Saturday, November 23, 2013

Teeth and toes

I'm blogging from wintry Nebraska this evening. I'm out here visiting my family, and the weather is awful. Right now it's 14 degrees, and the low overnight will be 7. There is a reason I don't live here anymore.

Last Monday Dakota had his toes trimmed, his teeth floated, and his wolf teeth pulled. And had a flu vacc. The farrier thought he noticed some white line changes but of course had no idea if it was the change in footing, the change in climate, or the change in diet. He kinda sorta seemed to think maybe the alfalfa supplement was too rich for a mustang, but I had just started it three or four days before--could Dakota really be showing changes in his feet from diet that fast? The vet on the other hand was all for continuing the supplement, so I'm going to continue and just keep an eye on things. We went from very dry to very wet recently, and I think that's probably the cause. Dakota lived his whole previous life in an arid climate. All this squish is new to him.

Dakota also has some changes in the skin on his nose. The vet said dermatitis; Camilla thinks maybe rain rot. I've never pasture boarded in a rainy climate before, so rain rot is all new to me. I've added a vitamin to Dakota's supplement and am trying to groom him every day. I should be able to catch any outbreaks early.

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