As If You Needed Another Reason to Avoid Weedy Hay
So we picked up a couple bales of alfalfa a week ago Wednesday in order to tide us over until we could order our next squeeze. I could tell from twenty feet away as the fork lift came over to load it that it was tremendously weedy, but figured it couldn't hurt and we've dealt with less-than-stellar hay in the past with no problems so we trucked our bales home.
It was either Thursday night or Friday that I noticed Kash (13 y/o Arab gelding) had some swelling over his right eye. I figured he must have hit his head on something, which is entirely possible, but he was happy an alert otherwise so it was filed away as "something to keep an eye on."
Saturday morning a student and I go to get Kash out to use for a lungeing lesson and we discovered a BIG abrasion on the inside of his right leg. It was a little swollen, but he wasn't limping on it so we pulled him out, brushed him off, and started the lesson. Asking him to trot he, again, wasn't limping, but he was a bit stiff through the leg, tied him up, and learned about first aid. It looked a lot worse than it actually was and at this point I was figuring he must have been kicked by one of the mares, it's happened before with similar results. He also had a little rub on his nose.
After the lessons were over for the day Chris and I took a drive to see a horse (yes, I know I already have five plus one on the way ... we were just looking, promise! [as another aside, he was quite nice! 16hh Belgian gelding who drove quite well and was safe, sane, and sound]). When we got home poor Kash had more abrasions on the right side of his face (noticing a trend?). At a loss and trying to figure out why the mares might be beating up on him we put him up for the night.
Sunday morning found my poor boy with most of the hair on the right side of his face rubbed off and even more on his leg plus some up by his sheath and between his legs. Did I mention he is an insanely flexible Arab and can reach around to grab the fleshy part of his tail? He can also scratch his ear with a rider on him and chew on his stifle if needs be.
Chris insisted that we take him to the vet. I hate making people work on Sunday, but it wasn't getting better. Knowing that the mares weren't beating him up made me feel a little better, but the realization that it was self-inflicted was distressing. It was at this point that I started to suspect the hay.
To the vet and after a brief check, some talk about the weedy hay, and a rather powerful anti-allergy drug with some direction to get some good soothing gel to slather on his skin we were on our way. Well, not quite, but the other talk and such didn't really pertain. Mostly about the first of the babies he now has on the ground and our own expectant mare.
So the first three days it was hibicleans (surgical soap) and sol-a-caine three times a day. He stopped scratching and the skin started to heal up. He's looking much better and I actually rode him yesterday briefly. He was good on all accounts, but he didn't want to extend in the trot and felt it was easier just to canter. I think the skin is still a little tight and healing, but that's okay. He's bright and cheery as usual and no swelling. Plus we have our new, good, non-weedy squeeze of hay stacked high so no worries about allergies for a good few months.
It is a little odd, he hasn't had any allergy issues before. During the change in seasons he will rub his backside (underside of his tail gets dry and itchy and he's smart enough to realize that it's the underside so he flips his tail over the rail and rubs where it itches, leaving a bald spot on each cheek, but his lovely, long tail unscathed), but this was unique in the six years I've owned him.
And in other news: Panda is due in about a month!
It was either Thursday night or Friday that I noticed Kash (13 y/o Arab gelding) had some swelling over his right eye. I figured he must have hit his head on something, which is entirely possible, but he was happy an alert otherwise so it was filed away as "something to keep an eye on."
Saturday morning a student and I go to get Kash out to use for a lungeing lesson and we discovered a BIG abrasion on the inside of his right leg. It was a little swollen, but he wasn't limping on it so we pulled him out, brushed him off, and started the lesson. Asking him to trot he, again, wasn't limping, but he was a bit stiff through the leg, tied him up, and learned about first aid. It looked a lot worse than it actually was and at this point I was figuring he must have been kicked by one of the mares, it's happened before with similar results. He also had a little rub on his nose.
After the lessons were over for the day Chris and I took a drive to see a horse (yes, I know I already have five plus one on the way ... we were just looking, promise! [as another aside, he was quite nice! 16hh Belgian gelding who drove quite well and was safe, sane, and sound]). When we got home poor Kash had more abrasions on the right side of his face (noticing a trend?). At a loss and trying to figure out why the mares might be beating up on him we put him up for the night.
Sunday morning found my poor boy with most of the hair on the right side of his face rubbed off and even more on his leg plus some up by his sheath and between his legs. Did I mention he is an insanely flexible Arab and can reach around to grab the fleshy part of his tail? He can also scratch his ear with a rider on him and chew on his stifle if needs be.
Chris insisted that we take him to the vet. I hate making people work on Sunday, but it wasn't getting better. Knowing that the mares weren't beating him up made me feel a little better, but the realization that it was self-inflicted was distressing. It was at this point that I started to suspect the hay.
To the vet and after a brief check, some talk about the weedy hay, and a rather powerful anti-allergy drug with some direction to get some good soothing gel to slather on his skin we were on our way. Well, not quite, but the other talk and such didn't really pertain. Mostly about the first of the babies he now has on the ground and our own expectant mare.
So the first three days it was hibicleans (surgical soap) and sol-a-caine three times a day. He stopped scratching and the skin started to heal up. He's looking much better and I actually rode him yesterday briefly. He was good on all accounts, but he didn't want to extend in the trot and felt it was easier just to canter. I think the skin is still a little tight and healing, but that's okay. He's bright and cheery as usual and no swelling. Plus we have our new, good, non-weedy squeeze of hay stacked high so no worries about allergies for a good few months.
It is a little odd, he hasn't had any allergy issues before. During the change in seasons he will rub his backside (underside of his tail gets dry and itchy and he's smart enough to realize that it's the underside so he flips his tail over the rail and rubs where it itches, leaving a bald spot on each cheek, but his lovely, long tail unscathed), but this was unique in the six years I've owned him.
And in other news: Panda is due in about a month!