I guess we are starting out early this year. It's usually closer to the end of summer before things get fired up. The culprit?
Looks nasty, huh? Jesse thinks so, too, since Bill found it in her foot. Fortunately, it only poked in about 1/4-1/3 of an inch. I don't know if it started out bent, or she bent it stepping on it. Her sole is so thick and strong, it could be either. When I fed this morning, I found Jesse lying on the ground; no big deal, but when she was slow in getting up and coming to me for breakfast, I noticed a gimp. It was so mucky, I couldn't find anything on her foot, but I didn't have anything with me to really dig with; no swelling or heat in the leg, but I still mentioned it to Bill, so he went over and dug around in her foot with his handy-dandy multipurpose tool. Sure enough this explained why she wouldn't put any weight on that hind foot. Bill pulled it out to discover it hadn't penetrated very deep-thankfully-and I soaked her foot, packed it with our old doc's favorite "sugar pac" (betadine and powdered sugar on a maxi-pad) and called the vet for a tetanus shot.
It surprised me when the vet said he would be "right up!". For a shot? Turns out he had a horse go bad after stepping on a nail this year; was at a vet hospital for a month, having chipped the coffin bone! When he looked at her "tennis shoe" as I call it, he laughed and said, "Looks like one of old Doc Dull's sugar pacs." He was much relieved to see that he couldn't even find the hole and Jesse let him poke around a good deal on her foot. He gave all the horses their yearly shots and helped re-pack Jesse's foot, saying that was probably all we would need to do for a week, thanks to her thick, hard sole. She trotted off back to the corral with barely a hint of lameness.
We got off easy this time. When she was three, she had three absesses and one nail wound because she likes to bounce up and down in deep mud to splash the other horses - and there is always something hidden in the mud!
Juanita
Ouch! Hope it continues to do well.
ReplyDeleteOh poor girl!
ReplyDeleteThough we've had nothing like that... must not be too many nails lying around?
Glad she is doing well!
Juanita, now here is some common ground, nails aren't good for quads either...LOL
ReplyDeleteBut although some TLC is required in both cases, the quad never has needed a tetanus shot...*snort*
Oh, poor Jesse! Glad you found it before it got worse. I'm with Mr. Daddy...Jesse needs a tetanus shot. :)
ReplyDeleteRed found a nail last year about this time and it abscessed and he coliced. He's so stoic, we didn't know how one led to the other until we saw the nail puncture later. I think this time of year, with the mud and all, thing get dug up. In fact, it was this time of year when Cowboy broke his coffin bone--I believe on a golf ball that had become loose with the mud. A previous owner of the property used to drive balls into the pasture!
ReplyDeleteHope she heals up soon for you!