This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > "Dave and Patti Walter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I got a horse(fjord sad to say) in for training that has the STRANGEST bad > habit, at least I think it's a bad habit. She SLOBBERS all the time. Or more > so when stressed it seems. She was tested for ulcers, scoped and x-rayed and > all kinds of tests done. Tests found nothing physically wrong with her. > [...] > Oh, and it's not from Red Clover, I"ve seen that and that is much more watery. > THIS IS THICK, plus no Red Clover at her place or mine.
My old mare, Nansy, was a champion slobber-er. It was thick and ropy, copious to the point that she couldn't eat a watery mush, because she couldn't keep it in her mouth! We've discussed slobbery Fjords here a time or three, and several folks have told tales of "Pavlovian" horses---ones that start to slobber the minute they think food is coming. That might have been the cause in Nansy's case, because most of the time when we went to the barn, it was to feed or turn them out to pasture, so she could reasonably expect the presence of humans to lead to food. ;-) Quiz her owners about their management routine, i.e. did they give treats every time they went near the horse? Is there someone in your barn sneaking her treats? On one occasion, when Nansy was having what we eventually figured out to be a vaccination reaction, she got even more slobbery. So, yes, stress might make a slobbering problem worse. Nansy's slobbering increased with age, and she did have a lot of dental issues. (Nansy had gotten regular floating by my equine vet, but it took me a while to catch on that the vet didn't know nearly as much about the fine points of dental work as she pretended to!) If you know of a well-respected equine dental specialist, you might have him take a look.... Otherwise, I think it falls under the heading of "can't be cured, must be endured"! Give her an extra hug, from those of us with slobber-ers (or fond memories of same). ;-) Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 15 mi SW of Roseburg, Oregon The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
