Arrgghh! My mare is lame!

[silkifyre]

Darn horse! I don't know what she did, but she's been lame in her hind leg for maybe a week now. She doesn't want to put much weight on it, if any. I think she must have pulled a muscle or something. She'll run around and slip and slide. (She sometimes seems a little clumsy, like she can't keep her footing when she's turning a corner at speed... goofy mare!) So, (sigh), I'm having the vet up this morning. So now I gotta go run up there and then head to work. Wish me luck!

[Arlene]

good luck.. hope it is not anything serious ...

[silkifyre]

Well, the vet came and went. Bunny's injuries could be serious or maybe not. Time will tell. Lucky Bunny... she KNOWS what time is! Anyway, she has 2 separate things going on in her hind leg. The stifle joint (which technically is the knee of the hing leg) has a lot of fluid and seems sore for her. Could have been caused by her acting like an idiot when turned out with the others. The hoof problem is probably related to her foundering (bad lameness caused by too much rich green grass) a couple years ago. She could be forming an absess that could be causing her some discomfort. OR (and hopefully NOT ) it could be the bone within the hoof is broken.

The vet did a lot of poking, prodding, bending, and flexing. Didn't really thrill Bunny a whole lot, but she just stood there and took it. She's a real good girl! The vet gave her a block which numbed the hoof and prescribed some Bute (short for some long drug name) which is a pain reliever for horses. She also prescribed warm Epsom salt soaks twice a day. Well, lucky me (and Bunny) (NOT!), the barnlord did NOT soak the foot last night OR this morning! I pay this woman board to take CARE of my horse! I called her last night and left a pretty detailed message for her about what the vet said, and I asked the girl to call me back.

By 9pm, she STILL had not called me, so I call her. She said that her cell phone was over her minutes, and if she were to make a call, she'd be charged 45¢ a minute for it. OH FOR PETE'S SAKE!!! AWWWW. WOW... HOW HORRIBLE! (NOT! I don't feel sorry for her!) I was pissed that she couldn't even call me to tell me that she was over her minutes, could I please call her back, since incoming calls don't count for her. What, she couldn't have done that???!!! GRRRR!!! Anyway, I did get a hold of her, but didn't go into that with her. I discussed in person the vet's instructions. She was being very reluctant about soaking my mare's hoof. She knows very well that I cannot get up there 2x a day. Once a day, yeah, for this occasion, but I really needed her to do one of the soaks. It's only until Thu when I have to report to the vet again. Geez! She reluctantly agreed to take the morning soak.

Well, it turned out that she didn't do this morning's soak... cuz she didn't have any epsom salts on hand. So she did nothing. Jeepers! Just a plain warm water soak would have been better than nothing! The idea is to help draw out the absess if one is forming, so it heals faster, and helps my mare's discomfort! Man! And the soak would take only 15 min! (sigh) I am so frustrated, it's unbelievable!

Bob rode along with me tonight and helped me set up the soak for Bunny. She was an angel about it. She ate her supper while soaking. She did move a couple times, but it was no big deal. I just repositioned her and continued soaking. And that was just the first 4 min. After that she kept her foot in the water.

The barnlord arrived while we were there and she saw how I soaked Bun's hoof. So now she knows. She better do the soak in the morning! I even brought up a big bag of epsom salts, so she can't say there isn't any. Cripes... I mean... it's part of why I pay her! Right? And it's only a temporary thing, and it's only 15 - 20 min. extra for her time. I don't see how it's such a major deal for her. Oh well. Hopefully, Bunny improves and heals good as new. She did seem a lot more comfortable today than she had been. I guess that block and the Bute are helping her. I also ordered some joint and hoof supplements that the vet recommended. Hopefully they'll arrive real soon.

[Arlene]

poor bunny.. wonder if she is neglected there for her other needs as well... I would fire that woman and find another place to keep bunny.. but I do fly off the handle pretty quick hahah!

[silkifyre]

Bunny seems quite a bit improved. I talked again to the vet and she suggested another thing I can try, since the barnlord isn't helping me with the foot-soaking. She said I can use Betadine solution (antiseptic shampoo) mixed with regular table sugar to make a paste. (2Tbs with enough Betadine to make it the consistency of peanut butter, possibly about a tsp roughly, I think... I didn't actually measure it, just kept adding a few drops at a time til I got to the right texture.) Then smear it onto the bottom of her hoof, cover it with gauze to hold it in place (I'm using newspaper), then wrap the whole thing in vet-rap (I'm using a cheaper brand of the same stuff). So now BunBun gets to walk around with a purple wrap on her foot. I still have to soak her foot every evening, but after the soak, I put the sugar poultice on her, and let her go. The vet said it should help draw anything out of her foot just as the soaks do. But since the soaks can't be done more than once a day due to lack of help, then the poultice should help. I'm just seeing that it might be a problem keeping it on Bun's hoof. Hmmm, maybe I need to wrap it higher up than just her hoof, and include maybe her lower leg. I'll try that next time.

I have to call the vet back on Mon sometime to let her know how Bunny did over the weekend. If she still shows improvement, we might not need another vet visit, which'd be good. The first one cost just over $200! EEEEKK!!! Keeping fingers crossed that Bunny still improves.

About firing the barnlord... I kind of wish I could. Tonight I found that MY coffee can, which I JUST brought up last night to measure out her feed with, was gone. I looked high and low, and something made me look in another horse's feed can. There was MY coffee can! Now WHY was it in there??? I took it out, measured out Bunny's breakfast, and set it back in Bunny's bin. I was p)$$ed! My tack box gets moved around pretty often, too, and then I have to look around the tack room for it. It really annoys me that this woman is always moving things around. Plus she wants to skimp on the bedding and the hay. Now... I am PAYING for the bedding and the hay! My mare cannot afford skimping! Her HEALTH depends on proper care! This woman can drive me nuts sometimes. Unfortunately, I'm not rich and can't afford another stable to board at. Board fees are all over $200 a month. I'm paying almost that now. It sucks. I really would LOVE a little farm of my own, but until that happens, I have to board. And it seems no matter WHERE I board, SOMETHING isn't right in some way. At the first place, the barnlord would NOT fix his fences and my mini horse was constantly getting loose. I was afraid that Bunny would try to follow. Luckily that hadn't happened before I moved them. Also, he would NOT feed for me at all. I had to do total care, which was hard when I was juggling work, kids, and then traveling to the barn, too. The other place was an older couple, and the woman fed the horses and ponies baked goods, like donuts and day old bread! That was how Bunny foundered. She is now compromised and is prone to founder again at any time if I'm not super vigilant about her weight and pasture. The other place thought I was being cruel and not caring for my horse because I would not feed her grain. If this man knew anything about the treatment for founder he would have realized that Bunny WAS under a VET'S orders and was not SUPPOSED to get any grain! The jerk! So he ordered his staff to feed her anyway! Her founder got worse there. Finally I got her to the point where she could stand up again, and I moved to where she is now. She recovered finally. But sometimes this current barnlord does things that irk me. For the most part, she's good enough, but because it's my stuff and my horse, I want "perfect." And who wouldn't? But since I can't afford my own farm right now, I can't complain too much.

[Arlene]

just keep posting for help on the boards.. someone will help.. there are some really good hearted people at the easy if you can find someone close to you.

I would fire her ass in a heartbeat myself and hide the horse in my back yard haha.. funny!