Herpes

LOL! That's gross! haha. This is what my horse has. Literally. However, it's not the herpes that you're thinking of. She has Equine Herpes, which is pretty much the same thing as Shingles in humans. It has affected her nerve endings so everything is very sensative and painful. So movement is a big issue b/c everything hurts. That's why she was pinning her ears back at me every time I asked her to do something. The doctor did say that this is a common issue and can come on with stress, new place, new owner or workout. I was reading up on it and it was saying its kind of like the chicken pox disease. They USUALLY get it once and still have the virus after that, but don't actually have the symptoms. However, like I stated a few sentences above, it can be caused from stress as well. Also, her annual vaccines help prevent it. The one that prevents it is the Rhino vaccine. So she due for her shots in August.
Right now we have her on some Lysine twice a day. The doc said that he was 80% sure that this will get rid of it then I shouldn't have any other issues and be able to go back to giving her a good, sweaty workout. He does want to do a follow up on her b/c he did say that she does have a bit of a stifle issue in her right leg. It deals with the knee joint, but he was pretty positive that that problem was b/c she is just a weak horse and needs to build up those tendons, ligaments and muscles. He also said that I should see a huge improvement with her and her attitude in about 2 weeks. He said that herpes takes about 2-4 weeks to completely fix, but definitely at two weeks notice major improvements. :)
I'm really happy that it was nothing serious. She's a good little horse and a very sweet horse. She's so smart too. Once we get back to working out I am going to have to stay one step ahead of this little mare. :) She has started to "snuggle" next to me when I'm petting her. And she actually came up to me the other day from the pasture when I called her. Made me really happy. I feel bad for her though b/c it has been raining NON stop for the past 2 days and all the horses at the barn have been stalled so I know she is anxious to get out and stretch and move. It's sunny today so hopefully Charlotte was able to turn them out, although I don't know b/c of the conditions of the pastures. We'll see.
Ok well, I just thought I would update you with my horse's problem. Thought it was kind of funny in a sense. Have a great weekend! ♥ K