Lysa & John, Penny in the "squeeze" & her best friend Coquette "helping"......!!!
Every morning we doctor. Coquette has some sort of "thing" on her face. All the hair is gone & it itches, at least she rubs it, which of course if she opens it the flies love....!!! I found one of Cisco's old crusader masks, had to sew it back together, but it covers the lower part of her face so the flies can't get to her, even if it is open. SHE HATES IT...!!! Keeps shaking her head & trying to rub it off. "Going to be a LONG summer, I guess".....!!!! Hopefully she'll get over it soon.
I don't know if it is fungal or bacteria or what, lice, mange, I mean there are a lot of things it could be. They all look about alike to me unless there is habronema, they seem to be my speciality...!!! Got rid of the ones on Penny's face & in her eye & so far no new eruptions, now that she is wearing a fly mask. Hopefully that's the end of that.....!! The whole side of her face is bald probably from years of habronema sores all summer, but at least she doesn't have to put up with the itching now.
They are settling down, Penny hasn't let loose with one of her "famous" kicks since Tyler was here. When we have her in the squeeze, I desensitize her legs with a rope, nothing dramatic just wrap it around & pull it back & forth. She's doing real good, seems to accept it. Of course I haven't tried anything horrifying like using the rope to pick up a foot, or trying to pick one up by hand. I also haven't tried working with her outside the squeeze, not too thrilled with the idea of her being in a position of being able to swing that loaded end around at will........!!!! LOL
Suppose to have a group of teenagers come out next week to groom. They are in some kind of "keep the kids entertained for the summer" program at Ft. Huachuca, down by Sierra Vista. There will be almost enough for each one to have a donkey to groom, which will be great for the donkeys. Most of them still have winter hair hanging on.
Everyone else seems to be doing good right now. Courtney is coming out this week-end to trim Gus & whoever else needs it. Gus is the only one we have right now that needs regular trimming. I offered to haul him to her somewhere, but she wants to look the others over to make sure they are self trimming properly.
3 comments:
I suspect that most of the world has no idea how much work goes into rescuing and maintaining these critters. Those of us who live to love equines of all shapes and sizes really appreciate folks like you and your husband.
I don't know if you have tried this, but, I have had very good results treating unspecified mangy crud using Diatomaceous Earth. I just rub it in all over, especially the itchy bits and it does a great job of killing external parasites. Just be careful not to get in eyes or breath it in. I don't believe the people who claim you should eat it, but it does work great externally.
The effort that goes into rescue is all worth it, when you can turn one around. It's also sad when you can't. But you're right, most people have no idea of what goes into rehabilitation.
I've used Diatomaceous before, but this is absolutely dry, unless she's rubbed it open. I put Anamix (Panalog) on it this morning & it's under the mask, so hopefully that will help. It's good stuff.
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