Horses Who Are Non-Sweater's or Equine Anhydrosis

Let's talk about non-sweating horses, since this condition led directly to my poor old horse's current hell of laminitis.

Three falls ago, we were having a particularly hot October here in North Central Florida.  The summer had already been long and typically sweltering.  Normally, October brings blessed relief.  Not so that year.  Temperatures hung around 100 and the humidity was high.

Sunda was sweating profusely all summer, as usual.  I never gave anhydrosis a thought, really.  I mistakenly thought anhydrosis was an inherited disease.  She was sweating now, had always been a good sweater all her long life. Non-sweating was one thing I didn't have to worry about.

One evening, when I went down to the barn to feed, she came up to me in obvious distress.  Her sides were heaving, her nostrils were flaring and  I could hear her breaths coming in loud, quick puffs.  She was bone dry.

In a panic, I grabbed a halter and started hosing her off immediately.  The water ran hot off her for what seemed an eternity.  Gradually, her breathing slowed and the water finally ran off cool.

For the rest of that heat wave and the next summer, I hosed her several times a day to lower her temperature. I installed fans in her run-in-shed, put her up during the heat of the day, and let her graze at night. 

Of course, this regime meant her hooves stayed wet, which weakened them.  Eventually, she developed an abscess, which lead to a tragedy of errors culminating in laminitis.  More on the laminitis fiasco later.  For now, here's how I handled my non-sweating horse and the course it has taken.

The Horse: Nature's Greatest Gift

The Vice President visited Mongolia yesterday and was given a horse.  He was told that the horse, being so important to the Mongolian people, was considered the greatest gift to give. I was thinking the other day about how essential the horse once was to this country and the rest of the world.  Today, we see the horse has lost that importance and suffers ever more from abandonment and neglect.

Who knows? With the current economic conditions of the world, the horse may return to it's previous revered status.  Till then, there remain the few who hold the horse in high regard as nature's greatest gift.

One such horse lover is Theresa at Beauty's Haven, a truly legitimate horse rescue.  Right now, she's dealing with the case of an injured filly who did not receive treatment for severe wounds to her head.  Please check it out and follow the filly's progress on her horse rescue blog.

Senior Horse Health Problems

Before we get back to the plate.....

Here are my senior horse's health issues; some led directly to the plate, some are resolving themselves:

• Suspected Cushing's disease
• Non-Sweater (Anhidrosis)
• Dental
• Joint pain
• Abscess
• Founder

 Supplements and medications I'm using to deal with the above issues:

• Pergolide
• One AC
• Soaked beet pulp/hay cubes
• Biotin
• ActiFlex
• MSM
• Bute

The most important result is she's comfortable now.  Let's discuss one health problem at a time, shall we?

(If you have any senior horse health issues, please post them in the comments along with what you're doing about it.)

Florida Natural Horsemanship Campus Closing

Received an email today that the Parelli Natural Horsemanship campus in Ocala, Florida is closing shop.  Probably a business decision with the economy being what it is, the horse business in particular.

I became acquainted with  "natural horsemanship" and Pat Parelli before I got Sunda.  My friend had contacted a fellow in our area who, it was said, performed miracles.  He was a reformed old school trainer who used "natural horsemanship" methods and was a follower of Perilli.  He performed one of his miracles on  her reluctant Arab, teaching him  to trailer load in a few minutes.  Looked like I was going to need a miracle myself. 

Sunda was "unrideable".  Meaning, when I got on her she bucked clear across the pasture.  And forget about trailer loading, it was a train wreck.  She would go in all day long, but once in, she flew out backwards.  First horse I ever saw who could go just as fast backwards as forwards.  Like I said, it was a train wreck.

Fearing for my life, I contacted the trainer and in the first lesson (3 hours) he taught her all seven games.  There was no more bucking, although she remained "barn sour" and would forever more rush for home at the end of a trail ride.  I used Parelli's trailer loading cd on her and other horses and believe it is the best method for teaching a horse to trailer load.

There are different opinions out there about the Perellis.  Seems they have made enemies out of some horse enthusiasts and created rabid "groupies" at the other end of the spectrum.  I saw miracles performed using the natural horsemanship approach where traditional trainers were at a loss, so I'm somewhere in the middle.  If you're curious about it, check out the old Parelli books and training cd's for the truest essence of his original natural horsemanship philosophy.

Everything I Know I Learned From My Horse

I woke up this morning with a headache and a furrowed brow.  No wonder!

Global economic collapse, rioting, flooding, drought, famine, pestilence.....I'm drawn to the bad news like a moth to a flame.  Worry consumes me.  What are we to do?  Will there be another Great Recession? Another Great-er Depression?

But, after coffee and an Advil, it's time to feed before the hot morning sun comes up.

Sunda and the pony will be glad to see me.  Their hay's all gone and they're hungry.  I wonder, did they worry overnight if I would return with more food, if I would even come back at all?  Are we out of hay, for gosh sakes?  Would the drought affect hay prices this winter? Would an oil shortage make grain too expensive to feed mere "pasture ornaments" who, after all,  serve no useful purpose what-so-ever?

They're waiting patiently in their stalls, looking toward the gate for my appearance.  They nicker gently when they first see me.  The nicker turns to a whinny as I arrive, as if to say "Where's my food? Hurry up, I'm hungry. Oh, and 'Good Morning!'".

There's no signs of headaches, no furrowed brows.  Only quiet expectation for my return; joy at my re-appearance; excitement at the sound of the feed bucket; satisfaction and complete absorption as they munch away at breakfast. They eat and gently swish flies as the sun comes up over their lush pasture, wet from yesterday's rain, waiting to be grazed.

What's going on here?  It's called "living in the moment" and horses (as well as all animals) are experts at it.  Today's o.k, -  no it's more than o.k.  It's perfect.  No joy is stolen by worrying that tomorrow won't be the same.  No regret over yesterday's problems.  Yesterday is gone and today is to be savored.  If tomorrow doesn't come, well then, that's o.k. too, because  today was lived.

No, there are no headaches in the barn this morning, no furrowed brows.  Living in the moment, that's the ticket.  That's why I fought so hard to save her.  She's my "present moment", you see.

As I wash up from morning chores and  finish the left-over coffee, I notice my headache is gone.  In the mirror, I see a relaxed face.  I've recovered my equilibrium once again.  No useful purpose?  I think not.

The Senior Horse

Welcome to "Refined Equine".  This is the first entry about my one big passion - horses.  Maybe it's your passion, too.

Since I've been dealing with a senior horse for the past 12 years (she's 31 now, got her when she was 19), beginning this blog with something about senior horses seems appropriate.  Make that inevitable.

She's an Arab, part Egyptian I believe, and still stunning.  Still proud... still "alpha"... still beautiful.  She'll probably be this way when she's laid in the ground.  It makes my day just seeing her still able to wonder the pasture; grazing, dozing, bossing the pony, and demanding her food.

This time last year, it didn't look like she'd be here for another summer.  No, it looked like she was a gone'er.  Impossibly, she's still here, looking better than she has in years, except for that plate on her foot.  It'll be on her for probably another 6 months, maybe longer...

So, what's with the plate, you say?  We'll get to that.