Melting snow risk

[Queenbee]

Hi there, what with the weather some of you are having I just thought I would post a note of caution for when the snow melts. A few years ago now we had an awful spell of snow, when it melted the grass underneath was dead... quickly went a coarse brown color, what with the grass being so coarse... I quickly found that it was trapping and jamming in between my girls teeth and gaps (diastema) were starting to form in three places on the top jaw and (I think three on the bottom-if I remember correctly) edt was quickly called and she was flushed out daily with corsadyl and I hand picked the gunk out, hay was liberally supplied. EDT said he had seen a few cases after the snow melted because of what it does to the grass, making it tougher for them to deal with. Luckily the gaps closed up with the prescribed treatment of flushing and cleaning and soon ebs had her gleaming smile again, but please beware and be vigilant, check your horses teeth regularly after the thaw and provide something else for them to eat in the field.

 

[shannonandtay]

I've never heard of this before, thanks for the warning.

 

[Dizzydancer]

Thanks for this! Hopefully we will start to thaw soon!

 

[Queenbee]

Me either... not until my mare was waving her top lip in the air showing me her gappy smile

you can see the horrible discoloration to the grass in the background... and this was good quality grass normally, the gaps were quite significant and it was touch and go as to whether we would be able to close them or be in for EDT bills... luckily they closed a treat.

As a side note, if anyone does experience this... use gloves to clean out the gaps, I also used a tweezer to pull the grass and gunk out, and do not do it yourself if you are pregnant. The bacteria spawns really quickly and is NASTY. Flush with a solution of corsodyl original (someone may be able to advise on the percentage - although I think it says it on the back of the bottle) at least twice a day. And get vet or edt to check it out... just incase more drastic intervention is needed.