We have made it past the shortest day of the year, but it still always seems to be dark when I am at home. And wet with the June Rainfall at home way above average. Seems a waste to spend daylight hours at work. Managed to get a ride in Wednesday night at home on the arena, and a show jumping lesson Thursday night. The lesson went very well with Occy starting out being forward and remaining that way, even though some of the lines I was asking him to take were difficult.
Whilst getting him ready for those 2 rides I noticed some crusty bits on his hind feet. Looks like he has picked up a touch of mud fever or scratches or greasy heel (depending on what you call it where you live). This is usually caused by the bacterium Dermatophilus congolensis and can often work in conjunction of other fungal and bacterial infections to make the horses life a misery in damp conditions. It seems to affect horses with white legs and pink skin more, but Occy is a standard bay, no white.
On Occy it seems to be running just above the coronet on his back feet only, with nothing on the heel or on the back of the foot luckily. So his movement is not affected noticeably. Now I going through the soaking and scrubbing with an antibacterial shampoo to remove the crusty bits to get to the root of the infection, and applying an ointment that will stick on for a bit whilst Occy is in his paddock.
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