New Horse Temporarily on the Disabled List

Friday I got a call from my trainer right at the end of my school day. She had ridden Knight that morning and he was wonderful.  She went home, came back late afternoon and Knight had a gash on his left loin and a deep cut on his left hind, right above the coronet band.

I couldn’t believe on my one week anniversary with my new horse, we were already going to have the vet out!

I said something like, “I hope this horse is not accident prone.” She said it was too early to tell and he was eating fine and did not seem sick, just scraped.  She speculated he got cast and then banged himself trying to get up.

My heart sank with the word “cast.” That was the second time. It sank earlier in our conversation as she started telling me there was something wrong, the word “colic” shot through my mind.

“Do I need to switch him to a box stall? Maybe that’s what he’s used to.” She said maybe.

Here’s the picture she sent me via text. Sorry it’s so gruesome (said for the purposes of my sister who can’t handle blood).

The good news is the vet came out, gave him some antibiotics and pain killer and heavy duty medicine to put on the sore.  No stitches. Too close to the coronet band.  The vet said to hand walk him for a few days. She also said she was not worried about him.

So right now Knight is looking pretty spiffy with his purple bandage. He got the weekend off which was probably just as well.  It’s been in the 90s and 100s.

Saturday night after a dinner at our favorite Cuban restaurant, a quick drive over to Newport Beach to see the sunset, and a frozen yogurt dessert, the hubby and I headed to the barn to check in our our latest addition.

Knight was definitely excited by the bag of carrots. I think he enjoyed our walk, but he is still so quiet I don’t know if he was bored and just a good sport.

After we walked him around in the empty dressage arena, we took him back to his stall. The neighbor horse nickered at him. I’m still learning all the neighbors, but I think the one who nickered is a gaited horse that is in his early 30s.

I’ve been debating what to do about his stall. I think the pipe corrals so common in California are kind of weird. I’m used to them now since I’ve lived here so long. Nothing compares to a nice box stall and then half or all-day turnout like what my previous horse had in Illinois. I feel like a 24 x 24 pipe corral is the lesser of the evils. The evils being that where I live, there are no pastures and you have to turn out in the arena or a round pen yourself (or pay someone to do it for you).

There is a 12 X 24 indoor stall available. The sides are metal, however. As my trainer noted, if he had been cast in that stall it could have really hurt/cut his legs.

The more I think about it, the more I’m inclined to keep him where he is. We don’t know for sure what happened. Would he have really laid down in the middle of the day in close to 100 degree weather? Could a neighbor horse have bitten him and that’s why he has the mark on his loin and maybe he stepped funny on his own hoof?

The good news is that he had scratches. Not scratches like what happens when a cat swipes at you. But horse scratches. It’s a skin problem on the ankles or pasterns. It’s like bumpy scabs.

Anyway, he had scratches on his hind legs when he came to us. My trainer has a magic potion she swears by that is supposed to get rid of it in just a few days. She’s been treating his rear ankles. Long story short, Knight’s been having both back legs wrapped in standing wraps with the white fluffy wraps underneath (the name is escaping me now–same as you use for shipping).  So even though he got an owie on his hind, it might have been worse if he had not been wearing his protective wraps for scratches.

Thank God for scratches!

I saw him today and he was excited about the carrots again. I think he’s going to be just fine.

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