Oh my, long time no blog!
Probably the majority of the reason being that I've just been plain busy. Secondly, I've felt like I haven't had much interesting to say. But, anyway, let me kinda sum up what's been going on as of late!
- First off, and the biggest news of all, I am just about 6 months (holy cow!) pregnant, with the little munchkin due mid-October. I actually found out two weeks after I bought Cash, how's that for timing?
- Subsequently, I have not been riding since April (boooo). I've had a wonderful gal coming out and riding Cash for me and she's been doing an awesome job. She totally understands that I would otherwise be 110% into training and starting my own horse, so if I tell her that I would like to see him improve in a certain area or learn a certain skill, she has been doing a fabulous job of doing it for me!
- Cash, like I said is doing great, he's learning bending, how to move off the leg, serpentines, baby turns on the forehand and turns on the haunches. We are also starting to work on canter departs under saddle!
The most recent update is that I'm working on clearing up some residual swelling in his left hind fetlock from a freaky infection that he got in his leg about two weeks ago! It was the weirdest thing ever. About a week prior to the leg he had developed a puffy eye, it had no discharge and when it significantly reduced in size after 24 hours I chalked it up to an allergic reaction to all the cotton flying in the air or he was just itching his head to hard and bonked himself.
It very nearly went away but then some slight eye puffiness and clear discharge came back. I went out midday on a wednesday to lunge him, and he was totally NOT himself. When i pulled him from the turnout he was lethargic and breathing very heavy, I got him under the shade and took his temp, no fever. Ok, it was very hot that day so I thought maybe the heat was just making him drowsy. But after about 15 minutes under the shade and he didn't perk up I started to get worried... this is the horse who marches right along side you when you walk, and is always alert, head up, checking out what's goin on, interested in what you are doing. I sponged him off with cold water and hand walked under the trees, that sorta brought his respiration down but still he didn't perk up.
That's when I noticed that he was significantly dragging his toe on his left hind, no limp, just a very pronounced drag. I then spied the tiniest bit of puffiness around the fetlock. I went to the round pen to see him move, that's when I saw he was short striding on the leg, I asked for a few steps of trot and was horrified to see he could hardly hold the gait, he just couldn't pick up the leg and get it under him. YIKES! But I was baffled, the dragging leg and inability to get it under him make me think a stifle issue... but the leg puffiness and tenderness made me think it was a tendon/ligament problem. I cold hosed the leg, got him comfortable in his stall with a fan blowing, he was interested and willing to drink water, but he would NOT touch his food, not even his grain. That really really concerned me! I wrapped his legs for support, gave him some banamine, then called the vet and set an appointment for the next day.
The next day his leg had totally ballooned from the pastern to the hock, and if I hadn't had the wrap on it would've been twice as large. He was walking better, and his attitude had perked up as he was semi-interested in his food now and would actually turn towards me instead of hang his head in the corner. I told the vet his symptoms such as temp, resp, and heartrate from the day prior. The vet felt the leg and immediately pointed out that it was a pitting edema, meaning that if you pressed into the swelling it would hold the fingerprint, much like memory foam. The cause? An infection of the lower level of the skin. I pointed out the eye puffiness and the vet said it was possible it was connected.
A week's worth of antibiotics was prescribed as well as bute as needed. I asked if poulticing the leg would be helpful and the vet confirmed "Absolutely!!". So, for the next week Cash got himself 17 little white tablets dissolved in his grain twice a day, top dressed with an amble amount of molasses he happily gobbled it down (though I did have to convince him the first day that I was indeed not trying to poison him). He got bute for the first two days or so until the majority of the swelling had gone away. He was so funny about the bute, he would stand perfectly still and let you stuff it in his mouth (good boy!), but then when you let him go he'd just stand there but turn his head completely away from you with this neglected child look on his face, soooo dramatic!! I couldn't help but laugh at him.
He's now off the antibiotics, I'm still cold hosing and either applying liniment or poulticing to continue to draw out the last of the swelling from the infection, and he is getting hand walked and oh so lightly lunged until the swelling is completely gone. He's perfectly sound and back to his normal, energetic, obnoxious self. <3
Now our only issue is back-to-back-to-back-to-back triple digit days. GO AWAY HEAT!! This is Colorado, not Texas. But... that is a whole 'nother blog post and I will save that for a later day.
