08/21/2025
I spy with my little eye, something that should not be there...
This little white lump you see in the corner of the horse's eye is called a habronema, commonly referred to as summer sores. This is the result of an intestinal parasite burrowing into the skin. Because the parasites are inbedded into the skin and not the intestinal lining (their natural habitat) the parasites die off. The dead remains of the parasites cause an allergic reaction, which then results in these ugly sores. I decided the best plan of action was to cut out the affected tissue and inject a steroid where we removed the sore. This guy has greatly improved since we last saw him, and his owner has done a great job keeping this issue at bay. Unfortunately, this will be a lifelong battle for this gelding as long as there are flies around. Fortunately, with the proper care, we are able to make it much more managable.