Kraken released

 Hampton had his lavage tube pulled Tuesday and was released back into the wild!

I'm not sure there was a happier horse on the planet that morning. haha! 

Jokes on him because it's back to work this week.

Head like a hole

 Last Thursday I dropped Hampton off at Rood and Riddle hospital in Lexington.

Within the hour, the vet had examined him, took X-rays and determined it was indeed the cracked molar causing his sinus infection. We were able to avoid a CT scan thankfully! I am working on getting that X-ray and will share it of course hahaha. Dr. Brad Tanner was Hampton's doctor and the level of care is just phenomenal. 

His suite at the hospital! He was rather annoyed there was nothing to crib on lol

As soon as that was confirmed, Hampton had the green light to get his tooth extracted and sinus trephination. The tooth did come out in pieces, but overall it went ok. And his sinus procedure also went just fine. He now has a lavage system in place. There was a good amount of pus they flushed out the first time. Poor guy. 

I went down Friday morning and walked him for a bit. Actually, he ended up
walking me. Gave zero shits about the tube in his face.

At Rood and Riddle

And he did so well he was discharged on Saturday! Our regular vet will lavage him today (Monday) and Tuesday one more time before he gets this fine accessory removed. And then he can go back outside AND go right back to work. He will still have some staples in his head but a flymask should keep that protected.

Back home!

Hamp handled this all like a champ. And while QUITE expensive, this really ended up being pretty easy on the horse. I am sure his face is sore, but he is acting quite chipper with a good appetite. I have been hand walking him and he has been dragging my ass around. I ended up putting a chain over his nose so I am not flying a large kite.

He will be on Doxycycline for about a week, and Gastroguard but he is off bute! And thankfully our barn grain is mostly beet pulp so it soaks into a nice mash really easily. And I have to rinse out his mouth once a day as well. That is probably the worst part of all of this because he flings water everywhere and I end up soaked. Punk.

Get me the F outta this place lady.

Stuffing his face back at home.

So it's looking like a very swift recovery. Now I just need jingles for ME who has to survive handwalking this thing a couple more days!

Mirrors.

 You know how people say that horses and riders mirror each other?

This has always been true about Hampton and myself, but this week we took it a little too far.

First, Hampton shows up with a snotty nose. Just one nostril. No other symptoms.

It smells like something DIED in there, too.

It's a cracked molar and he has a secondary sinus infection. He will be making another trip to Rood n Riddle this week to have that extracted and likely a sinus trephination. Yep, that's when they drill a hole in their head to let crap drain out.

Recovery will hopefully be easy and swift. Although, this likely ends our show season unless I find something to hit up in the fall/early winter. 

Hopefully will be back in the ring in no time.
(From the I-1 in June)

Then, I was eating pizza and started chewing on something really crunchy. I cracked a crown, and have to have that replaced. Plus a filling. Both molars lol.

Life is getting a little crazy and I'll have an update soon but except for our tooth issues it's so far all awesome news.

Off to the dentists we go.

Myth busters Monday: Feeding dry beet pulp

A young Hampton snoozing in his food

 If I feed dry beet pulp to my horse will his stomach explode?

Myth. 

Beet pulp is sold in either dried shreds or pellets and yes, when you add water to it it does expand. But it expands too slowly to worry about. Given a horse's stomach capacity and how quickly it empties into the small intestine (and beyond) when it becomes full, it's an extremely unlikely thing to happen.

There is a large university study which further dispelled the stomach-exploding myth in a study where horses ingested up to 45 percent of their total diet from dry beet pulp. No adverse effects were noted. No colic, choke or change in manure moisture.

(Two sources have mentioned this study and I cannot find it online anywhere...grrr)

Throwback to our jumping days!

Beet pulp seems to also suffer from rumors that feeding it dry can cause choke. It's more likely that a choke would be caused by bolting feed, or some abnormality with the horse. Not so much beet pulp itself. Although, sometimes the pellet forms DO come in rather large, hard chunks so personally I wouldn't try my luck there.

Nonetheless, many feed beet pulp soaked and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. It makes it easier to chew, adds some hydration, you can sneak supplements in it and it can slow down a horse who wants to hoover his feed.

Just use caution not to soak it for too long (more than 24 hours probably) because it will ferment.

Hampton's grain contains quite a bit of beet pulp and it's such a great forage to feed. And I don't soak it. Except when I add beer. haha.

More on Beet Pulp from The Horse.