Otto

Sunshine, soft, fluffy dirt and playing with friends are the best reasons to lay down for a nap…everyday…several times a day. It’s usually the position Otto is in when our volunteer photographer visits the property. (Thanks Kristina!) He can’t be bothered to get up unless it’s to blow kisses.

Otto spends his days and evenings sharing a paddock with his bestest friend in the whole world, Cramer. Along with Montana, Artie and George. After sharing a morning hay box with Cramer, the five enjoy a little grass turnout time. A few times a week Otto is enrolled in groundwork training where he has now learned to carry a saddle!

As part of a well-rounded education, our horses are put through paces that include more than just learning to wear a saddle. A class they must take and pass is learning to bump up to the rail. This serves several purposes, including but not limited to: learning to pick a rider up off the fence (not all of us can mount from the ground!), getting used to someone up above them, and learning to be ok with stimuli (like flags or a rope) in their blind spot. In the video below, you can see Otto on his way to ace the course.

This month was the first time Otto saw a saddle (or rather, the first time he wore one – technically he’d probably seen one before then). First saddlings are always interesting. We do our best to prepare the horse before we cinch them up for the first time. Touching them all over with the flag, placing saddle pads on their backs, throwing the rope around their middles, all exercises to help simulate the types of things they will undergo when they wear a saddle. But even with the best preparation, the saddle is still a completely different experience. The saddle is constant pressure that the horse must learn to deal with – aided by support from us. 

Many horses, when first saddled, will react to the first few (or even beyond the first few) saddlings. They are worried about the stirrups, about the various dangly bits on the saddle, about having something attached to their back. So we expected some reaction from Otto. But when that cinch was pulled snug, Otto just walked off, cool as a cucumber. Granted, he had the great support of Joel, but even still, his reaction (or lack thereof) was quite impressive. This was not a one off – Otto proved to be level headed with each subsequent saddling. The first time with a rider on his back he handled with the same mellowness. Not to say there weren’t still some spots where Otto got bothered, but overall, he was not reactive. This boy has a good (not to mention very cute!) head on his shoulders, and we are excited to continue our work with him. 

Otto arrived at SAFE the very definition of a ragamuffin, with a scruffy, mud-caked winter coat draped atop his thin frame. We looked forward to seeing what health would do for Otto. 

It brought out his personality, for starters. Even when on the mend from his tooth extraction, Otto remained a rambunctious and playful gelding. It also revealed some mysteries about his past.

During a vet visit, when Otto would be sedated to have his oral cavity repacked, we took the opportunity to microchip him (we try to coordinate microchipping with times when the horse is sedated for their comfort). Before chipping, we always scan to check that a chip does not already exist. Nine times out of ten, we find nothing. Otto was the exception. 

It was quite shocking when the chip reader scanned a number in Otto’s neck, even more shocking given that Cramer, the counterpart he arrived with, was not chipped. So there was a mystery afoot. 

As this was all happening, Otto had begun to shed his winter coat. His hair when clean was a light buckskin, which he was losing in great uneven swatches. But his undercoat was much darker, a caramel color, something akin to a perfectly toasted marshmallow. This shift in color was another unexpected surprise. 

And then, one afternoon, a patch on his neck drew attention – there were white hairs peeking through his patchy fuzz. “Could it be?” we asked, and it was:

A brand. Given by the BLM. Which explained where the microchip came from. With a pair of clippers, we further excavated the symbols that would give us an idea of who Otto was before he was Otto. 

We discovered he was from Nevada, from a herd management area called Red Rock, around 20 miles west of Las Vegas. With the assistance of the BLM and a very helpful woman who lives in the area and documents the wildlife there, we were able to obtain information about Otto’s past, as well as some photographs!

Born in March of 2019, Otto was rounded up in February 2020 as part of the Sacramento TIP challenge. This is the same time that Otto and Frosting came to know one another, as they were adopted together. Once thought to be siblings, we have since determined that the two were merely thought to be such due to their similar appearance and origins. 

At only three, Otto has already traveled more than some horses (or people, for that matter) do in their entire lives. But we are oh so glad that this little desert-born boy found his way to us. His past may still hold mysteries, but we are excited to be able to set up his future to be as clear and bright as possible. 

Last time our farrier was out, Otto successfully had all four of his feet trimmed. It is such a pleasure to watch this young man as he sheds out and grows up, the latter of which includes a vast difference between his first trim and this, his most recent one. Learning to stand and be patient for the farrier can be a big ask, especially when you’re not used to having your feet handled, but prep-work makes such a thing more and more manageable until eventually it becomes a non-issue. And when you’re a smart guy like Otto, that day seems to be arriving sooner rather than later.

Though his follow-up appointment wasn’t for another month, a few days after he returned from his check-in with Dr. Hanson, Otto decided he was ready to go back. His now characteristic bump was appearing noticeably larger, and after a call to the vet, it was decided that it would be a good idea for him to be seen again. So back up to Mt. Vernon he went.

(A brief sidebar here: we are so grateful for volunteer and driving master Jackie L, who volunteered both times to trailer Otto the three hour round-trip to the vet.)

Thanks, Jackie!

In Redmond, we waited for updates. 

The tooth fairy was smiling down on Otto, for when Dr. Hanson called, it was with the news that he was able to successfully extract Otto’s infected tooth from the inside – the best possible scenario. It meant recovery would be much easier, since there was not a need to open a hole in the side of his face to extract the tooth. Otto spent a few days at the clinic while Dr. Hanson evaluated the best packing for his cavity. We scheduled weeks of follow-up visits with Dr. Renner at Rainland to re-pack the area and ensure the healing process was coming along smoothly. 

Otto was seen three times for re-packs and checks, each time more healed than the last. He was to remain on the same course of antibiotics he was receiving until the cavity filled in at least 50% with granulation tissue. At his third check, Dr. Renner told us that the cavity was becoming more difficult to repack since it was closing up. Because of this, there was a good chance that the packing would not stay in as it once did, which would leave the cavity open to getting hay stuck in it. As this would inhibit his healing process, Otto temporarily switched to an all-senior grain diet – something he didn’t seem to mind at all! 

At his latest check, Dr. Renner declared Otto all healed up! He was cleared to come off of the antibiotics, and was given the go ahead to start eating hay again. Going forward, Otto will need dental checks every 6 months to ensure that his other teeth are doing well as he continues to mature. And though it has gotten smaller, the bump on his face will probably remain in some capacity for the rest of his life – not only a reminder of what he overcame, but a perfect indicator of where best to place a kiss.

Check out this video of a training session with Otto as he works on giving to pressure through the use of a rope:

This little cutie is feeling much better after packing on a few more pounds! He has proven to be fairly even mannered and willing to try what is asked of him. Pretty much ground ties like a champ for grooming sessions unless its food time and then all the attention is getting to his yummy hay! He was a bit of a stinker to pick up his hooves but that is getting better with constancy.  

He had a dental recheck a few weeks ago to see when and how they can best manage the removal the broken teeth he had on arrival at SAFE and clean up the area damaged by the infection.

The white area bulging around the first tooth is the infected bone area. The white line running at the other end of the tooth is where the jaw bone ends and the tooth comes out through the gum line. You can see there is just a very small amount of tooth showing through the gum line at the time this image was taken. This is why it’s so difficult to get a hold of and we are waiting for it to erupt more through the gums.

Dr. Hanson evaluated Otto’s progress a few weeks ago. Some more teeth have ruptured and emerged out of the gum line. The ulcerations have all healed. The infected tooth still has not emerged enough to get a good handle on it for an in-mouth extraction. There is a tool that could screw into the tooth and help pull out but there is concern that the tooth may fall apart during this procedure. The third option is to open a hole on the side of his mouth and remove the tooth by pushing it from the top. The concern here is that these holes may not close up and there can be complications.