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....

Not a good horse weekend: Part 1 - Friday

I can't even tell you how much
I really wish we were already living
in that horse-friendly place out in the country.

Where I could actually keep an eye on the horses.
Right out my own window.

This is how I wish my weekend had gone....

It was NOT a good horse weekend. Although, I suppose, since all of them ARE still upright, it could have been a lot worse....

The horses got a new bale Friday. When G put it out, it ended up ground side facing the herd, and even more unfortunately, close enough that they could reach it over the fence. Grrrr.

I usually have the chance to peel that part off and I certainly don't feed it, but by the time we got out there that night, Sunny, being a bit of a pig, munched his way through lots more yucky hay than was good for him. (I suppose the plus side to his being a pig is that he was the only one who'd been eating it....) But when we got out to feed, he was... off.

Just not his usual self - you know the look? Sort of semi-glazed: no whinnying in greeting when we piled out of the truck; not aggressively removing the mares from the good hay, once it was distributed; not waiting for me and following me around.

Of course, it was dark. And cold.

He wasn't sweating or otherwise really distressed. We checked for gut sounds (good) - stethoscope came in handy, there - his gums were nice and pink, and the refill rate was good. He didn't want to lay down. It was just my gut was telling me his was bothering him.

We baby-sat him for several hours, during which he'd perk back up for a while, and then go back into slightly worried-horse mode. But the "good" spells got longer and longer, and the worried spells got shorter and shorter, and finally he was tugging to go back to the hay. As soon as he was loose, he pooped and then chased the mares out of his spot. Ordinarily, annoying, but right then, I was glad to see him being his crabby self.

We watched him a while longer, but I was almost sure he was feeling better. J & G weren't home, so I left a message for her to check him later on in the evening when they got home, and to call me, which she did. He was standing, with the others, not eating, but seemed social enough when she talked to him. She'd keep an eye on him and call me in an hour or if anything changed. I sweated through the hour until her second call wondering if I shouldn't just drive back out. But finally called and reported he was eating and totally ignored her. She'd check again before she went to be at 11 PM and call me if anything looked off.

I headed out early, early Saturday morning after very little sleep, to check on him. He'd been laying down by the mud he was wearing, but he greeted me with his usual enthusiasm, so that crisis seemed past.

So that was Friday

Pennie: Ride 2

No rain, nothing but some big black, disconnected clouds mixed with nice bright fall sunshine! Which meant I could make riding plans for this evening. Call me a chicken, but I really wasn't up for ride #2 all by myself, cell phone or no, so I wheedled T into going out with me.

Me: "If we can leave work by 4, we'll have two full hours before you have to go bowl...."
T: "Well,...."
Me: "I don't want to ride for long - we'll just be there for an hour or so."
T (who's heard that before - more than once, and knows better): "I don't know... I have some things to finish up, and students who might stop by the office later...."
Me: "We could throw a second saddle in and you could ride Sunny, if you wanted?" Wait a minute, what did I just say?
T: "Hey - that sounds good! I'll see what I can do."
Ulp!

Don't get me wrong, I don't really mind if he rides Sunny... not really. But.... Sunny's my horse - he's used to me, and I've been working on getting him to listen and respond as I like. But T sounded so enthusiastic. So, my options were a) back out, b) have him ride Pennie (er, no!) and c) shut up, and let the man ride my horse. Sigh.

On the plus side, it would give me something else to focus on besides being nervous on Pennie. And as it turned out, it was fine.

But then, we both had plenty to focus on!

I've been graining the horses lightly (a couple cups each) when I call them up, in hopes that they'll reacquire the habit of actually coming when I holler rather than me walking the 1/2 mile to the back pasture to retrieve them. Well, they all came up, but Amyra, T's three-year-old filly was acting a bit odd.

She stuck her nose in the feed pan readily enough, but then backed off and started looking uncomfortable. We kept an eye on her while we groomed & saddled, and when she laid down, called the vet. I don't like messing around with anything that looks like colic. She didn't seem too distressed, but this is not a horse that's bashful about getting her share of the grain.

Rather than not ride at all, we decided T would pony her off Sunny (oh help - now not only is he riding my horse, but ponying off him....), a first for at least two of the three of them. I certainly wasn't going to be so bold as to pony off Pennie. Oh, she'll pony, or at least she used to, but I wanted both hands free - oddly enough!

So, there I was, torn - worry about the balky, possibly colicky mare who could be stopping because she's irritated she's being made to follow, or because she's uncomfortable. Or, worry about the mare I'm on that's not exactly operating on full power steering. Or watch Sunny and worry about what he's going to do with a strange rider who's using only one hand and who's also concentrating on watching the balky mare beyond him. Yeesh!

But you know what - other than Amyra's balkiness and Sunny and T having a few communication issues (T's used to well-broke horses that neck-rein - Sunny's used to, well, me), none of which were serious - everything went pretty smoothly.

The vet arrived, and of course, by that point Amyra seemed fairly perky again. She had good gut sounds in all four quadrants, but he gave her a shot of banamine anyway, and left after telling us to keep an eye on her for a bit. If all continued as she looked then, she would likely be fine.

T & Sunny dragged Amyra 'round the pasture a few more times for practice. Pennie was still a bit resistant and wanted to get back with the other mares, but more settled with company.

After the vet left I paid less attention to the other three - since I'd already survived being distracted, and Pennie'd shown no signs of escalating her resistance, I was more relaxed. And after a couple of good heel-to-ribs thumps when she balked & stiffened her neck, Pennie paid attention and was even beginning to soften, neck-reining through the figure-eights if not exactly effortlessly, at least more smoothly than the plow-reining I was resorting to yesterday.

I never did manage to locate the full-cheek snaffle, but changed out the Myler snaffle for a simple grazing curb with a loosely adjusted leather chinstrap. She was immediately happier with that set-up.

Amyra was trotting around flinging her head at the other mares when we left, so all seemed well there. Sunny looked pleased to have T's greater weight off his back, but not unduly disgusted with his ride. It was interesting watching him respond to T - who was having a heck of a time with my extra-long reins. Both of them were fairly patient even through the mixed signals, and I think given a few more rides, they'll figure each other out.

Overall, I was pleased with Pennie's behavior tonight - maybe tomorrow we'll trot.

Colic

Sunday was beautiful. Bright, sunny, not too warm with just enough breeze to remove the bugs without removing the horse-brains. I put off visiting the ponies until evening when I'd done my house chores and would be able to ride for an hour or so without feeling guilty about leaving everything else unattended.

Calling up the horses was a simple matter of yelling "come o-on" over the hill, and in they thundered.... well, almost. One of the usual leaders was absent. Lace, one of the senior mares, straggled in most of the way up to the lot and laid down(!). Not good.

I shut the gate on the group and walked out. Urging got her back up and moving to the gate where she laid down again. So not good! After getting her back on her feet, I couldn't hear strong gut sounds and her breathing was a bit shallow and more tellingly, she didn't join the others for grain. On the plus side, her feet weren't noticeably warm, and she wasn't overly distressed (no sweating, or trembling). Still, Lace is perky and opinionated: she's lead mare, not a follower, and she does not willingly miss a meal. A quick trip to the barn for a halter and we started walking.

A vet visit produced a diagnosis of mild colic, and a banamine shot, tubal application of a gallon of mineral oil and a lot of walking later, she went back out with the herd a much perkier mare. She went scavenging in the grain buckets for potential missed crumbs before rejoining the bunch!

So much for my riding plans, but it was good to see them all upright and perky tonight, and I'm very glad I went out late on Sunday evening. There's no telling if Lace would have been noticed in the far field until it was too late to do anything. I'm also grateful the vet was willing and available to come out on a Sunday evening when he wasn't on call. We probably could have walked through it, but I never like leaving that sort of thing to chance.