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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
   
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Got a new ottb (retired, well raced ) in to rehab - literally the 2nd day I've had him. I'm having to doctor some teeth marks from getting turned out.
One thing I discovered by accident in doctoring him is that if I rub him, he's fine. No problems at all. However, if I touch him lightly anywhere he gets EXTREMELY irritated.I can literally rub him in one spot with no reaction and then lightly touch in the exact spot and he comes unglued (cow kick, nip).
I don't know if it's a case of a conditioned response from something they did on the track, or if it could be Herpes? Or something else????
Based on how he acts otherwise, I feel like there's a reason he's doing it, not that he's just being a brat. He could be, and if it is we'll work through it - he's got to be sacked out anyhow- but I'd like to make sure I'm considering all the possible causes. |
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Location: U.S. | PSSM? I don't know alot about it but I know that is a symptom. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
 
Location: Bandera, TX | Add some lysine for 15 days. Talk to your vet and the local coop for the amount you will need. |
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| He thinks a fly has landed on him and since you are standing there you think his kick and nip is directed at you ...
Where in the world did you come up with herpes?? |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | Herpes is legitimate--we had a mare who was very sensitive to the touch. We fed her Lysine....I would have liked to get her some PHTroducts because her muscles were always tight, but never got around to it. Maybe PSSM? I have no experience with it though.
Edited by hammer_time 2015-09-29 9:48 PM
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| hammer_time - 2015-09-29 9:16 PM
Herpes is legitimate--we had a mare who was very sinusitis to the touch. We fed her Lysine....I would have liked to get her some PHTroducts because her muscles were always tight, but never got around to it. Maybe PSSM? I have no experience with it though.
Any of the horse herpes is a nasty very apparent disease with a very sick horse that is usually thinking about dying ...... not a touchy feely type of situation .... lol
I don't know anything about human herpes but maybe you have the two confused??
My curiosity got the best of my ... so I did a google on human herpes ....
and you are right ...lysine will help some people some of the time ...
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00372/Herpes-Treatment.html
Edited by BARRELHORSE USA 2015-09-29 9:35 PM
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Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | BARRELHORSE USA - 2015-09-29 7:30 PM hammer_time - 2015-09-29 9:16 PM Herpes is legitimate--we had a mare who was very sinusitis to the touch. We fed her Lysine....I would have liked to get her some PHTroducts because her muscles were always tight, but never got around to it. Maybe PSSM? I have no experience with it though. Any of the horse herpes is a nasty very apparent disease with a very sick horse that is usually thinking about dying ...... not a touchy feely type of situation .... lol I don't know anything about human herpes but maybe you have the two confused?? My curiosity got the best of my ... so I did a google on human herpes .... and you are right ...lysine will help some people some of the time ... http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00372/Herpes-Treatment.html
I don't think you can truly diagnose herpes in horses but I've had a massage therapist lightly (?) diagnose the horse I spoke about.....and that was really the only one. Again, could be PSSM from what I've read about, but have never had a horse diagnosed with that either. |
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 Go For It!
Location: Texas |
It is worth discussing with the vet... I had a friend that had a horse with Herpes, many years ago, and not tolerating that light touch was one of the symptoms along with nervousness under saddle and a few other things. Sorry, but I can't remember how they treated him, although he did recover.
Keep us posted.
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Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | I knew Pssm can cause muscle soreness but didn't know about the skin sensitivity piece of it. He was already on low starch and I've already put him on an even lower starch and upped the fat a lot, so that should help if it was pssm. Are Thoroughbreds prone to having it?
As far as the Herpes, I have heard that they can get a form of it that causes their skin to be very sensitive and that it's treated or maintained with Lysine. But that's all I know about it.
As far as him thinking it's flies, that could be a possibility. The question then is how to get him over it? He still needs to shake off flies. And then too he doesn't have that big of a reaction when a fly does land on him.
He was taken on trial by an Ariat sponsored rider and he was too sensitive under saddle for her, which is part of the reason I wound up with him. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 669
Location: Central Texas | I have two OTTB and both are much more sensitive to brushing/grooming than my quarterhorses. I have read and been told that their skin is much more sensitive than most other horses. Maybe that's what is going on. I have learned to be a little more gentle with them when touching/grooming and it works. In the beginning, they would turn and a toss a nose at me, try a little nip, move around, swish a tail etc. I have had no preformance issues with them and now that I am a little more gentle in the touching issue, I have no problems there. Just a thought. I know PSSM can have a lot of those symptons as well but since my issues went away when I changed my habits and I have had no preformance issues, I did not test them.
EDITED: and yes TB's can have PSSM.
Edited by ampratt 2015-09-30 7:16 AM
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Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Just read on an OTTB article that magnesium deficiencies can cause the EXACT same behavior, and the blogger writing the article had tried supplementing and saw a huge difference. |
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