In which Seamus has run of the barn area

While waiting for the vet today, I picked at rain rot... *blegh* Then the vet called and had to postpone us til Monday which is fine, though I wanted to pick his brain about Seamus' hind legs stocking up a bit. I suspect it's due to a secondary infection because of the rain rot... I'm thinking I should put him on antibiotics. I have SMZs handy but I will call the vet in the a.m. to double check with them. Meanwhile, Seamus is gonna be bald by the time I've got all the scabs off him!

Since we had 60 degree weather today, I was able to take some soap and water to clean up under his tail a bit as he lost so much weight he's made a bit of a mess of himself, the poor guy. Also wiped some of the dirt off his face and trimmed up his bridle path a bit which he was pretty good for. He will be clean eventually but I can't wait until it's warm enough and he's well enough for a head to hoof bath! To really get an idea of how skinny he is, here's a pic of the inside of his thighs:

 

His thighs should be muscled up enough to be touching somewhat, instead I can fit my hand all the way up to where his haunches meet his stomach in the groin area. He'd lost all his body fat and the muscle was being eaten up next.

After I fussed with him awhile, I put him out in the barn area to pick grass and enjoy a little sunshine. I was in the barn straightening up and a few minutes after I put him out, here he comes wandering back in and comes up to me. I gave him a peppermint and put him in his stall to eat with the door open while I filled his water buckets. When he was done I put him back outside and a few minutes later here he comes again! He pesters me in the barn as bad as my mares do when they think there's something good in there LOL .

Our barn is an old tobacco barn so has rather large gaps between the siding which is great in the summer for air flow, but not so great when the weather is bad. Belle's stall is on the northwest end of the barn so I put a blue tarp up the first winter we moved in to keep out the bulk of the wind and snow. She couldn't care less and it's been great for desensitizing her and any other horse who is stalled near her. Trust me, she's a champ when it comes to any ACTHA obstacles involving tarps! The second time Seamus came in the barn, he wandered into Belle's stall to see if she'd left any of her dinner (no such luck) so I made him look at the tarp and when it was apparent it didn't bother him, I started shaking it and he really didn't even give it much of a look... I'm hoping this means he's got a good mind on him for further desensitization :)