Scarface had some health issues this summer. He was coughing a bit in the spring, but he went from having a bit of a cough to a major cough to having a bit of a bit depending on the day. However, one evening during my lesson, we had been jumping and everything seemed fine, but he started acting weird while we were just standing waiting for our lesson partner to go. Suddenly, he just lay down! I quickly got out of the way and we pulled the saddle off. I'm very lucky my coach is super knowledgeable and she listened to his heart and everything sounded ok. Our first though was colic, since he kept wanting to lay down, but he had pooped before the lesson. Anyway, I got him back up and walked him for probably a good 45 minutes and hosed him down. He did poop again while I was walking him, plus my coach listened to his gut sounds, which pretty much ruled out colic. After the walking, he seemed to be feeling much better, so I decided to just keep a close eye on him.
So, long story short, after a few months of inconsistent riding and a visit from the vet, I was told he's overall healthy and just has mild-moderate heaves. I'm going to be getting some oral steroid medication (reduce inflammation) and some mucolytic medication (reduce mucous). It's been a very dry and dusty summer, plus a lot of spoke from wild fires in the mountains, so neither of those were very helpful for our situation
So that where things are at. I rode yesterday and he was very good, but I noticed at the end his breathing sounded like there was a lot of mucous in his airway, so no all-clear yet.
A little bummed because obviously all of these issues threw a wrench into my summer show plans. What was possibly going to be my first event is running this weekend and we're not there. But there's always next year! I'm hoping to find some winter jumping schooling shows to do once everything is sorted out!
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| One of the treatments we have tried. Smells terrible and not convinced if it works. |
