Time for Everyone

My friend the toad.

Dakota'a crooked legs and bad hooves. Still no word from her farrier.

The mares. They are so much alike.

I parked them in various places and asked them to stand. They did very well!

Detangler attracts dirt.

Least overgrown hoof (self trimming)

More overgrown hoof.

Bella's hooves.

Bella looking long in the face.

Scout started mutilating his tail when I gave him access to the barn. Going to have to keep him in 100% electric until he heals, I guess. And it had been looking so much better. I'd had an appointment for him at WSU and canceled it because he was so improved, but now I kind of wish I hadn't. Still no tail movement, acting colicky (pain before pooping), and now obviously it feels weird or hurts, causing him to rub it.

My son is growing like a weed. He may be as tall as me this week and he's only 12.

Pedro thinks training in the round pen is dumb. We kept it short and he got lots and lots of praise.

Bob didn't want to be left out. He's such a sweetie.

Holding Pattern

Scout is about the same. Pooping plenty, eating soaked hay at regular intervals, very swollen and sore. No use of his tail yet. I suspect he can't feel it but he sure can feel everything in front of it. Poor guy.

I had to buy baby wipes and ointment for him. He doesn't mind, except when I touch his sore butt. Mostly it's his tail that gets messy anyway.

Are grapes ok to feed to horses in small amounts? I have him one and he really liked it.

Pedro and I had a couple more great hikes.

Now back to working 6 days a week. Yay.

I feel better about Scout's injury today. I talked to a vet at WSU and he explained things to me in a way that makes sense. If his sacrum was broken, he likely wouldn't have anal tone, but he definitely does have that. It was one of the first things we checked. This vet thought it would be ok to keep giving the high doses of Bute for 5-7 days.

I hadn't considered using steroids. That scares me. I don't know a lot about steroids, but I do know there is a risk of founder when they are used, so I'm not comfortable with them.

When I added up how much we are actually feeding him, his decreased poop output made more sense. I'm going to keep feeding him every couple hours, but I'm going to increase how much soaked hay I give him. I'm also going to add some Epsom salts to his diet for a laxative effect. The extra magnesium should be good for him too.

Today while he was grazing loose in the yard he discovered one of the apple trees, and I had to firmly chase him away from it twice. I think that made him mad and he started galloping all over the place, doing sliding stops when he came to obstructions. He was obviously enjoying himself and not hurting too badly. Goofball. After I put him up he produced 3 big piles of nice soft poop.

In other news, Jasper has gone on to a home on a ranch in Oregon with a mule experienced family. He'll be moving cattle and packing big game. They're really happy with him.

I had an update on Joseph too. His owner loves him. They've been all over several different wilderness areas this summer.

I have been very hesitant to get a new horse. And now Scout has used up my savings on his vet bills, so it's a moot point. I had just about decided to just start getting myself and Pedro in shape instead of getting another horse anyway.

That said, there is a new horse here. I am kind of leasing her, although I haven't been able to ride her, first because of my leg injury and now because her owner can't get her farrier here to take care of her overgrown hooves. She has one shoe on. She is an 18 year old paint mare who supposedly a has never had a lame day in her life, although her front legs are terribly crooked and I'd consider her lame right now, on the front foot where she lost her shoe. She may be sound in shoes. Her name is Dakota.

She has pretty eyes.

I rode recently for the first time since my injury. It was good to be on a horse again! Scout is pretty unresponsive to leg, although other than that he was a rock star. My leg is a weird combination of numb and painful, so I could only ride for about ten minutes at a time.

I discovered that Pedro doesn't at all mind leaving the property without Bob, and he LOVES to get out and explore. He also likes PB&J.

And he doesn't need a dope on the end of his rope when we're on a narrow trail.

Last but not least... Winston. Is he thinking deeply? Attempting a Jedi mind trick? Completely mindless? He makes a very odd and totally hilarious dinner companion.

Oh poop. Or not.

Scout pooped 6 times over the 12 hour period between Tuesday and Wednesday, but has I my pooped 3 times (one of the pretty small) in the last 23 hours.

He is on 2 grams of Bute twice daily, which is a lot, but is not his maximum dose for his over 1220 lb body weight. I don't like giving him that much, but it has been barely controlling his pain, and if he hurts he doesn't want to poop.

I suspect Bute is probably not helping his digestion. Is that correct? Too late to switch. I can't have him in incredible pain during the washout period before meds could be changed.

No x-rays have been done. I think I will do those today, if I have time. Of course our machine won't penetrate his croup area. I may also draw blood to at least check his hydration status. I have my first day off in two weeks tomorrow, and I may take him to a different vet that can put him on IV fluids if necessary. John can take time to take him today if he needs to go sooner.

I am feeding thoroughly soaked hay to keep him hydrated. About 1/8 flake every 2 hours. He gets soaked alfalfa pellets with his Bute, and I added a large scoop of Probios last night and will continue to do so. I think I might give him some ground flax this morning too. Maybe that will make him poop.

He won't drink water when I keep him with me at work all day, even if I bring it from home, so he's going to stay home with John today. That way he can go for regular walks too.

I'll have a post about something other than illness and injury someday, I promise.

Bad news, good news

Scout is injured, painful, and colicky. He hurt his tail real bad, got it caught and pulled so bad he ripped out and broke off the whole thing (hair, not flesh). Which makes him not want to poop. And he's not drinking enough. We all know where that leads. I'm so busy at work, and the vets there are so busy, that I'm not sure he's getting the proper care. So I think I'll run blood work and see how dehydrated he is, and maybe send him to another vet to be put on IV fluids.

He did have a full exam after hours with oil administered and rectal palpation. Yesterday was frustrating though, with the lack of care. Maybe I'm just not playing the wait-and-see game patiently enough.

His tail isn't working, but I hope that will pass as the pain and inflammation subside.  It is still alive.

Good news is his retina healed from his accident as a foal. So it's just the corpora nigra cyst in that eye that's blocking his vision.

Wish me luck getting him well. I think he's going to be ok but boy is he hurting.