Well Sunday, Day 36 we rode pretty late in the day, around dusk. It is about the only time we can ride in this heat wave we've recently been blessed with...but man I must say it is Not the time to be riding due to the bugs...or maybe it is ideal for the bugs, but not us! I think we got bitten, slapped and tortured by every flying insect known to man...and a few not yet discovered. Lindsay actually tolerated it rather well, better than I did really, but after that last bug flew right into my eye and set it on fire I was done! There is nothing more aggravating than a tiny insect biting and attacking you... I spend all this energy and effort to attack the little speck back and end up doing more flailing around aimlessly beating on myself while the little bug flys off laughing only analyzing when to come back for more. I do think I entertained quite a few bugs that night, hope they had a good time...
It the midst of our personal bug cloud we did get a decent ride in. Lots of work on canter transitions and maintaining a steady rhythm at the canter. Lindsay has so much natural lift she has a way of "leaping" into her transitions sometimes. I am trying to use her innate ability to lift and stay so light in the forehand to encourage her to drive behind, but yet slow her tempo and relax into a softer, steadier canter. We are getting there....but many more leaps were made that night, than level soft canter strides. It was funny because, I guess w/ it being the edge of dark, the dark areas of the riding ring where we had traveled a lot were grabbing Lindsay's attention. She wasn't scared of them, just jumped over them to be sure we did not dive into that deep hole she thought she saw...that was just a dark area in the dirt! She has no issues with lift, that is for certain. I really do need to start her over fences, I imagine she is going to take to that really quickly!
Day 37, Monday I learned something about Lindsay that I had been dying to find out ever since we picked her up in MS. That night we arrived at the holding facility and I spotted her for the first time, she was resting and had her right ear dropped out to the side like a donkey does! It really concerned me that something was wrong, that is simply not a typical horse type of behavior to tilt that ear out to the side if nothing was wrong. But at that point she was far from even being halter trained, so I put it in the back of my mind. Well, over the last couple of weeks I have noticed her beginning this "head shaking" tendency. Of course with the flies it was hard to tell if there was really any issue other than that. They can be aggravating enough to cause any horse ..or human.. to head shake like crazy. But, it just seemed off to me. She did it at odd times..it did not seem to correlate with the flys and she seemed to do it most when I was bridling or doing things that involved pushing on her poll. And once she'd start it was like she just could not stop... different than I've seen in any other horse. So I began to worry over ear problems once again. I researched it and found that ear mites and ticks are a common cause of head shaking and ivermectin wormer will typically take care of them. So I wormed her with Ivermectin and after a few days still no better. I also saw that allergies, including allergies to the sun can cause this. I started her on local honey, which is really supposed to help allergies for horses and humans, but it made no difference either. I checked her teeth and she has not been floated yet, so they are not totally smooth, but there was nothing there that caused me any concern. No wolf teeth...and she is so incredibly soft in the bridle I have a hard time imagining teeth were the issue...plus she did this with or w/o the bridle on.
Well, Monday afternoon I had her in the barn aisle peering into her ears just as the sun came down just perfect and shined way down deep into her ear...as if someone was trying to help me see exactly what the issue was. It was clear as day. There were bubbly, pea sized, blueish/gray bumps clustered down deep in her ear canal. I went to researching and found that these were the spitting image of Spinose Ear Ticks. She sure had them...I was disgusted, yet relieved to know what the issue had been...and amazed that she had allowed me to do so much with her all this time having such a painful nuisance festering....So now to determine how to solve this problem.
I researched that spinose ear ticks are difficult to kill w/ oral Ivermection wormer alone. It is difficult to get the blood level of ivermectin to reach a high enough concentration to do any harm. The insecticide must be applied directly. I saw many remedies including mineral oil, Vaseline, cattle ivermection and Frontline treatment. The Frontline or cattle ivermection seemed to be the best..and when I consulted with Dr. Marcy she recommended Frontline..so off to the vet I went. Once home w/ the treatment it took quite a while to determine the best way to get the treatment in her ears. It was a very uncomfortable process for her I am certain, even under heavy sedation. I ended up drawing the Frontline up in a syringe and squirting it deep in her ears. After I saturated her ears she shook her head like crazy!! I looked in to see what the ticks looked like and they were all gone! She shook every one of those suckers right out. Oh what a relief! I am going to keep a close watch and treat her again in a few days, but it is amazing how much better her ears look already!
I did manage to get a ride in Monday night, even though at that point I knew about the ticks, but could not get the treatment until the following day. I took it somewhat easy with her, because the whole time I felt guilty for not having found these sooner. Even though had it been much sooner I doubt I could have treated them anyway...So it was Tuesday I got the treatment and ended up not riding Tuesday night b/c it took her so long to wake up from her sleepy meds :) She deserved a day off anyway.
This morning I woke up at 5 am and drove the truck for my husband to pick up hay we had baled in the field. Anyone that knows me at all knows I am NOT a morning person, never have been..but I was up and it felt so nice out so I went ahead and hoped aboard Lindsay. We had a fabulous ride. Her canter work was as soft and rhythmic as it has even been. I do think when all is said and done her canter will be her strongest gait. I really felt like she was more realized at the canter in her face as well..I hope she is getting relief from those ticks already. I am certain it will be a while before she is totally recuperated though. No head shaking under saddle, but it was more when I was doing things with her face, so we'll see as time goes on how quickly she recovers. Just so thankful to have them gone!
After our ring work we rode all over the farm, through the hay fields, around the pastures..we even met a monster made out of a few square bales, but we come to our sinces pretty quick on that :) I was off her by 7:30 am and felt like I was having and out of body experience to have ridden that early and be done!!!..just not my style! But it may become that before long..it's either dusk and bugs or early am riding. Time will tell.
So thankful for that special ray of sunlight that answered our head shaking delima. It's amazing how much guidance we are offered, if we just do our best to open our eyes and see the light.
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