On Tuesday the horse named Hugh Jackman stopped eating his hay (still grazing on his lush pasture, so I wasn’t too worried). On Wednesday he began standing at his water tank for HOURS lapping the water like a dog (have a video, but no idea how to post one) --I thought, huh, something up with the tank --but checked it, cleaned it, refilled it --and still --lap, lap, lap.
On Thursday I called the vet and made an appointment for Friday --he said since horse was not in pain, was drinking water (and not dehydrated) and eating (loving that new green grass) there was no emergency --meanwhile, he had a few emergency calls that afternoon already . . .so Friday it was.
On Friday, vet came and watched my video of Hugh Jackman lap-lap-lapping the water. He took Hugh’s temperature and looked him over --he asked me to play the video again and said, “Watch his neck,” sure enough --when Hugh swallowed, he did a small jerk --every time --like he’d been poked with something sharp.
And the diagnosis? Sore throat! There’s a virus going around the Amish horses (I have Amish on 3 sides of my pasture) --some have it worse than others --sore throat, nasal discharge, fever. HJ had no nasal discharge, and no fever. Treatment is Banamine --by mouth --and put a little water on his food. He will be fine.
So if your horse laps water like a dog . . .consider a sore throat!
