Evaluations and things to consider

Bar having his pulse and heart rate taken

The rain let up yesterday just long enough to allow Dr. Leslie to evaluate not only our three horses, but two of our friend's horses, too. The wellness exam consisted of listening to hearts and lungs, a general weight and physical evaluation, checking feet and teeth, and watching movement. Ours were also scheduled for vaccines, which this time were West Nile and Intranasal Flu (their favorite).

Checking Bar's movement. It was good, trust me.

Lisa was there holding Winston when I rolled in, and he came through with a pretty good bill of health, though he could use some groceries. He's getting more exercise, and he was glad to hear that meant he got more goodies, too.

Forrest was next and (as we know), definitely needs weight. When we told Leslie he hadn't been himself Friday night--picking at his food, generally listless, digestive system (always our first thought) working better than fine--she immediately took his temperature. Turns out he had a bit of a fever, poor guy! So no vaccines for him until he's better. Katie gave him some Bute to help him feel better so he'll eat and drink.

When Leslie looked in his mouth, she said, "Oh, he is young!!" He needs his teeth done, and has a new tooth coming in behind (on top of?) the baby tooth in front. Lena actually had the same thing, but never has had the adult tooth come in all the way.

Leslie checking out Forrest's teeth

Next came Lisa's young horse, Whiskey, who was entirely unsure of this whole process, but cooperated fairly well nonetheless.

"What is all this about?" says Whiskey River

All the horses have been poked and prodded and pronounced fairly healthy overall, and Leslie said Bar looks the best she's ever seen him. His coat and musculature look great and he is more in his head than he has ever been. Yay, us and all the work we've done! Of course, then he had to act like a spoiled Thoroughbred when I interrupted his grazing for the trotting part of the exam, but even then he wasn't crazy. Bratty, yes. Crazy, no.

Calabar looking strong and healthy

Lena is beautiful, strong, and her only need is more exercise than she's getting currently. She is blessed with good feet, a good mouth, plus smooth and comfortable movement. Leslie watched her trot past and said, "Oh. She's a really nice horse." Lena heard her, too. It almost made up for the flu vaccine up her nose. Almost.

The lovely Lena Rey and Katie, too

Forrest is on the mend, and Bar and Lena are in good shape. It was definitely worth it ($30 each) to have Leslie look at horses I see every day from a professional and outside perspective. Not only did she catch Forrest's fever, she was able to give good advice and options for us to consider that are geared towards having healthier, happier horses--not ongoing vet care or chemical interference. We talked about the best way to put weight on Forrest, hoof care and the dynamics of the horse's foot, and alternatives to the cycle of medicinal/chemical worming.

One of the things Dr. Leslie advocates is doing regular fecal tests rather than worming arbitrarily. Even mixing up the worming regimen by switching from one wormer to another can contribute to what are becoming increasingly resistant parasites. By doing a fecal, you not only determine IF you need wormer, but what specific wormer you need. Leslie prices it about the same ($15) as a mid-range tube of wormer and the logic seems really sound to me.

Turns out both Bar and Forrest need to be wormed, but not immediately. There are very small quantities of Strongyles in their samples, so we'll wait a few more weeks to be sure we get all the little buggers--actually, large and small--with a good dose of Ivermectin.

We also had an interesting conversation about feet and allowing horses to go barefoot. Bar has had shoes on all four feet (unless he loses one) since we got him because of how shelly his hooves are. Lena has great feet, but we wanted to protect them while out and about on rocky trails, so she has always been shod all the way around, too.

Looking at feet

Leslie brought up some really good points about the natural way a hoof works, and making sure the frog is able to do it's job of helping with circulation by being in contact with the ground. Her point was that you don't really know what kind of foot you have until you let it go natural for a little while, and winter is a good time to try it.

We haven't decided yet what we want to do, and Steve is in charge of talking to Mike. There is no way on earth I want to alienate my farrier, so Steve's particular form of diplomacy is definitely required. Of course, with the rate that Bar loses shoes in the winter, it may just be easier to let him go barefoot! And, of course, invest in regular trims and a full set of boots for both horses for trail riding.

Despite the rain and the ornery Thoroughbred (mine, not Forrest), it was well worth the time and cost to have this done. Not just the vaccines, which are important, but the outside view of this horse I see every day.

The big, brown, fuzzy love of my life

Vet day tomorrow and minor correction

We have vaccines and a once-over scheduled for the ponies tomorrow. I'm sure they'll be thrilled.

"Oh, yeah! West Nile and Rabies, our favorite!" I suspect it's better, however, than the intra-nasal flue vaccine they get in the fall.

Dr. Leslie is also doing a wellness exam--a check of the basics, weight, heart, feet, etc.--something she's trying out with her clients this year.

We decided to opt in for this for a couple of reasons. One, because the reason we have always had our vet do our vaccines is because she catches things we might miss. Two, I think you need to pay your vet for their time and not just pile on the questions when they are there to do something else. Really, I'm just selfish. I don't want to find another vet so I want to keep Leslie in business as long as possible.

I am fairly certain all the horses are healthy as, well, horses. Forrest is a little underweight and Bar perpetually needs his teeth done, but little prevention is a lot better than a midnight phone call when it all goes wrong. My other not-so-secret goal is to hear Bar's heart. Last time Leslie listened to it, she said you could hear an extra beat because his heart is so big. I just about cried right then and there.

Bar is scheduled for his teeth next Friday. He might still be speaking to me after that, but it will take lots of treats and many fewer missed barn nights.

Oh, and the correction (as kindly pointed out by Joan at Cowboy and Dexter's Excellent Adventures) was to Kathleen's age the day of Bar's win in November of 2003. She was thirteen. Not three. Thirteen. I slipped a decade, apparently.

Oddly enough, it was that very year--her 13th--that we chose a Christmas present of Slide Mountain Ranch because we couldn't figure out anything else more suitable.

Funny how the path of a racehorse careened right into the path of a future horse-crazy woman.

The knee, day four

It wasn't any worse today, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a lot better, either. I had given it a bit of an ultimatum--if it didn't look markedly better by today, I'd call the vet. Since it didn't, she'll be here tomorrow.

That probably ensures his knee will be back to normal by the time she gets there, but that's really okay with me.

Healing human and horse

It turns out both Steve and Bar are in for some healing and rehabilitation, though I'm trying to not feel like a terrible horse-mom for not noticing Bar's injuries earlier. He banged his shoulder up, too, which I didn't catch until I had my vet and farrier out yesterday for an evaluation.

I have been a little preoccupied, though.

Steve is home and healing well, though not as quickly as he might like. His right shoulder is nicely ringed with a chartreuse bruise and the top of the shoulder has some dark purple mixed in. Picture some of the mottled Star Trek alien skin make-up and that's pretty close.

The dizziness and vertigo are nearly gone most of the time, but he's still taking it pretty easy right now. When he's ready to drive, he'll have to drive the big truck because it's the only automatic we have and shifting will have to wait for at least another few days.

Now that he's home, I'm hoping to get myself back into the normal barn routine (at least somewhat), and take some time to get Bar healed up, too.

I had Dr. Leslie the vet and Mike the farrier out yesterday to do an evaluation on Bar to make sure there were no structural, physical, or neurological reasons for his tripping. We ruled out his feet, which are in good shape, and then Leslie pointed out that his shoulder where he fell was pretty swollen. I of course fell into a little puddle of guilt, especially since I worked him in the round pen (not hard) the other day. I knew he was sore, but missed the swelling. Poor guy. I can't believe he actually did any work for me, and pretty much without complaining. He's a little bit of a stoic when it comes to pain, unlike his friend Lena the drama queen.

It was nearly impossible to fairly judge whether there was any front-end lameness since he was obviously compromised with the shoulder, but Leslie had also noticed some atrophy on his hind end so we did a Flexion test on his hocks. She held his rear leg up against his belly for over a minute on each side, then on a count of three let it down and I trotted him off while she and Mike watched. The first side he bounced forward instead of trotting, but it was still obvious he was sore. I can't believe how patient he was--especially we went back after the first side and picked up the other hind leg. He went along with me, though it was very clear he was hurting and grumpy about all this. He stomped a couple of times in frustration, but still did everything I asked of him. Leslie commented again the difference in him since we first got him. I told her it was because he loves me. Ha!

The verdict is that there is some lameness in the back end--his hocks--but it's not irreparable. That makes him not use his hindquarters enough and his front end too much. With the bowed tendon leg--which is a little over at the knee also--that's a recipe for the tripping. However, Leslie thinks with some Glucosamine and rest, he'll be fine for what we do with him. I'm also having Karen come out on Tuesday morning to give Bar a massage and evaluation. She gives me good, practical advice and has rehabilitated several horses, so should be able to give me some training and exercise tips, too.

I'm very glad there isn't any neurological issue, though I wasn't actually too worried about it. He does know where his feet are and has good strength in his hind end--he was able to resist Leslie pulling on his tail from each side quite effectively. He did look at me out of his one eye as if to say, "What is that weird woman doing back there?" a few times, though.

I'm sure if I think about it, there were signs he was having pain. And I could beat myself up about it, but that won't serve any good purpose. The best thing to do is go forward and help him build up his strength and flexibility, and for us to have fun doing it. My own focus on maintaining my own physical condition despite various aches and pains--knowing it's much better to keep moving--gives me a pretty good perspective on what he needs.

Dentist day for Bar and Lena

The horses survived a day of dentistry!

Our vet came out to the barn, armed with drugs, her dremel, and hand floats. Leslie was pretty sure Lena's mouth was in good shape--having done Lena's teeth once herself and assisted once, plus checking them periodically--but we had no idea what Bar's mouth would be like.

His was not the worst mouth Leslie had ever seen, but he definitely had some issues. He had a lot of hooks, including caudal hooks way in the back on "tooth number 11" and some pretty severe rostral hooks. He also had a pretty good wave going on in his mouth that will need more attention before next year. This page has some good pictures of the things we found in Bar's mouth. The wave is caused by, then exacerbated by, uneven growth and wear. Leslie took it down a lot and we'll have her back in eight months or so to be sure we're staying on top of it with him.

Horses, like humans, can have good mouths or bad mouths. Lena has a genetically good mouth, but some breeds are known for not being so lucky. Mustangs apparently have (overall) great mouths, which makes sense--natural selection would pretty quickly weed out horses that didn't. Thoroughbreds, not surprisingly, are not known for having good mouths. Bar's isn't deformed (no over-bite or under-bite), and the good news is his teeth do line up beautifully, so with good care we can alleviate a lot of the challenges he has.

Both horses were really well behaved--even with drugs, some horses are not easy to work on. Bar's worst moment was waiting in the stall beforehand while Leslie got the first shot of drugs ready for him, but even though he did a little dancing, he hung in there and listened to me without getting out of control or aggressive. Even when he would start to come around, he didn't fight--and he was in the "chair" for a long time.

Leslie told me she can see how far Bar has come, not only how much he trusts us and how bonded he is to us, but also how much more "in his head" he is than when we first got him. That was a nice compliment, and validates what I see in him. I don't know if the tooth issues have anything to do with his behavior under saddle--and I won't know for a couple days because he's getting a break from the bit for a few days while his mouth heals--but it certainly couldn't have been helping the situation.

Here is a slide show of some of the choice shots from the day:

Yellow Bristle Grass - Mouth Sore Culprit

Here's the culprit, a rather benign and soft thing at first glance, but textured much like the fluffy stuff on the inside of an artichoke heart. It is so fine and sticky, it's hard for horses to get it out of their noses, lips and mouths, where it then proceeds to cause the irritation and sores we'd been seeing. If you touch it, you can feel the resistance, even on roughened fingertips, almost like a softer version of a foxtail, but smaller and lighter, so more insidious. Note the yellow-gold color at the end of the spiny parts. (Obviously, my plant terminology could use a little work, here.)

Shannon's vet - Dr. Jamie Kerr, who is also Katie's vet - showed up, took one look at Lena's mouth, planted his hands on his hips and said, "Let me see the hay." He said he loves this diagnosis because it looks so terrible and inevitibly getting rid of the hay causes almost immediate improvement.

He and his assistant Justin climbed all over the last two shipments of hay Peter got and pulled piece after piece of it out, showing all of us, and pointing out bales where you could see big sections of it mixed in with the rest. He even left me a baggie to give to Dr. Leslie when she gets back to town.

Dr. Kerr used to practice in Napa and said he saw a lot of this about 20 years ago from hay that came from the Dixon area and did a lot of work convincing hay providers that it was indeed a problem. Apparently cows can eat it just fine, but horses can't. This was a new supplier for Peter, though recommended by the last supplier, and he's supposed to swap all this hay out for Peter - presumably for something without bristle grass in it.

Steve and I crossed email the next morning, both of us expressing immense relief that Lena wasn't sick. Her lips are already healing beautifully, as are the sores on the inside of her mouth. I'll post some pictures later, though the sores are not nearly as dramatic as they were.

After I knew what to look for, I found this PDF on the web. It describes the reaction - and the bristle grass - perfectly. Of course, I had to search specifically for "horse mouth sores and yellow bristle grass" to find it, but at least I'm able to post it here so my small circle knows what it is.

You learn something new every day, it seems.

Weird horse wound update

I think in one of my very first posts, down at the bottom of the August archive, I said that if I actually knew all the things that could go wrong with a horse, I never would have bought one. So I'm exceedingly glad of my ignorance even still because it's less for me to worry about, leaving more room to enjoy her. Not that we don't still call in the vet occasionally.

In fact, Dr. Leslie was out yesterday because Lena's lip still hasn't healed. The good doctor says Lena looks healthy and athletic, though, so isn't particularly worried about auto-immune or systemic things. (Like I even knew to worry about that before she mentioned it!)

Turns out there is a build up of granulated tissue (proud flesh) that isn't allowing the skin to come over the sores and close them up. There are some on the edges that are healed, so we just have to keep Lena from licking off the special concoction Dr. Leslie mixed up for her so we can get her lips back to their normal soft, furry state. Not an easy task. The next thing to try - if she keeps licking - is meat tenderizer, which sounds a lot like one of those old vet remedies you hear rumors about, but I trust Dr. Leslie even if it does sound a little wacky.

I suppose I could be more worried about Lena's immune system, but worrying without just cause isn't helpful and won't change the outcome of a situation, so why waste the energy. If the lip owies don't start to heal in a couple of days, I'm under strict orders to call Dr. Leslie anyway, and we'll just go from there.

Besides, riding is more fun than worrying any day.