Never's spa day

Never had re-injured himself about a week and a half ago, but after being on stall rest and bute he seems to be recovering. I have to be careful that he doesn't injure himself again, though. I turned him out in the round pen yesterday, and realized that he had way too much energy and high spirits to be turned out by himself. All of the bucking and kicking and sunfishing that he did would have put a prize bronco to shame! Needless to say I regretted turning him out, even though he didn't seem to have hurt himself again. So today I hand walked him for 15 minutes and let him graze a bit, then we had a nice grooming session.

He really loves the rubber curry with the longer teeth, especially on the really itchy spots like his shoulder and back. He was okay with the hard brush, and while he didn't mind me combing out his mane, he really didn't like me playing with his tail. I discovered that if I scratch the top of his rump with the comb, he'll calm down and let me comb his tail. He also likes having the base of the tail and the tailbone scratched as well.

He's still not comfortable having his feet picked up, but I was able to pick up his front feet and pick them out without a major fight. He danced a bit, but with some work and some consistency I think he'll get the idea. His back feet are going to be a trial, as he dances away and kicks out if you try to pick them up. I'm going to have to work with him more and do more brushing and touching of his tail and hind legs so he gets used to having someone back there.

I'm going to extend his handwalking session by 5 minutes each day, and follow it with a grooming/desensitizing session. I think the exercise and attention will be good for both of us.

Warming weather + ice and mud = injured gelding

Spring is almost here! It's been in the sixties for most of the week, and while the frost hasn't completely let go, the ice is mostly gone and has been replaced with slick greasy mud. While this transition was going on, the horses got rather spunky, and needless to say, there's a rather unhappy gelding resting his leg in the barn.

I got home on Saturday after spending the day at a hop grower's informational seminar. I fed hay and water, then went to let everyone in for supper. The first one in is Never, and he's favoring his right front leg. I check him out, looking for heat and swelling, and find that it's mostly in his upper foreleg and shoulder. He also has mud on his face, neck and a bit on his side. My best guess is that he took a tight turn while goofing off and fell, bruising his leg and shoulder. I've had him on stall rest ever since, and he's not very happy about it.

I went to the vet yesterday to pick up Dormosedan for Rho (so we can trim his feet without getting anyone getting hurt) and picked up something stronger than aspirin for Never. The vet agreed that it was probably a bone bruise and that I was treating it the best way possible. Even if it was a hairline fracture, there's not a lot to do for it but lots of stall rest and pain killers. The powdered Bute didn't cost that much, about $35 for about 50 doses, but the Dormosedan was a lot more than I remember: $67 for one 1.5 cc dose!

Never's swelling seems to be going down a little, though he's still favoring the leg somewhat. Hopefully, he'll be ready to got out again soon, so he can roll in the mud with the rest of the herd. It'll be nice when the pasture is divided, though, to make it easier to separate the rowdy ones from the ones that need more rest.