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In this case, that isn't a figure a speech. Over the weekend, both of my boys saw Dr. Tolley at Bakersfield Large Animal Hospital. While we didn't do any diagnostics or bloodwork, Dr. Tolley did do all of the usual things. He listened to their pulse and respiration, checked their bellies for signs of sand, and gave them both a general once over.  Bakersfield Large Animal Hospital Before doing all of that though, we also put each one on the scale. When Speedy was at his heaviest, he weighed in at 1,005 pounds. He's never been an easy keeper, but since he hasn't been working, he's held his weight really well. He came in at 958 pounds. He got a little thin early in the winter, so I upped his daily supplemental feed. I was happy to see that his weight has held steady at over 900 pounds. The big brown horse, a beast by most any standard, surprised us all. Dr. Tolley couldn't believe how big and solid Izzy is. He remarked several times that Izzy has really blossomed. He agreed that there isn't an ounce of fat on that horse; he is solid muscle. I was sure he'd hit the 1,400 mark this time, but nope. He came in exactly at 1,350 pounds like always.  Nearly a ton and a half of horse. That morning, Izzy's poop was super splatty. I am still trying to test out how frequently to use the GastroElm, if at all, so I went from once a week to none. At exactly the two-week mark, I got piles like the one you see in the photo above. Gross. Doctor Tolley agreed that products don't work forever. He said that psyllium, great for removing sand, is also a general fix-it-all for tummy imbalances. I'll be starting Izzy on a seven-day treatment this week. It also seems like I should use the GastroElm once a week until I can find something to trade off with.  Happy and patient until one of them had to hang out in a catch pen. Once we were inside, Dr. Tolley started with Speedy. His separation anxiety is harder to overcome with drugs, so we always do him first. Izzy screams and hollers, but he isn't likely to hurt himself like Speedy might. And once Speedy gets all jacked up on adrenaline, it's harder to sedate him for the dental work. Izzy screamed the entire time, but with a little cocktail and me by his side, Speedy didn't even notice.  Not a care in the world. Dr. Tolley has been Speedy's dentist for fifteen years. When he looked in Speedy's mouth, he proudly stated, "this horse has the best teeth of any older Arabian." It's because of Dr. Tolley of course. He is a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to teeth. After doing his exam, he handed his head lamp to me so that I could do my own inspection. I always tell him what I see or feel and he either agrees with me or redirects me. Speedy needed very little work this year. Dr. Tolley believes that horses have an easier time in their senior years if you do annual work on their teeth.  Big brown horse didn't need much work either. Dr. Tolley did the same exam and followed the same process. He starts with power tools and finishes off by hand for the detail work. He works efficiently so that the horses are done quickly with as little drama as possible. When Izzy was done, he joined Speedy in his own catch pen to sober up a bit. I walked back to the office to chat with the ladies, get vaccination certificates, and wait for my bill.  The doctors and staff at Bakersfield Large Animal Hospital are really phenomenal. They know their clients and treat them as friends and family. There is an unpretentious atmosphere that I really appreciate. I wish I could have the same type of relationship with my dogs' vet, but they barely let clients in the door. Dr. Tolley welcomes my hands-on approach, probably because he knows that a hands-on owner detects problems much more quickly than the other kind.
While I love going to the vet for routine care, I hope I don't see them again for at least six months. Oh my! That is the politest way to say how I am feeling which is closer to holy shite, Batman! If you've been reading somewhat regularly, you'll probably remember that in the spring, Speedy developed a summer sore in his urethra. Here are all of the previous posts detailing our battle against that malady. Part 1 - Oh, Boy Part 2 - Oh, Boy Was That Ever Gross Part 3 - Still Gross Part 4 - Speedy's Junk I have probably mentioned Speedy's summer sore here and there in passing since that last post, but that was the final one specifically devoted to his man parts, until today that is.  An oldie from 2012 On Thursday afternoon, the temperature was still in the high 80s, so rather than ride Izzy, I decided to remove Speedy's penis sock. Our fly season is nearly over but so are my opportunities for giving baths. We have a big storm rolling through today, but we might have one or two more warm afternoons in November. Since the horses' winter coats are coming in, I don't like to get them all the way wet unless I know they have all afternoon to dry off, especially Speedy. I realized that Thursday's warm weather was probably my best and last chance to soak Speedy without having him shiver. To the rest of the world, what I am about to describe would be gross enough to make anyone gag and turn tail and run. Those of you who love your boys as much as I love mine know that sometimes, the only way to get a job done is to simply hitch up your britches, roll up your sleeves, and put your hair in a pony tail (no pun intended).  NOT his penis - that's the crusty sock. First of all, that sock was so stiff with dried urine and caked-on dirt that it was unbendable. It was as stiff as cardboard. I figured with a bit of water and a handful of Excalibur Sheath Cleaner, I could get it to slide off like an old bandaid. I was wrong, very wrong. I can't imagine how uncomfortable that has been for Speedy. Next summer, I have a different plan for protecting his nether region from the flies. Neither vet at Bakersfield Large Animal Hospital had any idea that sock would last more than a week or so. That it endured for four months was beyond their comprehension. I started by squirting water up into Speedy's sheath to soak the the sock. When that did nothing but cover me in urine tinted water, I poured Excalibur into my hand and reached as deep into his sheath as I could, spreading the gelatinous goo all over the sock and the top of his penis. I alternated rubbing the Excalibur all over the sock with flushes of water from the hose. At the end of fifteen minutes, my only accomplishment was annoying the heck out of Speedy. The sock was still firmly attached.  I decided to tackle the probable a different way. Instead of Excalibur, I tried softening the adhesive holding the sock with baby shampoo. I sudded up, reached my soapy hand into his sheath, and began massaging and rubbing the stiff edges of the sock in hopes of getting a bit of movement from the bandaging material. No luck. Speedy was getting crankier by the moment, and truthfully, I couldn't blame him. As gentle as I was, I knew it must have been painful to have a sticky bandage being pulled repeatedly from his penis, especially so since it wouldn't come off. Every few minutes, I acknowledged his I am trying really hard not kick you, lady threats and gave him a break. He never actually kicked, but his hind leg was cocked and ready to fire. He also kept swinging his head around to glare very pointedly at me. After thirty minutes of getting nowhere, I finally called the vet and asked for some advice. According to Dr. Gonzalez, I was doing everything right, but he did suggest a calming agent. I am not sure why I didn't think of that, but I thanked him profusely and grabbed a tube of Dormsosedan Gel. Dr. G recommended that I give Speedy 1.5mL and allow it to work for at least 20 minutes. I keep the Dormosedan on hand for the 4th of July as Speedy gets really anxious when the neighborhood fireworks get too bad. I gave him a dose under his tongue and sat down to wait.  Got it! Speedy's penis never dropped all the way, but he did drop just enough that I was finally able to work one end of the Elastikon free. While keeping a tight grip on his penis, I was able to unwrap the bandage bit by bit. I know it was uncomfortable for Speedy, but once I had it going, I did lots of super quick pulls in an effort to unwind the bandage. To both our utter relief, the sock finally slid off. I gave Speedy a big pat and let him rest. After that, I had to reach in a few more times to pull off the crust that was adhered to his penis. With a bit more Excalibur, I gave his sheath and penis a final scrub, and then I rinsed everything gently and very thoroughly.  So gross. As soon as I was sure everything was clean, I unclipped his lead rope so Speedy could graze on the lawn. Instead, he gave his head a shake and gaily trotted away from me as fast as he could. That was a great sign. Almost immediately, he found his pee spot and let his penis drop. I hurried over to where he was squatting and gave his penis a good visual inspection as he peed. Everything looked bright pink and healthy. Over the next few days, I felt for any swelling and looked closely at his urethra and was relieved to see everything looked good.
While the penis sock did its job, I am not sure the difficulty of removing it was worth it. Poor Speedy! For my horses, and only for my horses. The way things are going right now, I might not be using it for a while. On Saturday, I stopped by my local feed store for some beet pulp and rice bran. Hanging on the door was a sign saying they had dewormer. When I walked up to the counter, I laughed about the sign and asked what that was all about. Apparently, there is now an ivermectin shortage. First it was toilet paper, then it was computer chips for cars, and now it is dewormers.  From a feed store in Las Vegas When I asked why, the clerk said she didn't know, but the gal who runs the place can't get it back in stock. None of her suppliers have any. We both whipped out our phones and did some searching. We both found article after article reporting the same thing: feed stories around the country are now keeping dewormers behind the counter, and in some cases, requiring proof of horse ownership before they'll sell a tube. I shook my head in bafflement. So did she. The media would like me to believe that every looney tune across the country has decided to hoard ivermectin to use as an antidote against COVID. Other media would like me to believe that the government has forced manufacturers to reduce the production of ivermectin so that the medical field can't prescribe it to combat COVID. I am certain that there is a reasonable explanation for the "shortage," but I don't know what it is.  I would appreciate it if you would all start reporting facts, not fear. Based on my vet's recommendation, I deworm with ivermectin twice a year; once in the spring and once in the fall. I almost always have fecal tests done first, but I've been a bit lazy about that this year. My horses always have a zero eggs per gram result, but I use the dewormer anyway. There is a long explanation why, again, based on my vet's recommendation, but that's not today's topic. I generally deworm in November after the first few cold days of the fall, not that it actually gets "cold" here. When I buy my ivermectin boxes, I usually get them in groups of three or four. Once I made it home from the feed store, I checked my medical drawer to see if I still had a few boxes left. I didn't, but I did find a brand new bottle of prednisolone, a box of Prascend, and some whitening shampoo. I like to buy things in advance.  Price gouging? If I am ordering from Dover or another online tack shop, I'll often throw in a few tubes to meet the free shipping requirement or to just round out my order. With nothing else to buy, I decided to hit up Amazon first. The price of ivermectin there has shot up several hundred percent. The last time I ordered ivermectin from Amazon, I paid under $12.00 for 3 tubes - about $3.50 a tube. The price is now closer to $18 a tube. Before paying such a ridiculous price, I took a peek at the Riding Warehouse, my go-to for most everything equine related. Fortunately, the fine folks over there have only raised their price a tiny bit, if at all. I was able to buy four tubes for under $34 - $7.95 a tube. More expensive than I feel is normal, but it was an acceptable price.  Riding Warehouse's price I don't understand the world right now, but it's making me very angry.
It has been a month since I've done an update on Speedy's junk, so here goes: On June 11th, Dr. Tolley wrapped Speedy's man parts in a sock in an effort to prevent flies from depositing habronema larvae in Speedy's urethra. You can read about it and see pictures here. That sock was the second attempt to thwart the flies. For the second go-round, Dr. Tolley also gave me a steroidal solution to swab over Speedy's urethra several times a day. That was five weeks ago today.  "The Sock" I am thrilled to report that Speedy's urethra is summer sore free. Some time during the two weeks that Speedy stayed at STC Dressage - Sean Cunningham, owner and trainer, took really good care of both boys, the summer sore cleared up and has stayed gone. And despite being completely gross and disgusting, the sock is still on!  I called the vet a week or two ago and asked if I should try to remove the sock or simply let it continue to ride around as is. Dr. Gonzalez, the other practicing vet at Bakersfield Large Animal Hospital, advised me to let it be as it is still acting as a barrier against the flies. As gross as it is - it gets saturated with urine every time Speedy pees, the sock doesn't seem to bother Speedy at all. Sometimes I can see it hanging out, but most of the time, he retracts it within his sheath so that only a tiny portion of the sock is visible.  Nothing to see here. About every other day or so, I try to catch Speedy in a letting it all hang out moment so that I can check the condition of his urethra. Since it's tucked away in the sock, I have to roll the sock up so that I can get a clear view of things. He doesn't seem to mind the sock, but he does mind me poking around up in there. Thankfully, he is back to normal other than having his ding-a-ling wrapped up in a sweater.
I'll take a mare next time, please. Part 1 Part 2 Warning: Not all images are suitable for all viewers, especially the third one. On Friday, I took Speedy to Bakersfield Large Animal Hospital to have his junk scraped and cleaned again. This summer sore business is no joke, it's not cheap, and it also (probably) really hurts. Poor Speedy.  At least the horses always have a nice view. Since Speedy is so shy about his man parts, there was no way to assess the state of the summer sore without giving him a sedative. Izzy's ding dong hangs out all the time allowing me a daily opportunity to check things out; I know his penis is in good shape. I wish Speedy weren't so reserved. Before Dr. Tolley could do anything else, he had to give Speedy a little mid-morning cocktail.  The summer sore wasn't nearly as ugly as it had been the week before, but Speedy's body is still working overtime to get rid of the Habronema larvae. Instead of just ignoring the little larvae that are trying to burrow through his urethra (so, so gross), Speedy's immune system is launching a full scale attack, killing the larvae which leaves yellow granules of dead larvae. At least his skin tissue hasn't gone necrotic this time, but Dr. Tolley explained that the remnants of the larvae do create a sore that is painful. And since the sore is in Speedy's urethra, it probably feels like what you think it would. Not good.  I thought Dr. Tolley dug deeply the last time we were there, but for this visit, he really got in there. I didn't know the urethra could be opened that much, but obviously it can. Dr. Tolley was especially thorough this time around. He wanted to be sure to catch every bit of dead larvae that was stuck. Once the larvae is completely removed, Speedy's body won't have anything to which to react.  Once Dr. Tolley felt confident that Speedy's urethra was free of Habronema larvae, he and Dr. Gonzalez put a fresh sock on Speedy's penis. Based on my feedback about the last one, he decided to keep this one long. The purpose of the sock is to act as a barrier around Speedy's penis much like a mosquito net around your bed. If the flies can't get to his lil' dude, they can't lay eggs on it. In addition, Dr. Tolley gave me a liquid steroid that I am "painting" on the sock which should soak through to cover the top of Speedy's penis. The steroid is supposed to reduce the inflammation and reduce Speedy's reaction to the flies.  The Sock For the next two weeks, Speedy will get his penis and/or sock (depending how long the sock stays on) painted with a liquid steroid twice a day. He'll also get covered in fly spray twice a day. Every other day he'll get a 5 cc/mL injection of Dexamethasone. He is also going to stay in the barn at STC Dressage in Moorpark which has a fly system. Unfortunately, this is all we can do for him. His body simply has to stop reacting to the fly larvae. It would be much simpler for him if the larvae could just pass through his system, land in his gut, and get pooped back out as eggs that hatch into flies.
My fingers are crossed that this next two weeks clears things up. |
About the Writer and RiderI am a lifelong rider.
I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010. Welcome to my dressage journey. 
Photo by Lori Ovanessian
About Speedy GSpeedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
July 2020 (PC AJSK Photography)
About IzzyIzzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
March 2021 (PC Tess Michelle Photography)
FOR THE SMALLER EQUINE ATHLETE
I love her stuff!
Watercolor Artist and Friend
Bakersfield Dressage approved!
National Rider Awards
USDF Bronze Medal - 2020
USDF Second Level Rider Performance Award - 2018
USDF First Level Rider Performance Award - 2015
USDF Training Level Rider Performance Award - 2013
State Rider Awards
CDS Ruby Rider Award - 2018
State Horse Awards
Speedy G - 3rd Level Horse Performance Award - 2020
Speedy G - 2nd Level Horse Performance Award - 2018
Working Towards:
CDS Sapphire Rider Award Third Level: 63.514% Third Level: 62.105% Fourth Level: Fourth Level: 2022 Show Season
Show Rating (***) CDS/USDF/USEF (*) CDS (s) Schooling (c) Clinic (r) Ride-a-Test Clinic (Q) Must Qualify 2022 Shows Schedule
(*) Tehachapi 5/22/22 2022 Completed … Pending ... 2022 Qualifying Scores
Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) Qualifying 2 Scores/1 Judges/60%: Score 1: Score 2: Archives
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