"E. Gets Sick" or "Mom's First Trail Ride"

E. was supposed to go on a 4-H trail ride yesterday, but she's been feeling a bit under the weather. As we were driving out to the barn to get Q ready she decided that she was too queasy to go.....so I went in her place!

I was a little nervous about taking Q out on the trail - even knowing that he's an old hand at this and the whole ride was to be done at a walk. Once we got out there, though, it felt awesome! I had such a great time and didn't even mind the fact that it was so cold that my toes began to hurt within 20 minutes of leaving the parking lot. Below is a view from Q's back:


There were no bad incidents out on the trail, other than super cold hands and feet. We did have a run-away horse, however, while trying to load the animals. I was holding onto another rider's pony when it decided it wanted to find its horse buddy (who had already been loaded into another trailer). I tried to stop the pony but when he began to drag me through the gravel parking lot, I had to let go; there was no way I was going to stop him without getting myself hurt. He took off up a trail, while we quickly unloaded his buddy to lure him back down the trail. After 15 minutes of a game of chase and follow with this guy, we were able to capture the (very naughty!) runaway horse. I felt terrible about letting him go, but am unsure what else I could have done in the situation, other than have had him tied to the trailer to begin with rather than holding him by hand. In the end, no harm was done...and I learned a bit about how to catch a horse!

Back at the barn, friend T. took a look at Curly's back hooves. We agreed that the right one does smell a bit "off" - she thought it might be residual medicine smell. Friend A. suggested rinsing with bleach water a few times to clean out any remaining bacteria, which we will do soon. We also took a look at the left hoof, which is exhibiting some warmth at the top, near the hairline. It was decided that this one is a "wait and see" situation - could be swollen and injured from too much use through favoring the right hoof, or could be something as awful as another abscess. I'm really hoping it's just too much use causing the pain!

E. made turkey pot pie for dinner last night - Yum! Here's how she decorated the top:

I especially like the hearts surrounding his name and the little horse shoes at the bottom.

:-)

Walking on all four!

I dragged my mom and J. off to the barn last night right after Thanksgiving dishes to check on our horse friends and to make sure they had their blankets on. The weatherman was predicting temps in the teens and I didn't want my boys to get cold!

When we arrived all the horses were happy to see us....they thought we were there to feed them, I'm sure. (It was their dinner time, after all.) Curly was standing at his water trough; he followed us all the way to his stall - a distance of 25 to 30 feet, walking quickly and soundly! I was so happy to see that. I took a quick look at his hoof after we had blanketed him and it didn't seem any worse. Still a little soft in the heel, perhaps, but no obvious problems beyond that. I plan to go out later today and do the sugar pack and a thorough cleaning to insure that it is indeed healing well.

All okay so far...

E. and I stopped out at the barn yesterday evening just before her 4-H meeting. Incredibly, Curly was even muddier than the day before! But his feet didn't seem to be in worse shape...so I'll tentatively say that he's going to do just fine without any further extreme medical intervention. We will take the time to super-clean and soak his hoof this weekend to make sure there isn't any hidden infection. Perhaps he'll be healed enough for E. to actually take a slow ride in the arena on his back in a couple of months....

Bandages are off...

After discussing all the problems with Curly's hoof at great length with the barn manager, we both decided that it was time to take the duct tape and plastic boot off. A continually wet hoof is beginning to create more problems with his foot and we both figured that his frog should have healed enough by now to handle some normal walking pressure.

If things appear to worsen over the next couple of days, we plan to thoroughly clean the hoof, lay down some clean bedding and lock him into his stall while the infection is completely eradicated. I sincerely hope we don't have to resort to this - it's pretty drastic and sure to make Curly unhappy.

Both horses were covered in mud (wet and dry) from head to toe today. Hope they had fun rolling...'cause it won't be fun trying to get them clean again!

Curly and Q appear to be losing some weight so I will begin supplementing their diets with Strategy soon - that's a grain pellet for you non-horsey folks. :-) It's not uncommon for a horse to need more calories in the winter - it takes a lot of energy to stay warm!

Curly's fed up....

Curly was incredibly uncooperative yesterday when we tried to clean up his hoof. He's always been a bit difficult whenever we have tried to pick his hooves, but I think he is beginning to reach new levels of stubbornness. Every time I asked for his back right hoof he would lift his back left. I know that he is in some pain and really dreads wound cleaning time, but it has to be done!

After about 40 minutes, E. and I were finally able to do a halfway decent job. Mud had gotten into the boot, so he was a mess. I didn't get all the mud off his hoof, just a major portion. We also discovered a spot just above his hoof in the fur that has been rubbed a bit raw - just like when we get blisters from our shoes, really. So I decided to use the duct tape bandage inside the boot to prevent more rubbing and to hopefully help the boot fit better.

I am concerned that a portion of his hoof (the back, heel part) is too damp and consequently getting soft and a bit swollen. I'm not sure what to do about this, though, because EVERYTHING is wet and muddy now. Yesterday was the official opening day of the "suck your boots off" portion of mud season. I am actually looking forward to "frozen mud season" now.