Gia - sessions 1167-1169 - making progress, then more findings ...

 Monday 11/3/25

I started with Gia by treating several wounds she has - just minor cuts and scrapes, but it's better if I just go ahead and get those out of the way first.  She also has a bit of fungus here and there - near her shoulders, elbows, and a little under her belly.  

When I have been working with Gia on the grooming, I have been doing it with her off the crossties, and just with her leadline attached to her halter, but without having her tied to anything fixed. On this day, I noticed that when she became anxious about a place that she didn't like to be touched - her shoulder, elbow, belly, etc., she would tense up and start to get upset, but because she was loose, she started to seek out something to eat.  She started to use food as a distraction.  Not really surprising, since I often have used grain, or allowed her to graze, as a distraction from something like having her mane pulled or being clipped.  So, I would allow her to go for it, and once she was more relaxed, I would stop the negative touch, bring her back in the barn, and give her a little break.  Then repeat.  I did that several times on both sides of her body that day.

PS, see side note at the bottom of the blog.

Tuesday 11/4/25

I started out treating Gia's wounds and fungus again like I did on Monday.  Then I moved on to our grooming work, and it proceeded much like it did the day before.  However, when I got down to her shoulder and elbows and girth area, I noticed quite a bit more fungus than the day before.  She was also VERY unhappy when I was having to scrub to remove it before I could apply the Equiderma Lotion.  I started to wonder if the fungus could also be part of the problem.

Wednesday 11/5/25

I once again started out treating Gia's wounds, but when I got to her belly to treat her fungus, it was WAY worse.  It was completely covering the underside of her belly.  I decided it would be best to clip the hair wherever the fungus was.  She was quite hateful about that, and unfortunately, I had a limited amount of time, so I had to twitch her so that she would stand still and let me get the job done quickly. Once I had cleared away all the hair, I scrubbed away all the fungus, and applied Equiderma Lotion all over her underbelly, elbows and shoulders.  I have no idea what has made her break out into such a horrible fungal reaction.

Thursday 11/6/25

Danielle was able to give Gia a bath with a fungal shampoo.  The fungus had spread up through her inner thighs and her groin area.  Danielle also applied Equiderma Lotion all throughout her shoulders, elbows, belly, groin and inner thighs.  Hopefully, this will be the end of it!


Side note:

As I was writing the first day of this blog, it hit me - why don't we just let her graze completely, or let her eat hay, while we do a full grooming session with her, just like we did when we desensitized her to clipping and mane pulling?  Danielle has been working with her this week, so she will start changing things up this way tomorrow!  Stay tuned!

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