Well, it's been well over a month since we first got a diagnoses on Krystall and currently she is still on Prednisone to shut down her immune system to keep her system from attacking her body. We still do not have any reason as to why, all of a sudden, a perfectly healthy horse came down with an auto immune disorder, if that is what it actually is.
She was still itchy and scabby at the end of April, so we increased her dose of the Prednisone ... but in the last week, we've been weaning her off by 1-2 pills a day. We're at mid May now and her body is looking closer to what it should even though we have drastically cut her meds.
Now for the million dollar question - what next? The Norwegian Fjord horse is a very hearty, healthy breed with little to no vet bills required for abnormal health issues. With a diagnosis like this, that can pop up at any time without warning, she would not be an acceptable mare for breeding - our primary purpose for her on our farm. Yes, that may sound harsh. It is. Life is not easy and hard decisions have to be made and unfortunately we have to make some decisions.
We have 4 options, none of which are good. 1. Find someone who doesn't mind the risk and will buy her for a really affordable price, 2. Find a vet school that would take her to do testing with and see if they can find out more information about auto-immune disorders in equines, 3. Find a therapy program or non-profit that would take her as a donation (she is a very sweet girl that rides and is trained for ground driving!) or 4. wait and see with putting her down as a final option if this condition pops up again. Yes, I did write that. It is an unfortunate part of farm life and an option that we have to consider.
If you know of someone interested in purchasing or a non profit group that is interested in a donation, please, by all means, contact us. QUICKLY. Her dermatitis may never pop up again or it could come back again next year, so this is something one will have to take into consideration.
We are a diversified micro farm with a new location just outside of Boise, Idaho. Come learn about us, the Norwegian Fjord horses, the Irish Dexter cattle, Jacob sheep and more about all we do here on the farm ... loving farm life! We believe YOU can farm too - join with us today!
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