Nothing Says Love Like the Smell of Desitin

Having never had a baby, I was very surprised at the smell of Desitin. The first time I took the cap off the tube it knocked my socks off. I’m sure you’re asking why in the world would I need or use Desitin. Rain has been out of commission for the past two weeks.

At first I thought he had stepped in a hole out in the pasture and was off on his left rear. I figured giving him a week off would help him recover. But then I saw him racing around the pasture and his right rear was giving him pain.

So I took a closer look and sure enough, he has scratches. I sort of knew in the back of my head but was trying to ignore it. I know, not something I should have done. They’ve been down in the bottom of the pasture and it’s water logged. The little creek that runs into the CRP is usually dry by now but it’s completely full. So the horses have been exposed to wet pasture for months. I figured what I saw wasn’t scratches but mud. I wish that were the case.

So I took a closer look and sure enough, everyone with white legs has a mild case of scratches except Rain. If it’s not mild, it’s not bad enough yet to pain them when they walk, although I’m starting to wonder if that might not be King’s problem too. I know he has scratches but I don’t know how bad. He’s gotten really naughty. I can’t even come close to him lately.

Saturday afternoon I did some research to find out some home remedies for scratches. I found two different remedies. I’m trying the first one and will see how it goes. We ran into Walmart and Tractor Supply to pick up all the ingredients for the different remedies.

Saturday night I pulled Rain out and scrubbed the scabs the best I could, and made my concoction of Desitin, Triple Antibiotic, and Hydrocortisone in a 1:1:1 ratio. Rain was such a gentleman. He wasn’t too fond of me trying to scrub off the scabs but he was pretty good about letting me put on the goop. He was a bit ouchie at first but after the initial goop on each leg he stood like a perfect boy that he is.

I was hoping to put the goop on twice a day but that didn’t happen on Sunday. I did pull Rain out earlier in the day and soaked his legs to try and get the actual scabs off. It didn’t really help. But at least he let me soak his back legs without ANY fuss. He’s such a good boy. After soaking and drying his legs, I again applied the Desitin, Triple Antibiotic, and Hydrocortisone concoction on his legs. The scratches are terrible on his back legs. His back legs are white. I did notice that he may be getting scratches on his front legs, but they are black. I don’t want to risk it so I put just a little on his two front black legs. We’ll see if it’s just mud or if it’s actually scratches. I’m afraid it’s scratches.

This morning, when I went out to do chores, the herd was up so I caught Rain and applied the goop concoction. I’m hoping to try the other concoction tonight. Rain was such a good boy. I didn’t have time to soak or scrub the scabs so I just applied the concoction and let him go. I hope that it’s helping. He seems to be pretty willing to let me mess around with his legs. I think if I keep it up, at least they won’t be cracked and we can use him on the upcoming trail ride this weekend.

The other concoction I want to try tonight is a mixture of nitrofurizon, OMDS (or some abbreviation I can’t remember right now), and Safe-Guard Wormer. We’ll see how it goes. I’m hoping I can trade back and forth between the two to get him healed up faster. The sooner the better as far as I’m concerned.

I need to start doing the same thing with King. I think he’s got scratches pretty bad too. Rain is just my “delicate flower” so he’s more prone to feeling pain. I think he has a low tolerance for pain. King on the other hand I think has a higher tolerance. But if it’s scratches that are causing him to be lame in his right front, I’d be happy to get that fixed.

And with all the hubbub about scratches, Dude has come down with some odd ailment also. I’m not sure if it’s similar to the scratches or if it’s just a sever sunburn. Either way I need to get it fixed. So Sunday afternoon, I haltered him up and put sunscreen on him. Not an easy feat for me since Dude does NOT like his face handled. To make matters worse, Dude HATES having his nose messed with. Any odd smell and he totally blows up. I had a heck of a time getting the sunscreen on but I did it.

The sunscreen made his nose a bit more moist. So in the evening on Sunday I decided to apply aloe vera cream. Big mistake. Again Dude totally blew up but even worse. I knocked over the jar and lost 1/3 of it on the floor. I was so irritated with getting swung around the stall that I used the stuff on the floor. I know, it’s not right but that stuff is too expensive. Every time I put the aloe on his nose, he would blow his nose and get the stuff all over me. Luckily it’s a thick cream so I didn’t get too much on me. He has sores up into his nose so I wanted the aloe on them. Of course, he’s sensitive to the smell so he had problems with having aloe on them. It was a three ring circus by the time I finally got him lathered.
This morning Dude was up with the rest of the herd. When I got done with Rain, I pulled Dude into the barn. Since we were going into daylight I figured I’d put the sunscreen on instead. The sunscreen is a bit thinner so I could apply it farther down his nose (hopefully). I only got about half his nose. Anywhere where there was a scab he wouldn’t let me touch it with the sunscreen. I’m sure it burns something terrible. So I decided that I was able to get most of his nose with the sunscreen I would switch to the aloe vera and try to get those scabs softened up. He wasn’t fond of the idea but he did behave a bit better for me this morning. There was less fighting and cussing on both ends. I’m not sure if Dude realized that the creams I was putting on made him feel better or not, probably not. Now if I could just catch King long enough to start treating him for scratches and a sunburned nose.

So my list of skin irritant horses goes as:
Rain – Scratches
Dude – Scratches and sunburned nose
King – Scratches and sunburned nose
Queen – Raw bum (not sure if it’s the sun or what’s going on) Nitrofuritzon to the rescue!

I need to check on Sam and make sure he doesn’t have scratches too. I have a vague feeling that he has skin issues underneath all those feathers. I also need to keep a close eye on Chaos and make sure he doesn’t get scratches either on his back white legs.

I’m headed to Tractor Supply on Friday to pick up more fly spray. The mean, biting flies are here to stay (you know it’s August when the flies come out). I also want to try this Fung-A-Way and see if it helps with the scratches on those horses that won’t stand or give me problems (King, Dude).

I also put my order in to Country Supply for wormer. I should have enough wormer for the next six months if I did it right. I know I’m way behind. Sam needs another dose and so does Skippy. I think I need to find some type of aloe for Skippy too. He has such a bad reaction to bug bites. He and Dude break out in huge hives when they get bitten. Wish there was something more I could do.

I think all my spare riding time is going to be spent instead doctoring horses. And we leave on vacation in two weeks so I need to start hustling to get stuff done before we go! There’s always something. Hopefully tonight’s doctoring goes smoothly and I don’t get my head knocked off.