If They Were Easy, Everyone Would Have One

Yesterday it rained and postponed our lesson, today it was in the 70's, gorgeous outside, and I'd had it up to here with the 12 hour Mommy shifts I was pulling during potty training of our youngest three. I was balancing precariously on the brink of losing all that was left of my sanity as a human.

Chris came out to the barn to help with the kids so I could focus on riding my girl. I got to her stall and there it was. A dark shadow of something all over her back leg and covering her hoof. Her stall was full of shadows with the lights off for the heat of the day, so I was still hopeful it was mud.

She limped to the wash rack. It wasn't mud.

Thick dried blood caked her fetlock while fresh blood still dripped down a hoof that looked torn and splintered. No. No no no! My mind raced to hoof injury, top of hoof, time to grow down and repair... I'd just lost my horse to expensive treatments and healing for months. Her whole leg was swollen and hot.

Standing in my riding clothes, half chaps and all, I tried not to cry. I was able to get it hosed off and clean the blood away while we waited for the vet to arrive.

After sedation, she debrided the wound, and was able to give us an idea of what we were looking at. It appeared that Whisper had gotten hung up on something in the pasture the night before and judging by the soft tissue swelling and capped hock, fought. The hoof damage we thought was awful wasn't as bad as it looked since the tissue over it was so swollen it distorted our view.

Whisper has to stay stalled for 3 days, Bute for inflammation, and an antibiotic. She's in a pressure wrap and with a steroid silver cream mix applied often we're hoping to avoid proud flesh.

By Monday we'll do films if the lameness isn't markedly better. If proud flesh occurs, vet will come back to evaluate. The damage to the growing hoof will have to just be assessed as we go over the next few months.

Day 2

Playing nursemaid to a 1000 pound patient is not the easiest job, especially when the patient is confined, hot blooded, and fast to kick. I figured out a system for cleaning, treating, and wrapping the wound after mild sedatives and 2 helpers failed miserably the first morning she wasn't fully sedated.

I also happened to take off her bell boots to clean since she had mud on her ankles slightly visible above the boots. This was under the boot, under the mud, on the left front.

It's clear now she was trapped in something Wednesday night during turn out. Luckily the front foot wound didn't cause any lameness, is healing well, and I've already got the right stuff on hand to treat it. I've also started treating the rain rot that is coming up all over her legs.

Turn out on Saturday night is going to be a must so that she doesn't do more damage pacing small circles all night in her stall. She's rubbed her tail and her mane badly and Ace isn't taking the edge off.