy land and it was a sensitivity to all the bugs.
So I sent for the fly predators, Iwill see about filling in any holes. He suggested bathouses and barn swallow houses(anyone know where to get them cheap?) We actually do have bats in the pasture I've seen one for years.
So its , mild baths(the dandruff shampoo made his skin slough off).MTG(mand ,tail ,groom)(it smells like cedar or pine), a slinky, getting the bug s down.No chickens for now(untill I make a raccoon proof yard). Dig the drains (with my bad ankle of course)
Bad ankle update. Rode yesterday 2/12 hours trying to keep him at walk, especially down hill. (At 88degressand 65%humidity I thought it might make him calmer and not as likely to act up).He actually mostly behaved. My son tracked us on his bike and joined us. Rascal thought he was another horse and tried his usaual "I want to put my head on your butt" thing. We circled and half-halted, he'll get the idea about that some day.YOU'd think after Dance kicked him he'd catch on.(She stayed here while recuperating for my daughters trainer, She is on the Fl. show circut now and sold for 30,000$. A celebrity kick no less.His only claim to fame!.)
Well I found even with my stirrup sponges, jigging downhill hurts my 2nd degree sprained ankle, next time I take the meds , first,even with the brace and boot.Not that I wanted to jig downhill. But Rascal thinks he is a downhill horse. He rarely trips, but his feet are long .And he did stumble a bit twice on the flat . I told him he was out of shape, it was nasty Ga. weather and we were going to do LSD, emphasis on Slow. Plus I had my new "NO slip pad" on him and wanted to see how it was. One of those pimpley type pads, looks like neophrene, but has alternating holes so you can see through it.Suppose to let air in too. And you just hose it off. Well it didn't slip, and we took some 30 and one 45%degree hills. And I just hosed it off. My only concern is if it gets too hot. He actually had some sweat under it too(he never sweats, unless its a heat index of over 135. ( temp. + humidity.).
Got to go walk the horse and muse on the ridecamp discussions .
Rascal and Honey and savannah, and Scouts Mom or the bald horse , bad ankle.
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