Mercury in Retrograde: Part 1

 

Just being the Prettiest Princess

This year has been Monsoon CRAZY! We ended up with the third wettest monsoon season since recording began, with something like 13 inches. I could get the exact total, but I'm too lazy. This was my first year getting to experience a real monsoon season, and it was pretty great. It's hard to explain just how fast, and how instense, a little bit of rain gets out here. Mega big time runoff. It boogles my mind how an inch or less of rain can transform into the raging washes, but it sure does!

15 minutes of rain and this usually dry mini-wash is roaring

The downside of a good season is it's humid AF. Not as hot as usual, low 100s, but humid. By the end of August, everyone, especially the horses were tired of the weather. It had been too hot, too humid, too buggy (SO buggy!!) and we were tired of it. 

So when Truby seemed a bit grumpy I assumed it was just being done with the weather and needing a break. And a good massage. During her massage, she started licking...and chewing...and...foaming?! 

Kinda weird

I thought maybe she got some fly spray in her mouth, and gave her a good rinse. Then a few days later, I got caught at the barn by a intense storm. Heavy, hard rain. Hail. Strong winds. Flooding. It was crazy! Horses did not mind, not even a little. I watched them dozing through the thunder. And once it finally started to pass, they woke up and went back to their hay. 

Hail!

Playing with her carrot ball to wait out the rain

Turnout area was flooded

I popped a couple of carrots in Truby's carrot ball toy, and noticed she started getting foamy again. What the heck?! Was there pesticides on the carrots? I rinsed her mouth again. And, since I was completely head to feet soaked through, decided to go home. 

Went the long around to avoid this dude

A couple days after that, I was giving Truby her hay pellet soup, and noticed she wasn't right. The angle of her head, the way she was slurping...it just was slightly off. So I did what I should have done a week and change ago, and pried open her mouth and took a look. 

Awwwww :(

She had a couple little sores, in places she couldn't get them from biting herself. No idea where she could have gotten them from. But I had a horse get into some foxtail and it was BAD. I set up a vet appointment so we could see what was going on. Of course, by the day before, the little sores I could see had almost completely healed. But scared by the Foxtail Incident, I keep the appointment.

Time to get HhhhiiiiIiiiigh

Truby got a ton of cookies while we chatted about what was going on (Truby's adorable and loves snacks, so she always gets cookied.) Then Dr H had to rinse her mouth a few times, because someone had a ton of cookie crumbs. She got a light sedation, just enough that we could get a good look without anyone losing a finger by accident. 

OUCH

Poor Truby had a mouth full of sores, cuts, and assorted ouchies. Luckily everything was already in the process of healing. But still, poor Pretty Princess! No wonder she had been acting lackluster. Best we could figure is that she got a random patch of prickly weeds in her hay. Our hay is usually fabulous, but sometimes weeds happen. And in Arizona, of course it's gonna be prickly. 

In addition to checking her hay for weeds, Truby would get a rinse of chlorohexidine every day. We got to talking about her ulcers, and I mentioned what a magic bullet sucralfate was for her. Dr H lit up and we added in a dose of sucralfate being split into an oral rinse and ingest the rest. This helped her comfortable level so quickly it was incredible. Love that stuff! 

Dr H was mentioned the vets would be doing some continuing education, and looking for horse volunteers. They got a new scope and would be learning how to do gastroscopes. When thinking up who might be a good candidate for scope practice, Truby's name came right up (lol, sob). Would I like to bring her in and get a free scope? HELL YES I WOULD! Let's do it!!!!

So by the time Truby finished waking up, we had a plan for her regular fall shots/exam that Saturday, and then in two weeks to be the Continuing Ed volunteer. 

Rolly, rolly, rolly

The next day, Truby was already feeling so much better. Sometimes I wonder if I make up what a special personality she has. Maybe she's not the super cute, friendly, magical unicorn I think she is. 

Nope! She totally is. She was just feeling bad. A few rinses, a little sucralfate, and a break in the weather brought back my super cute unicorn.

is perfect unicorn

While I felt kinda shitty for letting almost 2 weeks go by before thinking "maybe something is actually wrong", I'm glad I finally figured it out, and had the vet come out and check her. Horses always seem to find the most random things to hurt themselves with! 

A few days later, my vet had a mini vaccine clinic at the ranch. Truby and I walked around, enjoying the cool breeze and gentle sun until it was our turn. We met up with Dr I, and Truby got her shots and cookies. Other than recommending a little more weight across her topline (we've been working on this All Year), Truby was in great health. Dr I was especially tickled by her sparkly hoof boots. We've been rocking our sparkle boots due to some rain induced thin soles. 

Trust me, they're sparkly!

I tucked Truby away, happy knowing she was happy, healthy, and healing. Her mouth looked great. Her vets love her, and Truby always enjoys hanging out with people. The weather was beautiful. All was well with my little world. 

She loves her hay bag for both snacks and naps