Saturday, September 22, 2012

Can you name this equine anomolly?

I had planned on having a yard sale today, but that just didn't happen, too much other stuff going on. Besides who has time to sit all day in front yard and hope that someone shows up to buy stuff?
Anyway, so ever since Brickster was here, I've had Bot issues.  Yep one more thing passed back and forth between the two herds.  I ended up hacking off half of Trax's beautiful mane because of it.  So I spent the day with a grooming stone and put each horse in the round pen and sat underneath them picking and scraping off bots.  I am lucky that my horses are so easy going about this.  The only one I literally did not sit underneath, Indian Style, was Trax.  (he is still a little jumpy, so you always stay to one side)

Anyway, so I picked and I scrubbed and I picked and I scrubbed, and I do believe I got them all.  But I noticed something on all my horses which I will call "odd"

When Bricks was here I noticed that she had a little scab on her hock.  Like this one.....
I know it looks like a scrape from laying down or something.  So when I saw it, I thought, "Aw she has a little scrape" 
Then I put her in with Trax, and a day or two later he had one, and then one on each hock.  Then Sassy had one, and then Danny had one, then Killian came home and he has two.
This one is Killians.  They seem to scab over then the scabs come off and they bleed ever so slightly and then scab over again. 
I was going to take pictures of the other horses, but the minute Danny saw an open gate he ran through it and took Trax with him, so I just let them go.  Danny does not care for confinement!  Now they are grazing the pasture and watching with serious interest at the building of the barn.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas what this could be, I'd love to hear it. I suppose it could just be coincidence, but I just don't know.
Also I did worm everybody again today. So if it is a parasite hopefully that will help take care of it.

4 comments:

  1. That is weird! I have no idea what it is. If you find out, let us know.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've only ever seen this in stalled horses. In stalled horses, it's caused by rubbing when they get up and down. You fix it by putting tons of bedding in the stalls. I've never seen it in pastured horses, though.

    Aren't mysteries fun? (NOT!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My first reaction was a "bed sore" as well, and I am still not ruling it out.
      I started treating all the horses with some Natures Edge though. It seems to heal up most skin issues pretty well, so we will see.
      My online research tells me that it is either just bed sores, or perhaps stomach worms, although usually they would have sores on mouths or sheaths as well. Which they do not.
      I thought that Danny had one, but he doesn't. So it is just the other 3. That is good.

      Delete
  3. Yes, is from getting up and down on hard ground. Here in hot, dry, gravel country in West Oz we put down a small truckload of river sand for the horse and that solves it as they use that softer area to sleep and roll on.

    ReplyDelete