From Lauren:
–
Your Weekly “Why Does my OTTB (insert weird quirk here)?” Q&A
A very prosperous and productive Monday to you, Eventing Nation! Here in Kentucky, March hasn’t exactly ‘roared’ in like a lion just yet but many riders did squint their eyes and tuck their heads during their dressage tests at two different schooling shows here this weekend in blinding snowstorms. Having spent part of last week in Aiken, however, I am not too put off by the snow here because it really was not THAT warm in good old South Cackalacky. Thank you, dearest EN readers, for your wide diversity of questions this week. I had many to choose from for this week’s column and look forward to the many more you will most certainly (hint hint!) send to me over the next few days.
–
I have yet another skin-related question! If blood work comes back normal, do you have any recommendations for maintenance during the winter months? My guys all live out and I let them grow good natural coats. They have access to shelter at will so for the most part I only put a sheet on them when it’s going to be super cold and windy or if there’s precipitation. So he doesn’t have junk building up from being blanketed all the time but nonetheless he gets dandruffy and almost always comes out of the winter with a little funk somewhere. I groom every day even if I can’t ride but it seems like no matter how hard I work to make sure he’s clean something always brews up by the end of winter. Is there anything else I can do or will I have to resort to clipping him and blanketing him up next year? (another great contribution from EN reader Celeste Coulter)
Hopefully the skin funk think will be something he grows out of! A few things to keep in mind, though. Firstly, horses are not designed to be groomed every day from an evolutionary standpoint. Remember that racehorses and performance horses that get groomed extensively (to within an inch of their lives!) every single day do not get turned out by and large. Depending on how thoroughly you groom him, you may be hampering some of his natural defenses against skin funk. Grooming thoroughly can remove dead cells and oil from the skin and hair coat and certainly make them look sparkly and spiffy but this oil and the dead cells that sit on top of the epidermis actually act as defense mechanisms for skin funk by lubricating the bacteria and the harmful nasties (that’s a technical term right there) and limiting their ability to really set up shop as well as by allowing them to attach to those dead skin cells and then proceeding to slough those same cells off, ridding the hair coat of ‘funk-inducing yuck’ before it has a chance to burrow into the epidermis. My sport horses, boarders, and TB babies all live out 24/7, are blanketed 24/7 except when being ridden if it’s below 40 if dry or 50 if wet, and are only groomed from a functionality standpoint (don’t want crud clods beneath the saddle or mud-sheathed fetlocks and pasterns just waiting to develop fungus) and I don’t have a ‘skin funk’ problem to speak of (knock on wood!). One last note: there are soil-borne bacteria that can cause recurring skin funks that one horse in the herd may be overly sensitive or even allergic to and all the other horses may not even turn a hair to. It may just be bad luck if he has been rolling, snoozing, and playing in the same soil for the period of time that you have had him and keeps cropping up with the same skin funk. Obviously, the wetter seasons encourage and even ‘activate’ the bacteria present in that soil, so that could account for the prevalence of his funkiness coming out of winter. Good luck and I hope his skin stays funk free in the future!
–
Would you consider head bobbing to mostly be a boredom thing, similar to weaving? Also, in an attempt to thwart the not-so-cute habit my steed has of chewing on the aluminum trailer window, I have tried putting cinnamon, hot sauce, and pepper on it, none of which have worked. I bought a bottle of No Chew and thankful read the label instructions before using it because it cannot be used on metal. Apparently it can cause some type of deadly gas. For now the boredom lick-it that I just got a hung in the trailer seems to be helping. I do not believe he is doing it for attention as he does it while driving down the road and I can see him with his muzzle out the window chewing on the aluminum bars. I believe that it is caused by boredom and he is one on those horses that does not like to stand still for long. The main reason for my inquiry was to find out if you had ever had anyone else with this issue and if there was something I can do to prevent it other than keeping his window shut at all times. I will say that the lick-it has seemed to help. (another great contribution by EN reader Erin Storey)
Those quirky OTTB’s will come with a million ways to amuse, concern, and frustrate us as owners. All in all, the head-bobbing doesn’t seem overly detrimental unless he is causing himself injury or chiropractic issues. It’s annoying, yes, and may be cause for a head bumper when trailering, but short of physically restraining him by tethering him quite low and snugly which I DO NOT recommend, I cannot offer any suggestions to curtail his ‘hang banger’ predisposition other than alleviating the boredom that encourages it. Obviously , gnawing on the trailer like a deranged beaver IS a problem. I find that cayenne pepper powder, mixed into a pasty slurry with DMSO and isopropyl alcohol will discourage any horse from gnawing on pretty much anything and does not cause a horrible mess or stain in most cases but does dry on rather stubbornly for long-term discouragement. Hopefully the Likit has helped but you may also want to try one of Uncle Jimmy’s Hangin Balls (http://www.uncle-jimmys.com/
–
Good luck, EN readers, and if you need ANY help or enabling when it comes to OTTB hunting, shopping, viewing, or purchasing, please do not hesitate to ask ([email protected]). Also, don’t forget to send questions about your new OTTB’s crazy habits, quirks, and neurosis to me to answer next week! Go gallop your former racehorse so you can (very soon) GO EVENTING!
