90 Days, Whisper's Sprung!

Whisper is 90 days out on the injury that severed the majority of her deep flexor tendon. She's been on 100% stall rest since then. Last week she had her special shoe changed out to one that was a lower rise and safe for pasture use.

The skin wound is almost completely healed, there is only one hole, about the size of the tip of my thumb, that needs to close up. Moving sound, Whisper was cleared for leaving the stall.

It was a day we were excited about and dreading. If she tore the tendon again or did more damage to the leg running, it would be much more devastating than before. I handwalked her outside to graze for the first time and she began to self-longe, running circles around me even with the chain over her nose. Asking for control she began to rear and strike out with her front feet. I decided if the leg was sound enough that she could rear on it then trot without any hint of lameness, we were ready.

The next day I wrapped the leg up in a polo wrap and set her out with the boys, hoping she wouldn't damage Bandon kicking him or damage herself. Predictably, there was a lot of running at first.

Rolling was good too, she rolled 7 times in a row.

A few times the wind stirred them up to be silly again, still her leg was moving sound.

After 2 days on turnout, she did come back up a little lame. Nothing major, just obviously sore, I'm expecting a few days to be like that.

I took Bandon riding after all of this major change and reviews are mixed. He lost it in the crossties when Whisper was still out and I had him in the barn. I'm installing a hitch on the outside of the barn later today for tacking him up next time. I wouldn't call him studdish while she's in this super-strong first season of Spring, just a boy with a boy brain who was oblivious to me in his pursuit to get back to his mare.

Once I had him in the arena, he could see Whisper and settled in for a ride. We started steps for jump training with my new jump poles, unfortunately I learned that setting a straight line of correctly spaced poles while you're holding the reins of your goofy boy horse isn't easy. I couldn't tell my line was off until I was on him.

Whoops. Oh well, we made it work and damned if he didn't touch a  hoof on a pole. I dreamed last night I was riding him and he just glided over fences like floating over the top of a wave in the ocean.

Between that and looking out my window at 3 very content ponies, I'm happy happy happy (the only cleaning stalls once a day instead of three times - around a crazed mare - is an added bonus, that was a LONG 90 days).