Horses aren't the only things that bite

Before Lucy, I never had a horse that would bite. I wish she would either bite more often, so I could deal with it properly, or not bite at all, so it wouldn't be an issue. She bites about once a year.

When I first got her as a 2-year-old racetrack flunkee, she would turn around and bite my booted toe when she was tired of being ridden. That meant about ten minutes into her workout my right toe, always my right toe, would get bitten. Well, this is easy to fix. Got a boot? Can it kick?

She's a smart girl. Probably a smarter girl than me. So now she does things like grab the reins when I'm riding on the buckle. Or have an attack of Sudden Itch Syndrome (SIS), which means that she has to stop whatever she's doing and scratch her front leg with her noseband, or maybe she's scratching her face with her front leg. Hard to tell. But if she scratches it once, she needs to scratch it a million times.

I'm a soft touch. I understand itches. So, I fall for it. But when that second itch comes moments later, well, even I have figured it out.

Last fall I was standing by her stall door, facing away, when she BIT the top of my arm. For no reason other than it was there. I hope I whacked her, but I was so shocked I might not have. As I said, I'm not used to horses who bite. She hasn't bitten since so maybe I did impress upon her the importance of not biting people. Then again, it's about time for another bite....

I didn't think anymore about it, just watched the area get purple, then green. Then it went away and I really did forget about it. Until I noticed a lump in my arm. I still didn't make the connection to Lucy's bite. I am always banged up and bruised from messing with the horses, trailer and other heavy stuff, so I can't tell you what violence caused which purple spot, other than to tell you I am not a victim of anything other than owning horses. Anyway. So, I have this arm lump.

My mother and aunt had breast cancer. I know what a lump means. I have ARM CANCER!

I call the doctor, who says to "watch it." (I could be a doctor. They always say to watch it.) So I watch it. Eventually the skin puckers and indents. I call the doctor to report. The verdict: It must come out!

It was then that my doctor told me that there is such a thing as arm cancer, but people don't get it there in that spot. But the puckering is very mysterious. So the doctor carves it out. A few hundred dollars and an ugly scar later, I find out it's old scar tissue from a trauma, such as a horse bite.

I guess I should be glad Lucy went for my arm.

I'd like to tell you that I went right out there and bit Lucy back, but I didn't. Instead, I'm going to play along with Kate, who runs a fun blog or three, including I think, therefore I blog, and bite back. Her blog has a lot of interesting tidbits on it even though I haven't heard a word about a horse yet. Enjoy!

Comments

[Kathy C]

I'm sorry about the colicing. My daughters former horse Sierra would colic at the drop of a hat. It got to the point that the vet would leave me Banamine. He told me to administer it but always to call and tell him how things were going. No fun at all. I've learned never to give fresh hay even the smallest amount!

[Anne]

Thanks for the advice. I have Banamine on hand -- somewhere.

Buddy was colicking frequently and we couldn't figure out why. The vet said he might have a sub-clinical parasite problem and put him on daily wormer. I hate to even say it for fear of jinxing it, but he hasn't colicked since!

[Kathy C]

I hope the daily wormer works. Our horse we lost this winter was 26, and the more I learn, I think daily worming would have kept him with us a little longer.

But, hindsight is 20/20 I guess. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.