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Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the

Dreamy is Under the Weather :(

On Sunday Dreamy coughed twice at the show. I tried to pretend it was nothing (especially because she does sometimes cough when in a dusty ring all day), but I had that awful gut feeling that her COPD was acting up.

Dreamy has been treated for COPD for almost 5 years now....nearly as long as I have owned her. For the last 3 years I have been able to maintain her without any flareups. I soak her hay, give her 24/7 turnout with access to her stall, and feed her a product called Wind.

Well, because of the GD'ed moldy hay in my barn (plus the fact that I tried to feed her a couple of flakes...soaked...out of one of the bales I thought looked/smelled OK) she started with the coughing and high respiratory rate. BIG SIGH. I should have known better with the hay, but with only about 15 bales left of last year's hay I figured I ought to start feeding out the new stuff. Most of it is unsuitable and completely covered in mold. But I was able to find some bales that really did seem OK. NOPE. My hay guy said he would be over last week to assess the situation. UM......have not seen hair nor hide of the man. And I have called AGAIN....still no call back. I am REALLY angry now.

Anyway, Dreamy is doing OK. I gave her TriHist on Sunday night and then again Monday morning before I was able to speak with my vet. He sent me 10 packets of Dex. So I will do 3-5 days of the Dex (probably will do a full five days because I am neurotic like that) and then 2 weeks of TriHist.

I had to scratch from this weekend's three-phase event. I am VERY bummed, but it is absolutely the right thing to do for my horse. We may have gotten away with it had it been a dressage show, but NOT an event. No way would I run XC on her when she is not 100% "respiratory" sound.

So, now we wait. She seemed fine today. All along she has been eating and happy, which is good. I have been monitoring her temperature to be sure there is nothing bacterial going on. The Dex would magnify any infection anyway and so far so good.

The worst part is getting the TriHist into her. The Dex is easy because it will dissolved instantly in water and I just syringe it in like a paste wormer. But for some odd reason the makers of TriHist put it in a corn meal base. So the corn meal DOES NOT melt in the water (believe me I have tried). So no way I can use the syringe. And of course Dreamy is the most suspicious horse ever, so no way can I top dress it on her grain. She would rather starve to death that eat grain that has ANYTHING on it.

So I mix it with applesauce, stick it on a spatula, and smear it on the back of her tongue. Yeah, that's wicked fun to do 2x a day. (where is the eye rolling icon when you need it?) And it is so messy. And Dreamy sees me coming and she walks the other way, poor mare. LOL!

Ah well. She will be fine. It is just a reminder to me that she really is a special-needs horse even if I forget that she is. Our next show is Sept. 7 (SMDA) so we have some time off to relax and recooperate.

Anyone have any tips on how to feed TriHist to a picky mare?

Comments

  1. I can't help you with the tri-hist. We had two horses on it at the barn where I work and since I am supposed to be competent (as if!) I had to their evening dose. It was like a fight to the death each night with both horses! I feel for you...I hope that someone else out there in blog land has a good idea.

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  2. And people make fun of me for being so picky about hay. Poor Dreamy!

    Would she eat a plain corn muffin? Perhaps a plain corn muffin with a powdery cornmeal-based center? I wish I had a more helpful suggestion. I've been working with dogs lately so most of my thought process involves peanut butter and cheese! Thank goodness for a gluttonous gelding (ack, alliteration!) who will eat nearly anything if it has molasses on it...

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  3. Oh, what I would give for a gluttonous mare! (My Morgan is the one who will eat anything....but not Dreamy). It took me 3 years to get her to eat a CARROT!!! I am not kidding. She would only eat apples (as treats) when I first got her. LOL! And this year we have ventured into eating Apple Wafers! But that is all she will eat besides hay/grain.....apples, carrots, and Apple Wafers. So unfortunately, a muffin would not work. But hey, maybe the PB and cheese would.....ROFL! ;-)

    If anyone comes up with or hears of a good idea, let me know. Only one more week of the TriHist (I hope!) and so far the apple sauce/spatula smear technique is working.

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