The scurfy grossness (no photos, promise)

Sorry for the long radio silence everyone. I'll do another photo recap of the last few weeks soon (including details on the car...). They were ... long. But finally things are back on track.

Luckily for Guinness, his workload barely dropped through my disastrous long weeks. I say lucky because the last month has given us some of the most consistent and workmanlike rides we've ever had. Who is this horse who takes up contact immediately, works into the bridle most of the time, and actually tries to contort his body into the difficult bending and suppling exercises I'm asking him? He's been a solid rock to depend on, and months like this truly give me hope that we're on the right path to succeed at 2nd level and above.

Of course, there are always setbacks, and last week was no exception. I showed up at the barn to find an advanced case of the "gross and scabby" developing along Guinness' belly and into his girth area.

Nasty.

Surprisingly, Guinness stood (mostly!) still while I scraped and scrubbed off the offending scurf, skin, scabs, and hair, and treated the whole area with a heavy dose of hydrogen peroxide. (I prefer to use betadine for stuff like this, but I am all out!) Later, I scrubbed him with straight iodine, and called it good, but I decided to ride him bareback that night, to avoid any irritation.

Here's the question... why can I sit the medium trot so nicely without a damn saddle?

Are you serious, lady? You wanna practice canter departs on The Shark? Good luck...
A few days later, and the scurfy grossness is healing nicely. It's in the girth AREA, but not actually where my girth lays. It doesn't look or act like rain rot. I'm totally flummoxed. Any ideas?

Comments

  1. Bobby has the scurfy grossness all over his belly from the awful biting gnats we've had all summer. I iodine scrub it and then coat him in SWAT, but it only works for a few days before it's back again. So nasty.

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    1. Huh! I hadn't thought of bugs, but they were pretty nasty last week...

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    2. I'm gonna second bugs if its not acting like a fungus!

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  2. Could it be related to sweat patterns? Tristan sometimes gets a little icky if I don't really hose off sweat on a regular basis, and he sweats the most in the girth area and on his chest.

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    1. You know, I thought about that. However, I scrub all his sweaty bits with vinegar/water mix after every ride. It was hot the day prior to the nasty discovery, though. Maybe he got sweaty armpits? (Gross...)

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    2. If it was really hot he could've maybe just gotten sweaty standing around in the field! Sweaty armpits does sound like a (gross) possibility.

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    3. Sweat is certainly a possibility, but he's a sweaty creature and has never had a problem before. I'm reluctant to think it was sweat because he didn't even have sweat marks on his back. Weeeird...

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  3. eww scurfy grossness. hope it clears up soon! so glad your little shark is behaving so well and settling in so nicely for your rides :)

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    1. Me too! We were due for some good rides. The last couple of months were rough!

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  4. O came in with some crazy looking stuff on her belly too and my trainer said it's where the bugs all hide out because they can't quite reach it with their tails. Gross, poor ponies.

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    1. Gross! He has had a plethora of horrible bug bite welts all over him all year. This is looking pretty plausible!

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  5. That sounds super weird. At least it's getting better?

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