It has been... a day.

Feeding tonight, and first thing I notice as I collect horses is Foxy is lame again. Looked to be the right front foot, darn it. So I get everybody situated with grain, and gates wrangled for T who's run out between classes to move a bale for me. We needed to switch vehicles because the truck is steering strangely and I wanted him to see if he could feel it too. Of course I'd picked up grain, and that all had to be transferred to the barn before he headed back in, and he's left students working on things in the lab, so he's in a hurry....

So, back to Foxy - back feet cleaned out fine, not hot or sore. But when I picked up the left front she almost fell down on me. Definitely something with the right front. Yes, indeed: a very old, rusty, fencing nail. Grrrr!

Thanks to a recent post by Mrs. Mom, I had fresh in my mind the quick pre-vet care for that: duct tape and two pieces of wood thick enough to allow Foxy to bear weight on that foot without driving the nail in any farther. I just needed to find the tape (since mine went with the truck and T back to town) and two pieces of wood the right size. Thankfully, G was home and gracious enough to provide the tape and a hand with cutting it into strips while I held the wood in place & taped.

Got his okay to call the vet, since Foxy belongs to them and J wasn't home and can't take personal calls at work.

Called the vet clinic. Yes, they could send a vet - unfortunately not the horse guy, but beggars can't be choosers, and he could come in half an hour or so. Called work, let them know I'd be late and could someone please stay until I arrived. Wonder of wonders, the vet actually did arrive when he said he would, (although he forgot a couple things he needed...).

He'd have preferred to haul her in to the clinic for x-rays, but after he looked at it said it wasn't TOO bad. The staple hadn't broken off, wasn't embedded very deeply, and if there isn't too much bruising, may not abcess. Penicillin, tetnus booster, bute for pain, soaking.... the usual, and call about a repeat visit and x-rays if she hasn't stopped limping in two days.

While we're soaking Foxy's foot I look down the lot to see Sunny lie down, get up, and lie back down again and then he's flat out on his side. Oh crap. So I collect him and bring him up - at least it's convenient that a vet is on hand, but at this point I'd really prefer the horse guy! Good gut sounds in all four quadrants, and temp is normal. Sunny's not trying to lie down or kicking at his belly - and wasn't real thrilled about having his temperature taken.... Vet says probably gas, walk him for 20-30 minutes and see how he does. If anything changes, the horse vet is on call tonight, and will come.

So I walk him up & down the driveway & road for 30 minutes , during which he plods along politely, occasionally attempting to pull me over to where there's new grass started along the edges. He's not exactly perky, but he's not glazed & pain-faced, either. No manure production or audible gas, though :(

While we trudge I call J who's off work but has meetings all evening, and update her on Foxy & Sunny - she'll check on him when she gets home. Then I call T, who is finally home from work - he'll drive out and check on Sunny after he finishes getting H fed & started on her homework. Put Sunny back in with the herd, and he stands at the fence looking at me. I'd prefer trotting off gleefully, but....

So I headed back in to scrape the mud off, find work clothes and relieve the library director, who waited the extra hour & a half for me to appear.

T called around 7 pm & said Sunny was upright & protecting his spot at the bale from the rest - he wasn't eating, but was alert enough to whinny at T & make "feed me" faces as usual, so that's a good sign. J emailed me at work around 8 pm and reported he was eating and chasing the mares away, which is usual behavior for him, so that made me feel better. She'll check on him later, too, and I'll run out early before work in the morning.

I don't think it could have been the new bale of hay, which is quite lovely, and which he hadn't yet touched - several of the mares dived in and they were fine. He was eager enough to eat his grain, which was not from the new batch I just picked up, and which none of the others showed any sort of ill effects from eating. I guess for now, as long as he's okay, it's a matter of note it and watch for recurrences....