The Ozzy Diaries

Exasperated said:
Well of course it does. Almost every bit of equestrian kit could be abused, potentially, whether intentional or inadvertent.
That would have been an obvious case for the vet to sedate: 40+ mins with nosetwitch on tight is obviously not a good idea. Once the expected / desired sedation effect is taking place, the handler untwists to loosen, obviously.
Sometimes it will drop off entirely, or might keep sufficient purchase to tighten up again if the horse gets restless, but you’ve described a deprived blood supply for three quarters of an hour! Which doesn’t reflect too well on handler or vet.
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Handler was inexperienced but you are right about the vet . As soon as pony was able to travel I brought her home and my own excellent vet took photos of her muzzle to show students how not to do it !
 
MurphysMinder said:
In my experience it depends on use of the twitch. Without going into lengthy background details, our pony was twitched by a vet for a serious leg injury to be treated. I wasn't there (pony was out on loan) but believe the twitch was left on for 40 minutes plus, when I saw her next day her muzzle and top lip were still swollen and she didn't seem to have proper feeling in it. She ended up with a scar which remained for years and any time you tried to touch her muzzle she panicked, twitching definitely broke her trust in everyone for quite a while, though admittedly she was a very nervy pony.
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Well no-one with any sense would leave a twitch on for that long. If you need the horse sedated for as long as that, give it a sedative!
 
This was the twitch my vet used to use and I bought a similar version, far better than the old bit of string and a stick. https://www.viovet.co.uk/Lincoln-Hu...b3EGK1Doxx3KjH-MVomV15m7p9q77lx4aAiLiEALw_wcB

You just wound the string round the handle and could clip it onto the headcollar so didn't always need two people. Far, far kinder than the old version and very effective. However sedatives are so good these days that most times easier to use one. Hard to believe now but it isn't that many years ago that all these sedatives didn't exist or weren't as good as they are now.
 
This is a great thread. Oz looks like a star.
I’ve never owned a cob but have worked at riding schools and livery yards. I thought all cobs had horrible thickened skin which I now know from hho is not normal at all! Poor things. I am glad it all sounds manageable.
 
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Just spoken to the vet.

They are not able to get out here for weeks. They won't prescribe an oral sedative because they haven't seen the horse.
They were, however, happy to supply Dectomax for us to inject. I've refused because we've used it in the past and it didn't kill mites. The CPL page (backed by research) states that Dectomax isn't a suitable treatment as mites are surface feeders so a systemic treatment is unlikely to be really effective.

They suggested we try another vet to see if they would travel out here. I phoned, they were very nice, but we are just off their area map.

I think we'll try the shampoo and a surface treatment (if he will let us wash his legs!) just to see if it makes things slightly more comfortable while we're waiting for a date from the vet.
I know it's not as effective as treating clipped legs but he is obviously being irritated massively and it won't be doing the CPL any good at all.
 
If he will tolerate having his legs brushed, could you work up to being able to slide a mane comb into the feather and cut off the hair with comb as a barrier between leg and scissors? It would be a tedious way of shortening the hair and obviously not as close a trim as clippers, but he might react better if he can't feel the scissors?
It sounds like you're doing well getting him to settle in and trust you, so hopefully that will make treating him easier in the future!
 
Tiddlypom said:
What happens if you need an equine vet in an emergency?

Having to wait weeks to get a vet to you to check out a new horse with a potential issue is nuts.
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They will come out in an emergency (eg, suspected colic, serious injury) but if it's not classed as an emergency it can be a very long wait.
This is probably one of the key issues for us living here, having previously lived in an area where a vet would always come out the same day, even if it wasn't really serious.
We can't get any equine dentist to come out this far either, so we're dependent on the vet to do all dental work.
Thank goodness we have an EP who is prepared to travel over to us (probably about 70 miles door to door). We also have a trainee EP who lives just half a mile away!

However, I agree that it's not very helpful when we are trying to sort out an obvious problem. We'll see what he's like when it comes to having his legs washed. He *might* be OK if there's no sign of the evil clippers!
 
rabatsa said:
Could you transport him to a vet, so that they can see him and prescribe suitable sedatives?
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We don't currently have any transport - but even if we did, at the moment Ozzy is so traumatised by being transported that I wouldn't do it unless it was literally a life or death situation.

We are pretty sure that his reason for running off when we started to lead him out was that he was scared of being loaded up. If we walked him towards the rear of any van-type stationary vehicle, he'd leg it. Moving vehicles of any description had no effect on him.
We worked out that he'd travelled well over 1000 miles in a very short space of time and this seems to have had an impact on him. I would be worried that the work we've been going to get him to trust us would be undone.
 
LeneHorse said:
Just a thought -
I see from your photo that you are close to a beach. Would you be able to walk him in the sea? The salt water is supposed to be good for inflammation. It might be stingy on his legs though if he's sore so could give him another bad experience. But maybe worth considering.
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Yes - we had indeed thought about taking Ozzy for a paddle in the sea loch! We don't know the extent of any sores, etc, but if we can at least put some mite treatment on and reduce the problem, we could then look at taking him in the sea.
 
On my cob I use spot on for dogs and just put one on each leg, mine doesn't even notice me doing it. It's the easiest and most effective way I've found of stopping his legs itching. Before that I was spend so much time and money on different shampoo, creams and sprays that helped in varying degrees but never fully stopped the itchiness. I'm really glad that thing that seems to work the best for is also the easiest.

Last time I had the vet out a couple off weeks ago because he'd come out in hives she recommended I get him injected with something in February. Does anyone know what that would be? She never said the name of it. Just said she there was no point doing now it had to be February then another injection 4 weeks later.
 
Nancykitt said:
Yes - we had indeed thought about taking Ozzy for a paddle in the sea loch! We don't know the extent of any sores, etc, but if we can at least put some mite treatment on and reduce the problem, we could then look at taking him in the sea.
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According to the dealer Ozzy had been for a walk on Morecambe beach and in the sea but I wouldn't trust a word that man said as all his horses have been in the sea🤔.
 
Nancykitt said:
Yes - we had indeed thought about taking Ozzy for a paddle in the sea loch! We don't know the extent of any sores, etc, but if we can at least put some mite treatment on and reduce the problem, we could then look at taking him in the sea.
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Might be as well not to advertise the fact, before you get pilloried for the chemicals washing from his legs into the loch....
Just leading through the shallows, following the other one, wouldn’t go amiss. You’ll get there, don’t worry!
 
Jasmine2023 said:
According to the dealer Ozzy had been for a walk on Morecambe beach and in the sea but I wouldn't trust a word that man said as all his horses have been in the sea🤔.
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Someone said that he does take at least some to the beach, but in Ozzy's case (where he said that Ozzy would 'go in the water, no problem'), he could just have seen the previous owner's photograph of Ozzy in a lake/river somewhere!
 
DizzyDoughnut said:
On my cob I use spot on for dogs and just put one on each leg, mine doesn't even notice me doing it. It's the easiest and most effective way I've found of stopping his legs itching. Before that I was spend so much time and money on different shampoo, creams and sprays that helped in varying degrees but never fully stopped the itchiness. I'm really glad that thing that seems to work the best for is also the easiest.

Last time I had the vet out a couple off weeks ago because he'd come out in hives she recommended I get him injected with something in February. Does anyone know what that would be? She never said the name of it. Just said she there was no point doing now it had to be February then another injection 4 weeks later.
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Insol? It's a ringworm medication, but people use it for sweet itch hence the February window, before you get midges.
 
SpeedyPony said:
If he will tolerate having his legs brushed, could you work up to being able to slide a mane comb into the feather and cut off the hair with comb as a barrier between leg and scissors? It would be a tedious way of shortening the hair and obviously not as close a trim as clippers, but he might react better if he can't feel the scissors?
It sounds like you're doing well getting him to settle in and trust you, so hopefully that will make treating him easier in the future!
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Sometimes he will allow us to brush his legs, sometimes he snatches. I can try using the comb and scissors approach, he seemed to dislike the snipping noise (what a sensitive soul!)
I did think about using one of those mane combs with a razor incorporated. I haven't got one but if I can get a cheap one it might be worth a try!
 
Nancykitt said:
Sometimes he will allow us to brush his legs, sometimes he snatches. I can try using the comb and scissors approach, he seemed to dislike the snipping noise (what a sensitive soul!)
I did think about using one of those mane combs with a razor incorporated. I haven't got one but if I can get a cheap one it might be worth a try!
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I’ve got a cheap one I bought for the dog. It’s too coarse to work. (Shouldn’t have tried to save money). I can send it to you if you pm me your address.
 
Speaking as someone who has never done it, as I’m not convinced about it as a go to for just anything, but equally who can also see the benefits for targeting training - this could be a candidate for clicker training.

I’d still plan for vet sedation, but in interim this horse strikes me as smart enough to perhaps try this with for leg handling
 
Clodagh said:
It’s the same or very similar to the tail rake I used to use in my horse days.
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Oh that is so kind of you! is it a comb-type thing with a razor, or one of the rake (tail thinner) type things?
I've got the rake but he didn't seem to like it as it must have pulled a little.

ihatework said:
Speaking as someone who has never done it, as I’m not convinced about it as a go to for just anything, but equally who can also see the benefits for targeting training - this could be a candidate for clicker training.

I’d still plan for vet sedation, but in interim this horse strikes me as smart enough to perhaps try this with for leg handling
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Clicker is on order!
 
Nancykitt said:
Oh that is so kind of you! is it a comb-type thing with a razor, or one of the rake (tail thinner) type things?
I've got the rake but he didn't seem to like it as it must have pulled a little.


Clicker is on order!
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Ah yes a rake. And it probably does pull a bit.
 
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