Horse Whoa's - Swollen Belly and Sheath

Ronin doesn't give us much of a break between his issues and ailments!  Last night, Rogér was scheduled for a riding lesson, but ended up with a lesson in horse hygiene instead.  Of course, he didn't have to do any of the dirty work!

Right before saddling up, I noticed that Ronin's sheath was swollen.....great.  Then I realized his belly had some swelling too.  Towards the back on the right side and a little towards the front on the same side too.  All I could really think to do was to clean his sheath and check for any abnormalities, so that's what I did. Ronin was actually pretty good, considering I've never done this with him before (I had the vet do it once, cuz it's not a fun job).  I didn't find anything either.  When our instructor came, I told her about his symptoms and she suggested we take his temp.  Apparently, there's an illness called Pigeon Fever that can cause this kind of swelling.  Four minutes of an antique thermometer up Ronin's butt revealed that he did not have a high temperature.  Phew!



Rogér on Ronin Summer '09

We put him back and went home and, of course, checked the internet for these symptoms.  This should never be done!  But I always do it.  Well, according to the internet, Ronin had either nothing at all, or limes disease, or liver or heart failure and would surely need to be put to rest within a month or two.  In my internet search, I did come across one sort of amusing instructional.  You can read all about it here...if you're interested. We called the vet this morning and she didn't seem too concerned just yet, so now it's a waiting game. Let's all hope that it goes away! 

Fun times!  We can always count on our animals to throw us for a loop.  Can you believe we're adding a kid to the mix? Oh boy.