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Ticks! YUCK!

3K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  corporate pride 
#1 ·
Lately I have been finding a LOT of ticks on sonny. I go to the barn every day and always check him out really well, so I usually find them right away. I have my grandpa get them off and they always come off no problem and are really small and its no big deal.

Lately I have found some yellow crusties in his tail, but figure it was just bug bites because I never found any bugs, just the crusties. Well tonight I was going threw his tail, and noticed a lot of crusties towards the bottom. And there at the very tip of his tail was the BIGGEST tick I have ever seen! of course I was alone at the barn tonight, and I have the biggest bug phobia ever. I was too much of a chicken to get it off and now I feel like the worst mom ever :(.

But my grandpa is going down first thing in the morning to get it off for me. What I was wondering is there anything I should put on the bite area once he gets it off? And now after seeing that huge one I am really worried about sonny getting some disease from all these ticks. Should I be worried?
 
#2 ·
Cant tell you whether to worry or not. My horses live in tick central. ugh.... I do my best to keep repellent(aka tick killer) on them during the season. I pick them off and put them in a jar/plastic bottle with some rubbing alcohol in it to kill those who sneak thru. As far as I know they haven't contracted any tick born illnesses. Btw, the crusties are irritation serum from tick attachment. I pick that off and apply some ointment..
 
#4 ·
My Appendix got Anaplasmosis (spelling?) last summer. It is a tic born disease. The signs are high fever and lack of appetite and basically tired not themselves. Treated with different meds and a drip line in his neck for a week not fun. In Horse and Rider this month a reader sent in a helpful hint that works for tics when riding in long grass/woody areas. She said that she sprays Pam or any other type of cooking spray on the legs and that the greasy slippery surface makes it hard for the tics to climb. Not sure how well it works but its worth a try. I hate them!!!
 
#7 ·
oh i will have to try pam!

appyt, what kind of ointment do you put on?

well my godfather got the tick off really easily, i guess he wasn't even attached. and according to him, he wasn't that big haha. so hopefully that is a good sign.

are ticks around only in the spring or int he summer as well? i have had horses since i was 7 and NEVER have had a tick problem like this year. but im at a new barn that is located on a creek so i think that doesn't help...
 
#9 ·
Sometimes I use Desitin, sometimes i use Corona.. Anything you have that will medicate it a bit. I'm not religious about it. Depends on the severity of the crustie. I like Desitin for so many skin issues. Swiped it up tween my Granddaughters geldings hind legs cuz he had tick bites there that were driving him nuts(ie scratching his bumm on anything he could) this evening. He decided he didn't want to stick around the barn after that. LOL
 
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