Horseshoes & Tattoos, 31 Days Out

We've crossed the 30 day mark since Whisper's injury. The wound itself is looking good and we've dodged infection while scarring (tendon healing) is forming. Odds are growing steadily in our favor to have a pasture-sound horse at the end of this. My vet is staying on top of her healing process the whole way, probably deserving extra points for handling a slightly neurotic TB *cough* owner *cough* as well.

She's graduated from the rolled-up casting and tape heel elevator, to one fashioned out of steel.. Keeping her toe down and heel up will keep the tendon in the best position to heal.

The bars on this shoe are fashioned so that they can fairly easily be cut to gradually lower the heel down over time, hopefully keeping the tendon from healing too tightly while providing enough support that the tendon isn't stretched while weak. With the shoe on, she's moving at a walk like a sound horse.

Obviously, this is a strictly stall-rest-only shoe. Stall rest is becoming more difficult for Whisper and it hurts my heart to see her sometimes exhibiting neurological behaviors like weaving, chewing, and spinning. The radio is on 12 hours a day and she has company at all times. A few times a week she won't allow me in her stall to pick as she works up into a full episode of spinning, When she's like that, we're better off leaving her to work it out and coming back later to clean. As of today, she's been cleared to start walking the barn aisle (the same shavings/dirt combo as her stall to keep the shoe stable) with me.

Bandon and Spotlight are showing signs of her confinement taking a toll on them too. The lack of herd interaction while they are on solo turnout shows when I handle them. Rain is back soaking our area and preventing me from getting in much riding in anyway so it's just a strange sort of vacation for everyone. Daylight Savings is the most anticipated "holiday" of the year for horse folk and I'm counting the days.

While we wait out a dry out, I had a tattoo done to represent my beloved Thoroughbreds. I searched a long time to find just the right image. The day after sitting for the tattoo, I saw a photo Boss Mare Photography took of Bandon and I couldn't believe the resemblance. It wasn't meant to be a portrait, more a likeness of a TB that could be gray or bay with a star since both of mine have one, it turned out a LOT like my bay baby horse.