Not Rain Rot After All!

It turns out that Abby does not have rain rot after all. Yesterday I went out with some medicine to put on it and when I brushed the mud away, her coat was healthy and shiny underneath.

Abby munching a peppermint.

Teacher Daughter Lisa came out with me since I wanted to go out into the pasture with Abby. I don't worry about Abby - in the nine years I've had her, she has never been aggressive or pinned her ears at me.

 But Trouble and Hokey are also in there with her, and sometimes they get to milling around. I'm still not moving very fast at the moment, so it made sense to have Lisa come with me and help keep an eye on things.

I spent some time with Abby knocking the mud off and giving her as thorough a brushing as I can right now.

It is surprising how many muscles in your back move when you brush a horse! And since I am healing, I need to be careful. My staples are out, but I have a lot of internal stitches. And, not only is there a lot of new hardware in my back, the surgeon also removed three discs between my vertebrae. The entire area is tender.

Abby may not have rain rot but she does have incomplete shedding again this year. That can be a sign of Cushing's Disease, so I am keeping an eye on it. Cushings is common in older horses, and while I don't know exactly how old she is (I was told she was 12 when I got her), she is an aged mare and most likely in her twenties.

Abby and I are growing old together, and that's A-okay with me.