Minion! Minion! Attend Me!

Awareness of the outside world. May is Lime Disease Awareness Month. LDA: Lyme Disease Awareness Month 2024, with info & printables.

“Many horses are infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the organism that causes Lyme disease – though clinical signs appear to be uncommon.” Cornell Vet: Lyme disease in horses, Divers 2023.

“Virtually every horse in my region will have a mildly positive Lyme titer, reflecting at least some presence of antibodies.” ‘Fraidy Car Eventing: disease vectors, May 10, 2020. Content warning, bug photos.

Milton was tested a while back, as rule-out when we were first trying to figure him out.

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One day last week, Rodney came out of the stall and stuck his side in my face.

I have an itch. Scratch, pls.

Vigorous scratching of the wither area eventually flushed a tick. Which is a weird way to find one.

Milton came over. Turns out he had a similar malady.

Ticks dispensed with, we had a nice three-way grooming session. We stood in a triangle. I scratched the backs of both horses. Milton gnawed on Rodney’s rump.

Tick count for that day: four – 2 horse, 1 people.

While I was scratching Rodney, I thought about trying for a photo of the massive upper lip action. I elected to stay in the moment.

Later in the week, Rodney had two ticks on the delicate, under-tail area. Saw first one from a distance when he swished his tail. Ick. Fetched my nice, pointy tweezers. Pulled. Went back to check. Found the second.

It’s a gift, I tell you. [Magic Fingers]

Onwards!
Katherine