Darn You Mother Nature!!

Two weeks ago, Gwen and I were doing great. We were making some real progress under saddle, particularly with her canter work. I really wanted to start working with her on the 22' line so she can get more comfortable cantering, without someone interfering from her back (*cough* me *cough*). However, the weather had other ideas. Friday, it stormed so badly that I didn't even go to the barn. It rained and even hailed, all weekend. Fast forward to a week ago Monday, it was so soggy and still raining so I didn't get to the barn until last Thursday. When I did get to the barn, I didn't do much. Just kinda hung out cause it was still too soggy to ride, or even play online. It wasn't until last Friday that I actually pulled Gwen out of her turn-out.

However, as I was grooming her, something a bit scary happened. I picked up her right front foot to pick it out. Her frog was really soft, and I didn't do anything more than normal, but all of a sudden it felt like her hoof just "gave" and the pick went too far. She didn't give a big "ouch" reaction, just a little "Oo!" but blood started seeping out. I, of course, was panicked thinking I had just stabbed my horse in the foot, possibly crippling her for life (<-- RBI over reaction). I'm happy to say that I kept my cool. I untied her from the rail and took her over to the barn manager, who took a look and told me that it looked like I'd punctured an abscess.

Next came our learning moment of the day. Gwen needed to have her foot soaked in a bucket, which I had never tried with her before. I was a little concerned that she would be unconfident about her foot in a bucket, but I was patient and kind, and rewarded with LOTS of treats... she very quickly learned that if she stood with her foot in a bucket, she'd get as many cookies as she wanted (man, has she got her human trained!).  She did fantastic!

Upon closer inspection, after the soak, it wasn't an abscess at all, but instead it looks as though she had been trying to shed her frog and it went a little sideways, creating a pocket of trapped blood. The barn manager told me I probably did more good than bad by popping it, because she's pretty sure it would have developed into a nasty abscess otherwise.

The latest in Pony Fashion!

We wrapped her foot, and then I let her have some undemanding/grazing time. She didn't limp at all, and isn't bothered by the wrap or the bandage.

Yesterday, we took a good look at her foot and it appears to be healed. However, the tissue is still very soft, and since it's not completely dry yet, we re-wrapped it dry to keep the moisture out so that the tissue can finish hardening (it looked/felt kinda like pruny skin around finger nails after a shower).

So, phew, Gwen is fine and making a great recovery, and has lucked out with almost an entire week of grazing/undemanding time instead of work (which is always nice for the relationship!). I'm hoping it'll be even better by tomorrow, so that we can still go on our barn camping trip this weekend...

Fingers crossed!

J

My beautiful girl!