This past Satruday morning a buddy of mine's horse came down with very rapid onset symptoms of a vicious cold. Many flu-like symptoms. Headache, body aches, chills, dry cough, sore throat, congestion, later turning into a runny nose to go along with it. He went to bed Friday night feeling fine and woke up Saturday looking and feeling like death. Being the pede I am, I recommended the paste. He's been skeptical of it and decided to go the traditional route with OTC meds. Still feeling like death as of today. My horse, however, has a VERY strong immune system (healthy as a horse you could say!), supplementing with D, C, zinc, oregano oil, black seed, oil, etc. My buddy and I have been hanging out since the day before Thanksgiving so I figured I'd let it ride and see how my horse felt over time.

Well, today's the day it got mine, just about four hours ago. He has all the symptoms, without the congestion, and feels like absolute hammered dogshit. So I did what any good pede would do and went down to my local Tractor Supply and picked up a couple of tubes of Durvet. I just gave him his first dose, followed by some chocolate milk, and he said it really ain't bad. Smeared it all the way on the back of his tongue and he barely tasted it when he swallowed. First treatment in the books.

I'm going to update this post each day and give y'all a running commentary on how his condition progresses. Based on other's experiences, I figure he should be back to full gallop by Wednesday or Thursday.

Right now, though, he needs some dinner. And oddly enough, he says he seems to have quite the hankerin' for some barley soup. Or maybe some oatmeal. Giddyup!

DAY 1 UPDATE: My horse had some difficulty sleeping last night, with some bad congestion and major sinus headache. Lots of body aches along with sweats and then body chills to go with it. Woke up this morning super tired but not feeling any worse than yesterday. So that's a good thing. The scratchy throat, dry cough, and runny nose have pretty much gone away. Congestion, headache, body aches, and general overall tiredness remain. Spent quite a bit of time resting on the sofa and napping. Been staying full of fluids and eating even though his appetite is gone. Also taking OTC congestion meds and acetaminophen. Took the second dose of ivermectin around lunch time and beginning to feel a bit better. Hoping for a better night's sleep tonight.

Talked to my buddy and his horse is still super duper sick.

DAY 2 UPDATE: My horse slept a little better last night but still with the sweats and the chills. More body aches, too, which was unexpected. I decided to dose him twice, once in the late morning and once in the evening, and see how things go. So far, so good. I gave him some Claritin for the sinus congestion and he's been breathing easy all day. Still with the body aches, though. His appetite has come back a little but not much. I managed to get him to eat some red beans and rice for dinner and he was happy about that. Overall energy has improved although he's still a little sluggish. Definitely feeling better than he was on Monday.

My buddy tells me his horse is still pretty sick, although slightly improved from yesterday.