leg update

So Isabel's leg is still visually a mess. But we are really seriously hoping that medically, it's on the mend. She finished her two week course of Doxy and will continue to get treated with the prescribed topical treatment until we finish it.

still lots of green grass for grazing

The other three legs have been getting treated liberally with a Desitin mixture since there was some evidence of scabbing. The treatment is nasty and gunky and ugly, but the scabs went away without turning into anything more, so we will take it.

not the best light but you get the picture

The bad leg is still losing big chunks of hair, but the pink skin is looking less irritated and is regrowing some hair too. It gets washed daily with a betadine solution before we apply the topical stuff. Then poor thing has to stay in for an hour for it to dry before she can go back out again.

moar grass!

I'm super grateful that barn staff has been so on top of the treatment - the leg really IS looking better. And she's not always the easiest horse to treat... tho I was able to help Brita out with it this weekend and we involved lots of grazing in the process - much appreciated by the princess!

grass and boot

So we'll see. I'm cautiously optimistic about finally getting rid of the funk. Ugh.

In other news - Brita also agreed to hop on the mare and work her out a little bit. We traded horses once last winter to see if I would have any better luck with Wick's left lead (spoiler alert: I didn't), but Brita mostly just zipped around for a few minutes with Isabel. This time she got to actually *ride.* And I think they had fun!

grass and cat

Isabel is super different from Wick in almost every dimension - and not just bc she's so much smaller. Her whole way of going is very different - especially her tendency to get really short in the neck and btv. So Brita got a first hand feel for what I mean when I say the horse is behind my leg lol. But she did a really nice job sorting it out and pushing the horse forward.

adorable mare is adorable

They even got to play with Isabel's first ground poles and jumps in nearly two months! I wish I had gotten more footage - all I got was their first run through this little ground pole - cavaletti trotting exercise... that Isabel clearly thought was a perfect opportunity to show off her cute little knees haha. Most horses would just trot the damn thing (it was seriously 12"), but Isabel is not most horses and will crack that little back of hers over the merest of speed bumps. Goofy mare.

Brita had fun tho - and actually did a really nice job figuring out how to ride Isabel forward to the other jump (our wooden coops). And I think the mare was seriously enjoying herself too, even if she was huffing and puffing after only a couple minutes.

Oh well... we both have our work cut out for us in getting back into shape...