Thanks for all the prayers & good wishes.

Cheri,

It looks like the hole was caused by a broken tooth. It seems that the antibiotics cleared up the infection, so all the geeewww quit coming out of his nose....& the tooth shifted enough to block off the water & food from going from the mouth into the nose......this happened before the dentist got into the mouth.

He hadn't had a dentist appointment since Sept 2004 & when they got into his mouth, they found all kinds of points that had been ground into being just from chewing his pellets & alphalpha.....who would think points sharp enough to cause sores in the cheeks could be caused by eating soft food like that???? They sedated him & got him into the trailer they have set up to do the dental work. The first step was to grind down the points.....then they went on the search for the bad tooth (we knew where it was). They were trying to make him a first in using the x-ray equipment.....but with his dislike of the dentist....no way would he stay still even with the drugs. When I saw what a bad reaction he was having with his stress, I was going to step in & comfort him, but the owner of the ranch was the perfect one for that position. She was able to talk him through the finishing touches of the floating of his teeth & especially through the pulling of the broken one. I have to admire how she handles the horses. She was able to talk him out of his head & listening to her calming soothing telling him it was going to be ok & he was going to be feeling so much better & that it was almost over. I could see his eyes look at her & take his mind off of what was going on inside of his mouth. It was a beautiful sight to see.....because his stress level was so high, his neck was actually twitching to the point he couldn't hold it still for them to work in his mouth. She is really a very gifted horse person......that isn't appreciated as much as she should be. I guess that would happen unless you are one that actually gets the chance to see her talent in action. Her talent with horses that goes beyond the normal. She has patience, She knows the timing on when to push & when to back off. She can talk to them & they listen. It was just awsome to watch her handle my old man with the dentist. I was standing there hoping that when I have to go to the dentist...I can have someone there helping me through it like she did with my horse.

They finally got the tooth out & filled the root areas with a clotting substance.....that was supposed to help fill the hole into the sinus area. They couldn't understand what had been going on with him because it didn't look as bad as it actually had been.....guess there had already been some healing done. Once he was done, it was a liquid diet for a day, then only soft foods to follow for the next few days. Today, he was looking much better & not so mad at me anymore.

My mare had dental work done also & she wasn't wanting to leave the field with the stallion. We got her to the trailer & I was holding on to her.....the wind had come up (& I mean wind!!!!). They were lowering the awning & spooked her. She spun & flung me to the ground....where in the world did that come from....in just one instance. I have been pretty lucky with all my horse oops....this was just a twing in my neck which I knew would be stiff the next morning (after having neck fusion....I get a bit nervious with neck problems however). She had quite a bit of dental work that needed done & then they removed her 2 small canine teeth that had become loose. Who knew that horses had canine teeth???? Guess that goes along with the Wolf teeth that have to come out before having a bit put into their mouth???? Canines & wolf teeth in a horse???? Always something new to learn.

They decided not to do any dental work on Izzy since she has the strangles. The problem being that it's a very mild case with her, but the strep virus could get into another horse & be deadly. I wouldn't want to be responsible for even that being a possibility, so was glad when they decided against doing anything with her. Her abscess isn't bad. It had started out being a mild swelling & then absessec into a circle about the size of 1/2 a racquettball (which is smaller than a tennis ball). It finally started draining from 2 small spots about 3 days ago. I was able to catch it this time & get a good sample of the puss so I turned it in so a culture could be run on it. Since this is the second time she has had this (& usually horses don't get it more than once ....if ever) I really wanted to know exactly what is going on. This way, I can also call the previous ranch & tell them what Izzy was infected with at their ranch. The initial swelling was already there the day I moved her, so I know it didn't come from her new home.

I feel so sorry for her....she has been isolated into a temporary pen away from all the other horses. She stands over there calling to the other horses & looks longingly at me everytime I drive up. I can't touch her until I am all done with my other horses because of how infectious the strep virus is.....but she gets my full attention at the end of the day & that gives me a chance to play & have some fun with her after treating the abscess. I had fun with her today because it was so windy, I decided to water down the dirt around & in the stall. She loves water & we were playing in it....spraying her & running through the water.....then I got the wet nuzzles with water running down her face. Her training is going well even with the strangles.....she is being trained in the field outside of the ranch. The ranch owner constantly laughs at "what a dangerous horse I have". She is just a huge puppy dog.....a very huge....huge.....huge puppy dog....but a gentle giant.

Everything is going well & I am so happy to be back at this ranch.....my horses are going to be much better off there while waiting for my to get my KY horse buildings ready.

Debbie