The mystery of stinky Dude

Dude's had a little personal problem over the last couple months or so ... a smell. It's kind of strange. I noticed it, but didn't think too much about it until our barn manager mentioned it. It's the usual horsey smell but a little mustier (I say) or sweeter (our barn manager says). It's like when people eat a lot of garlic, like the scent is coming out of his pores.

When the vet was out for the fall shots a week or so ago, I mentioned it to her. She sniffed him, but said she couldn't really determine what it was I was talking about. So the smell wasn't at all obvious to her, which I found kind of odd. She checked his teeth and filed down some points, so was really all over his mouth, and didn't find anything out of the ordinary in there that would be causing a smell.

She also cleaned his sheath. He's definitely on the 2x/year plan for that now; he needed the fall cleaning.

So with him basically all cleaned up, I started thinking more about what he's taking in.

In terms of what he eats, for most of the summer he was in a paddock with not much grass at all. Changes over the last several months included the addition of a vitamin E/selenium supplement (at the suggestion of our vet) and a new joint supplement.

To investigate the possibility that the smell was being caused by the joint supplement, I emailed our supplement company, HorseTech, to see if they had any record of the supplement he's on, HylaSport OTC, producing a smell. It seemed to me that the smell started about the same time that he transitioned to this supplement from another one of their products. It seemed like kind of a long shot, as the ingredients are not  that different from the other supplement, and our vet said she hadn't ever heard of the ingredients producing a smell in horses.

A customer service representative from HorseTech called me. She had no previous records of such a thing happening, and was pretty intrigued by the situation. We had a little chat about the circumstances so they could establish a record, and at their request I followed up with the lot number of the supplement and said I would keep them posted on any developments.

I took him off the vitamin E/selenium supplement a couple weeks ago to see if that would make a difference. I figured it probably takes a few weeks to get out of his system. Today at the barn I didn't think he smelled as strong, but I'm kind of starting to feel a little crazy about the whole situation,and not really trusting my nose anymore. Dude probably wonders why I'm always sniffing him.

I've googled ("odor from horse" "musty scent from horse" etc etc) to try and find similar situations, with no luck. Right now I'm weighing option A) - taking him off the HylaSport to see if the smell goes away or option B) - doing the vet-suggested metabolic work-up to see what that shows. I hate to take him off the HylaSport because he's responded really well to it in terms of joint support. And I hate to do the metabolic because I don't want to spend the money ... and he appears to be perfectly fine. Debating. Sniffing.. Driving myself crazy.

Nice to meet you, Wonder Dust

Twice this summer, Dude scraped up the inside of his front left leg. This photo was scrape #1, not too bad, basically a surface scrape. We think he's somehow catching himself with the edge of his shoes when he rolls. Scrape #2 arrived just after Scrape #1 healed. It was uglier. Pretty much a surface scrape again, but longer, and with a  little divot about half way down.

It took forever to heal. At night I would swab it with 3-way ointment and keep it wrapped with a layer of gauze and a just enough Vet Wrap to hold the gauze in place. Since it was fairly low on his leg, I didn't want mud getting in there, or risk him catching himself again. A week went by with not much progress. I think between the wrapping and the warm humid weather, it just couldn't heal. Then barn manager Paula suggested ...

I had never heard of the stuff; amazing, after all these years with horses. Luckily the barn had a bottle stashed away. It wasn't too full of the magic dust, so it took me a bit to master the proper poofing of the dust onto his leg. But once I got the poof technique down, it was pretty cool. The next day I could really see how the scrape was drying up. Went to Guy's Farm & Yard and bought my own bottle the next weekend. 

Back at it!

Last weekend at work we hosted a group of bloggers whose focus is healthy eating. I was lucky enough to sit in on some of their sessions related to blogging, and their creativity and enthusiasm were really inspiring, not to mention FUN to be around. Needless to say, the whole experience gave me a little kick in the pants to get back to this blog. They had some great tips on structure, photography, social media, search engine optimization ... all the stuff I haven't really focused on with this little effort. 

I really enjoy writing, but what I find is that I write so much for my job that by the time I get home, I'm pretty well fried. I need to remember that it is indeed fun to do - I'm doing it for that reason and because I also truly enjoy my time with the ponies.

Speaking of fun, doesn't Bestie look like she's having fun in the wash area? I'd say she appears resigned to her fate. :)

She looked absolutely gorgeous after the bath, all sleek and shiny. But of course, a day later when I arrived at the barn, she had rolled in the mud. Ah well.

This photo is of Dude's corner feed trough with the twigs he'd picked out of his hay and left for his servant to take care of. Um, that would be me. They almost look like pretzel sticks. It's so funny to me when I discover this. His hay flakes had been on the floor, so he was definitely picking the twigs up and putting them there in the feeder.

He has done this in the past; nosed out what he's not going to eat and left it in a prominent spot. One time I got to the barn and he'd left a rather sizeable stick several inches long in his feed bucket. Very helpful of him.

I'll end with a shot looking at the hillside across the road from the barn. It was a beautiful night with the clouds lifting after a gloomy day. It's the time of year when the leaves are starting to change so the hill glows a bit yellow. Such a peaceful setting.

Plenty of excitement in July ... and not in a good way

Poor Dude, July hasn't been too kind to him. On the 4th I got a call from barn owner Julie reporting they'd noticed Dude lying down in his paddock - that doesn't happen too often. They brought him in, and he lay down in his stall. Even more concerning, he didn't immediately attack his hay like he usually does. Julie reported, "He just doesn't seem right."

I was on the treadmill when she called, so I figured I'd finish my workout and then head over in 20 minutes or so. Then another call came in, this time from barn manager Paula checking to see that I was coming over, and kind of reviewing what she'd observed with Dude. It totally tracked with what Julie had said, but getting a second call kind of freaked me out. We decided to have the vet come out (yay, vet visit on a HOLIDAY!!);  best to play it safe as one horse in the barn had Potomac earlier in the month, and a couple others had minor colics.  I basically jumped off the treadmill and into the car.

When I got to the barn, he was up, and Paula had walked him. He had pooped and had a little water, but it was true, he didn't seem himself. Paula said, "He was snuggling - that's not Dude!" Hahaha, true, he is NOT a cuddler unless he's under the weather. We were experiencing a stretch of really warm, muggy weather, which he never does well with. They had been hosing him at turn-in time, and I had been hosing him when needed later in the day when I'd get to the barn.

Anyway, once the vet arrived, they sedated him and checked for impaction - nothing. He didn't have a temperature. He was slightly dehydrated, which could have been the root of the problem. Everything else looked good, but he is such a hothouse flower that the minor dehydration could've set him off. The earlier time he had a small summer colic - probably 7-8 years ago, but also on the 4th of July! - the weather was similarly hot and muggy. At the barn we were at then, they hadn't transitioned from previous year's hay to brand new really rich hay, and I think it was too much for his system.

By the time I left the barn, he was alert and back to his usual demanding self; i.e., pretty irritated that he couldn't have any hay. He was put on a program of really wet bran mashes and light grazing for a couple days to see how he did, and he did fine. All in all, a good reminder to me to watch him extra carefully when it's hot and humid. Typically we don't get too many oppressive periods of summer weather in Vermont, but this summer there have been a number of them. I know it's hard on me when it's like that!

A week later farrier Justin came for Dude and Bestie's trims. I was considering putting shoes on Dude for more support and also to get him out on the roads this summer. However, when Justin went to work on his left hind, Dude wouldn't stand. Something was bothering him; he wouldn't put sustained weight on his right hind. He'd been ok to pick out and treat his feet over the last few weeks, but standing on that right hind for any period of time - he just wasn't going to do it. In a sense, no surprise, as that's where he's been injured in the past, but I have no idea what he did to himself. He's in a flat paddock with another older horse and all reports are that they just hang out quietly all day.

So he's on Robaxin. The vet is talking possible arthritis given his age. It seems more like a traumatic injury to me; since he had been fine at the last farrier appointment. Reassessing after 10 days on Robaxin.

Tick season

It seems like ticks exploded onto the scene this year. We had a long cold winter and I know I assumed that it would delay the arrival of nasty creatures like ticks. Wrong. Apparently, the snow cover protects them, so they're worse on years with snow cover even when combined with frigid temps.

Back in late May, right about the time I heard at work that a few people had already picked up ticks while working outdoors, I went to the barn and found out that Bestie had come in with one on her muzzle.

The amazing thing to me was that the tick even got spotted on her, since her coat is so dark. A fellow boarder, Gina, who uses Bestie's pasture mate Sadie for lessons, went out to get Sadie and figured she'd bring in Bestie too rather than leave her alone. Gina noticed the tick while walking the mares in. I was so grateful.

This is the little contraption that barn owner Julie has on hand to extract ticks. I had never seen one before. It's about as long as my pinkie. Apparently you just position it so the little teeth/hooks fit around the tick and then twist and pop the tick off. There's even a YouTube video of people popping ticks off dogs (I think) ... many dogs. Crazy. And disgusting. I was trying to figure out if the contraption has an official name and the video came up in the search. Trying hard to get that one out of my head.




I have to say I'm a bit obsessive now about inspecting every little black speck I spot on them. Knock on wood, I haven't seen any more ticks on Bestie, or on Dude for that matter. Hopefully it stays that way.

B is for Bestie

Dude - king of the nicks and scrapes

Over the last couple months Dude has been getting so many nicks and scrapes in his stall. We solved one mystery - the mystery of the cuts on his hocks. He was getting those because there were nails popping out of the wall in the back of his stall, and he was apparently backing right into them.

But yesterday Reggie was cleaning his stall and noticed this scrape. It's pretty much a surface scrape, but still, it was a little messy. It's just so odd that he's getting all these - with no shoes. Michelle was on top of things and hosed him and cleaned it up with Betadine, which was very nice of her. I think her quick treatment help forestall too much swelling. By the time I got there in the afternoon, it was definitely swollen, but not too bad. I cold hosed him again and put a bunch of Sore No More on his leg around the wound, which I covered in triple antibiotic cream

He also has this one on his hock. Maybe it's from when he lies down at night. He had a scab there and it reopened this weekend. I've been treating the spot and it starts looking pretty good, and right about the time we seem to be over the hump, it reopens. Kind of frustrating.

The horses went out today so I think having that time outside walking around helped with the swelling from the scrape. I cold hosed him and also scrubbed all his legs with Betadine. This was our first warm weekend, so it was really nice out in the wash stall in the sun. And it's easier to see all the winter grime and crud on his lower legs in the sunlight. Looks like I'll be scrubbing him a couple more times before all of that is gone; his stockings are a little scurfy. Horsey spring cleaning.