Tonka has come through The Great Escape without any signs of a laminitic reaction, but yesterday he was looking sore on both front feet with no obvious heat or swelling. I blame the flies. Whenever we get a few moments of sun the flies, mosquitoes and gnats come pouring out of their hiding places and head straight for the horse paddock, throwing Tonka and Raven into a state of constant motion. I suspect that Tonka is one of many horses who have an allergic response to gnat/midge/ noseeum bites, leading to an uncomfortable condition called sweet itch. Raven has very few detectable bites while Tonka is covered with swollen lumps down his neck, chest and under his belly. He cannot have the freedom to outrun his attackers, so I am going to have to buy him a sweet itch sheet. These are both expensive and ridiculous, but he knows nothing of either complaint.
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1 hour ago
3 comments:
At this rate, your horses are going to have more clothes than I do (esp. if measured in square yards of fabric).
I'm convinced that some people get horses simply to dress them up in cutesy clothing. The blanket pictured here is about $300 CAD, but some nice ladies at the local tack shop convinced me to try a $55 alternative today, so we'll see how it goes. They also suggested slathering Tonka's belly in Vaseline so that the gnats simply stick and die.
> They also suggested slathering
> Tonka's belly in Vaseline so
> that the gnats simply stick and
> die.
Hey -- it works for me!
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