Monday, June 30, 2008

How much fun are hives? About the same as a barrel of lice covered monkeys...


Now that Canyon has finally stopped scratching and getting inflamed, it's clear just how much fur he's lost.

It's also clear that he's largely black, which is surprising given how much white fur he has. Not that there's anything wrong with that, to quote a Jerry Seinfeld episode.

The hives along his body have scabbed up, gotten prickly and are in the process of falling off, which is pretty darn disgusting. Dr. Blevins suggested washing him with an oatmeal based shampoo, which I could only find for dogs.

If you ever have to do this, you should be aware that one bottle of dog oatmeal shampoo, good for 6 medium size dog washings, will only get you one and a half horse washings. Good thing he's not a Clydesdale, I wouldn't have gotten past his shoulder.

So I know have the cleanest, most awful looking horse. But at least he's not itching.

Anyone know how long it takes to grow out a horse coat? Is there a wig service? Should I just have him wear a black bar across his eyes?

Now that he's better I'm ready to prepare him for some serious training. One of my favorite sites to keep up with is a guy out of New Mexico who volunteers at an equine rescue ranch. He's got a great post on "treats" for horses.

What do you think. Should you give your horse a treat? Is there a middle ground? I'll write up on this a bit more later...

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