In the last few weeks leading up to our big trip we’ve been running into some tricky roadblocks.
At the time of this article’s publication, I am scheduled to leave town for Aiken, South Carolina in ONE WEEK!
I began riding Stanley again at the end of 2025. I had given him time to recover his own strength after having a serious eye surgery and spending a month laid up in the hospital. During that time, I wrapped up a few projects in early October. By the time we began riding again I started him slowly as he’d lost a lot of weight and muscle tone. I don’t have fantastic comparison photos but you can see below the difference from our Eventing camp in June to the beginning of September.
When we got back into work I looked at his saddle fit, it didn’t seem too bad, I added a half pad to help while he built himself back up and until we could get a saddle fitter out. He was coming back into work swimmingly. We even began to take jump lessons and he was having a blast with them.
By January we started to notice granulomas under his saddle area. More than I care to admit…there were several on either side in different areas under the saddle.
These granulomas often occur due to friction from improper saddle fit…and as his entire body was compromised for so long from the eye injury I’m not surprised, they flared up with attitude. It can take the body months up to a year to fully recalibrate after significant stress.
I already had the saddle fitter scheduled so she came, fully re-flocked the jump saddle and checked the fit of his dressage saddle. GREAT!
His bodyworker began to ultrasound the bumps to help them break up. At her recommendation I gave him a little time off until we could get the bumps a bit smaller. Our thought process being that as they were already elevated and present the pressure and friction can only drag them out longer. In addition to her ultrasound I was able to use my own laser on them. I own a an EquiLaser….a class 3 laser sold by 100x horse supplements.
While I didn’t put a saddle on I used my time with Stanley to do some groundwork when the temperature allowed for it. We did a day of liberty, and he willingly and happily jumped cavaletti bounces. We did a day of pole work. I began to long line him while he was generous given my lack of skill. I used elastic bands with him to encourage self-carriage. We did a day of obstacle like challenges. So while I didn’t ride we still got stuff done.
I live in upstate New York and have spent my life in the Northeast…winter is nothing new to me, but this particular winter is one for the record books. Truly. According to my half-hearted internet search the Albany area saw 19 straight days below freezing…the 3rd longest stretches in 32 years.
When it comes to winter I take the temperatures very seriously. As a rule I cut off most work at 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Last February I published I’m Cold, You’re Cold, They’re Cold where we explored research that showed evidence of respiratory damage in cold weather. I’m sure walking work would be okay but below 23 degrees I’m a popsicle too…so it’s simpler to just say no.
During one of our sub-freezing cold stretches I got a text from the barn owner. It was an image and a video of Stanley…a close up of a bloody left nostril. It wasn’t running, not gushing…but it was a slow drip. Steady enough to be concerning. We watched it throughout the day. The next day….same thing. We also learned that one of the people doing chores the night before we initially saw it saw him with a bloody nostril too but hadn’t alerted us to it. By now we were at Friday and it was day 3 of Stanley having a bloody left nostril.
I called the vet. Harmless or not I wasn’t prepared to go into the weekend without a vet’s eyes on the situation. Doctor Google offered both harmless and scary possibilities; I know better than to look online but I do it anyway.
I met the vet Friday afternoon. She began with a physical exam to ensure his health. He had normal temperature, heart rate, mucous membranes….his lungs were clear. We checked his mouth and everything seemed great there. She tapped his noggin for “sinus percussion” and nothing abnormal showed up. After sedation we were able to get a scope into the nasal cavity and look around.
As much as I didn’t want to have this problem it was fascinating to see the images we were getting with the scope! It’s not every day you get to look inside your horse.
The vet explained that she wanted to look at the guttural pouches, the ethmoids, the pharynx/larynx, the epiglottis. The airways were clear. The guttural pouches looked good. No hematoma seen on the ethmoids. What we found were lesions in the airway.
The doctor gave him phenylephrine HCL into the nasal cavity to help constrict the blood vessels. We also gave him Yunnan Baiyao (sounds like “Union Bio”) … a Chinese herb known to help speed up blood clotting and manage bleeding. We gave him the herb for four days to get him through the weekend.
So far….the nose bleeds have not returned….<knocks on wood>.
As of right now, the vet believes the nosebleed was caused simply by the cold dry air. This is the best-case scenario and I can live with that!
The vet came out January 23rd. For the next few weeks, the temperature remained bitterly cold. Too cold for any exercise and I was not about to test our luck with the bloody nose freshly healed.
Just as the temperatures started to climb to something more habitable, I was thinking I could begin Stanley back into work again. On Sunday I got on him over his heavyweight blanket and walked him over poles in his halter and lead rope. On Monday it was too cold but he looked good. On Tuesday I brought him in to meet the chiropractor. He leg looked puffy. I examined him closer and found a significant cut on the outside of his hock and a smaller one on the inside. No heat.
Our amazing chiropractor came out, worked on him and did acupuncture. She is a licensed vet and took a look at his leg. Given his history and that we are planning to leave for training in less than 2 weeks she recommended that we be hypervigilant and start a course of antibiotics for cellulitis.
After his bodywork we started Stanley on Sulfamethoxazole/ Trimethoprim (SMZs). I also cleaned up the wounds, lasered them (along with his bumps which have significantly decreased by now), applied Absorbine’s Silver Honey paste, and wrapped his leg.
As of the time of this publishing Stanley should be almost finished his course of antibiotics and the wound should be healing up nicely. The swelling was down in a day or 2, I wrapped it 3 nights in a row until the lower leg returned to normal. It was already bitter cold, so his turnout provided natural icing and low-key movement. I continued to monitor daily and reclean/apply cream to the wound. Our other body worker friend has been helping me ultrasound the granulomas and simultaneously did a couple sessions to his leg to help speed up his healing.
On Tuesday I managed another bareback ride followed by giving him time to stretch his own legs and have a roll in the indoor arena. On Wednesday we finally got back in the saddle for a brief walk/trot ride.
This coming week we will be seeing our primary vet to get our official paperwork before embarking on our big journey south. He will get vaccines, coggins, and a health certificate. We are also looking forward to trying the Epicur Pharma intramuscular omeprazole. Last year in Updates on My Favorite Topic…Ulcers I had mentioned that this existed in other countries but had not yet made it to the United States. Well it’s here now! I will most certainly be following up on this important new release in the future so stay tuned.
Until then, I am going to do my best to keep Stanley’s exciting medical life to a minimum.
Do you have a horse that loves to get itself in trouble? I want to hear all about them!
The Green Horseman 
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