Hoof Adventures & Other Equine Experiences

Well - I finally caught up to current time, so no more going back in time, at least no more than since the last post. Dee is still comfortable after seeing the last vet.  She just finished her last dose of antibiotic last night and the last steroid stuff this morning.  That makes a solid week on medication to help her fight off the infection, plus the new scratches ointment.  I'm not sure what out of all those things have helped, or if it were all three that helped, but something did.  I did have to go back to the vet this past Thursday to pick up more of the scratches ointment.  I tried to get the ingredients so I could share it here, but I guess it is a secret recipe.  If anyone out there needs it, the clinic is the Arenas Valley Animal Clinic in Arenas Valley, NM and the vet is Dr. Allred.  Maybe he would share with your vet. That said, she is not well yet.  I did go out and play this morning, but we stayed at a walk and I was very careful ...

Well, I've been so focused on the scratches episode I haven't mentioned much about my journey to build a partnership with Dee.  The day I started thinking about bringing Dee home I asked her then owner if I could come out and play with her on site for a week or so to see if what I thought was a good match really was.  She agreed that I could come out any time and play with Dee.  So started a three week period of me driving the 10 miles each day to see what I could learn about this filly that had caught my eye. It was during the summer of 08. My work schedule during the summers has me off at 3:30pm and I would come home to change, then head over to Dee's place. She was 1 year plus a couple months - she was born in April of 2007 and this was all going down in June 2008. I was excited about the prospect of starting a young horse. I had been the first to ride Moli (the Arab), but she was four when I got her and came with alot of baggage, plus I had never even HEARD of Natur...

September 6, 2009 - Time seemed to be moving right along and my poor sweet little Dee was not getting any better.  She had lost a good bit of weight, and I was really at a loss as to where to turn next.  I had given up on the second round of Silver Sulfadianzine cream after using a little over half.  I found some information online that indicated someone had some success with a product called MTG Shapleys.  I just happened to have some of this product in my tack room and decided that I would try it.  At the same time that I decided to try the MTG I also started covering the sores - the flies were literally covering up her legs, and I was sure they could only make things worse.   I did this for about four days, then I noticed that with the MTG on the legs, the flies weren't quite so bad, so I stopped covering them (something in me told me covering was not the best idea).  I decided that in order to see if there was any improvement that c...

August 13, 2009 - I revisit this date only to provide some specific information about the treatment prescribed by the visiting vet. The vet came from the Equine Sports Medicine center in Sunland Park NM. (A little under 2hrs from here). He occasionally made local calls and I was able to get on his list for this day. This particular clinic always provides extensive documentation, something new for me – here is a piece from his diagnosis: “(1)Pododermatitis (aka “scratches”) – exfoliative, hypersensitive, painful (caused by combination of bacteria and fungal organisms). (2)Infectious pododermatitis caused by Dermatophilus congolensis (aka “rain rot”)” The reference to rain rot surprised me – seriously? We get 2 inches per year if we are lucky…how does that cause rot? It dries before she ever even gets wet. Anyway, here’s what he provided for a treatment. “(1) Wash the affected areas twice daily with betadine shampoo. (2) Apply SSD ointment with dexamethasone to affected areas...

July 26, 2009 - This is the day I returned from the David Ellis Clinic to find my filly was walking so strangely. Struggling to get enough momentum for the first step, she would swing her head, then pickup a front foot before swinging the back feet around. Then once she got going the movement was more sideways then straight on. Because it was Sunday, I was unable to contact a vet, so had to wait until Monday evening for the local vet to come out and draw blood. His first impression didn't reveal much, but we discussed what I had found online about Wobblers, EPM and West Niles (yes, she was up to date on her vacinations). He felt it was a good idea to run a standard blood panel to see if anything showed. There was no fever, and she seemed alert. A physical exam showed no signs of swelling, nor were there any visible wounds. Before he left he gave her a shot of Banamine, and left me with two more for the following two days. On Tuesday, he called to say the blood panel showed nothin...

It seems a little backward to begin my blog with a post about the horse I've owned for the shortest amount of time.  Circumstances just happen to be right to begin with her as she is my most recent "challenge" (from here on out, let's just call it a learning experience). Dee is a 2 year old paint filly that I purchased as a yearling from a paint breeder right here in my community.  She is beautiful, curious, sweet natured and willing to try anything once.  I was able to see both Sire and Dam and was impressed by both.  They had to send in blood for DNA testing to prove this filly actually did come from these two, the Sire was an overo paint and the Dam black - the Paint Horse folks wanted proof that they threw this little bucksin filly with four perfect white stockings. I was having some trouble with lameness in the Arab (I'll post something on that later) and expected I needed to start looking for a new ride.  I wanted a gelding, but this filly caught my e...