Jumping ponies

Monte had his first real jumping lesson today...Oh, and E did too.

He wasn't convinced that going over trot poles was really all that necessary. Eventually the instructor had to put wings on the trot-poles to keep him from side-passing off the course. Silly pony.


They never did jump over the poles, but he did finally figure out that they weren't going to eat him.

PC Quiz Rally

E competed in a Pony Club Quiz Rally this past weekend up in the Spokane area. This was her first quiz rally...well, actually, it was her first rally of any type.

We drove up to Spokane on Friday afternoon. I let the GPS on my iPhone pick the route - perhaps not the best move. It took us through all kinds of country roads (rather than the more usual highway/freeway route) and I wondered more than once if we would actually make it to our destination. We were able to take one side trip because of this, however. Palouse Falls is a beautiful site of an ancient flood area that now has just the one falls. Very grand scenery, indeed.

Palouse Falls - I'm guessing that it's about a 150' drop.

We tried to eat dinner at The Milk Bottle in Spokane but discovered that it closes at 4:00 - we arrived at 4:45. Maybe next time....

The Milk Bottle - supposedly some of the best diner food in Spokane....

PC Quiz Rallies are a fun team event in which the members test their horse knowledge against each other. E's team was made up of 2 other girls from her local club and a "pick-up" team member from the Cle Ellum area. The theme of the day was the "wearing o'the green" and their team name was the Limerick Lasses. They had lots of fun - and looked sufficiently ridiculous - and were declared the best-dressed team for the day. They also happened to take second place in their division. Not bad for a first time out.

The Limerick Lasses, with their chaperone-extraordinaire!

Heading out to the Barn Phase....

This next pic is totally unrelated to horses, but I just love the free-spirit that is my youngest daughter. She is such an individual in so many ways....including her choice of clothing!


And finally, here's the last pic I took of Curly - just a couple of days before we had him put down. I'm still sad. In fact, I am surprised by the depth of the grief I have been experiencing. I was really unprepared for these feelings.....

A hole in my heart....

I'm still a little weepy - and am dreading going out to the barn today. I didn't realize how hard this would be for me.

So, briefly, here's a recount of Curly's last couple of days.

After the vet opened up the abscess on his hoof, Curly was walking fairly well, putting weight on all four hooves. She was optimistic that all would go well. On Friday morning, however, he had developed a problem with the other hind hoof and was back to being 3-legged. Another abscess was suspected.

After talking about Curly's history of recurring abscesses, his general health issues and then taking a hard look at his poor hoof conformation, she recommended that we not go any further with treatment. The vet's exact words were, "If this were my horse, I would put him down today." So hard to hear, but I am thankful for her truthfulness and willingness to offer her advice even if it's not what the owner might want do.

Curly was in extreme pain - even while on meds - and was very agitated. So I decided to follow her advice. (I learned this afternoon that after I left him on Friday morning he laid down and spent most of the day this way. This helps me know that I did indeed make the right choice.)

Our barn owners graciously offered to take care of the details for me. Curly was euthanized in their trailer and then taken up to the mountains to be buried. I am very grateful to have wonderful people like this in my life.

And I am very grateful to have had Curly in my life as my first horse.

He is missed.

E hugging Curly....

Goodbye Curly

I'm too sad to write anything more....

Abscess update

Got a call from the barn manager last night - Curly appeared to be doing worse.

After rushing out there again, I re-cleaned the hoof and we put him into his stall, adding a gate across the run so that he was forced to stay out of the mud for the night. Curly was NOT HAPPY with this arrangement.

The farrier arrived bright and early this morning to trim both boys' hooves. Curly was still a 3-legged horse, though, so there was no way his could get trimmed. Mike tried to determine just what the heck was going on with Curly but he wasn't able to find anything else.

So after we finished up with Monte's pedicure, I hauled Curly off to the vet. The vet's office was totally packed today so she squeezed Curly's care in between other appointments. She took some x-rays of his hoof and found a pocket of infection that she was then able to open up. And it was indeed related to that crack I had noticed on Saturday on the outside of his hoof.

When she sliced into the area black pus, and then blood, came out - YUCK! They had to sedate and then do 2 nerve blocks on Curly in order to accomplish this and she still wasn't able to make him comfortable enough to open the abscess up completely. The doctor medicated and wrapped the hoof up after they were done and then gave the poor boy some bute. He was not feeling too good after the whole ordeal.

Curly is spending the night at the vet's office. I'll pick him up early tomorrow morning. Crossing my fingers that he's feeling much less pain now.

Curly the 3-legged horse

I ended up calling the farrier out yesterday. Curly looked miserable and I just had to do something to make him feel better.

After a little investigation and a bit of shaving on the bottom of his hoof, what appears to be a drain hole was found. Didn't see anything come flowing out but we are hopeful that by opening up the hole to the surface the pressure in the hoof will now be released.

I packed the area with an epsom salt poultice, put the medicine boot on and led the poor horse back to his stall.

I'll go out again this morning to check and re-clean the hoof. Crossing my fingers that he's doing better today.

Another abscess?

E is sick. High fevers (101 - 102), sore throat, fainted on Saturday (That was scary! You try catching someone taller than you as they collapse to the floor!).

We had previously purchased tickets to a local fundraiser/banquet for Saturday evening. Since dinner was already paid for, hubby and I decided to pop in, eat dinner and head out before the auction fun began. Just as we sit down to eat, my phone rings.

Our barn manager is worried. Curly is laying down in the field and won't get up. Colic? Injury somewhere? She can't tell at this point.

So I jump in the car (leaving hubby at the banquet) and rush to the barn. By the time I arrive Curly has successfully made it to the tie bar on the side of the barn. But it is obvious it took some effort. The poor boy won't put any weight on his right hind hoof, which makes us all immediately suspect that there is an abscess forming even though we don't see anything on the hoof yet. Curly doesn't respond to any pressure with the calipers, either, but abscess is still our best guess.

I apply an epsom salt poultice, wrap it up and put on the medicine boot we have. Curly is (painfully) lead to the round pen for the night and given some bute to help with the pain. It just breaks my heart to see him hurt so much.

Since I'm still in my steppin' out clothes, and hubby is still at the banquet, I head back to dinner and then home to my sick child (who still has a fever over 100). I'm exhausted and my eyelid is twitching - a little stress, perhaps? :-)

My wonderful barn mangers checked on Curly several times throughout the night; he seemed to be doing okay - or was at least standing the whole time! When I arrived Sunday morning I took off the poultice. It smelled pretty bad but I didn't find any obvious drainage hole. Since he was moving with only a slight limp, I decided to let him go on out to the field for the day. He was able to use the hoof, but we could see that it was tender.

I checked on Curly a second time yesterday afternoon, re-cleaned the hoof and soaked it in a bucket of water and epsom salt. I didn't find anything that looked like his previous abscesses, but there is a crack on the outside of his hoof, with a horizontal crack at the top of it. It may be that the abscess is draining from this spot.

Throughout this whole ordeal I've watched Curly's face and eyes. I want to know what he looks like when I KNOW he is in pain so that I can be a better judge of days when I think he may be but I am not entirely sure. And here's the weird thing - his eyes and demeanor during the last two days have been exactly the same as they always are. He has a slightly worried look over his sweet, dark eyes. And he's the same gentle dope that he usually is - sometimes pushy, but generally trying to do what ever it is you're asking. What does this say about his general pain level? I wish he could tell me more clearly....

The farrier is already scheduled to come out on Thursday. Unless there is some drastic change, we'll just keep that appointment rather than call him in early to take care of this. In the meantime, I'll be going out to clean and soak his hoof several times each day.