For Dolly

Dolly is one of the sainted lesson ponies at my farm. A cute tiny Arabian whose dainty and refined face makes Isabel look downright chunky and plain. This pony tho, I swear she has the biggest eyes of any horse I've ever seen.

Face aside, tho, she's got the typical attributes you might expect to find in an aging lesson pony at a small program: ghastly conformation, questionable soundness, and bizarre muscling developed over many years of compensating for said conformation and soundness.

She is very good at her job tho, and has patiently taught many students the ropes.

such a pretty face!

A couple weeks ago she came in for stall rest after what was presumed to be a hematoma or something resulting from a kick. I'm honestly not totally clear on the details, other than it was expected to be a straight forward recovery that would just take a little time and lots of cold hosing.

Except, the poor thing went and foundered on us - rotation in both fronts.

skeptical mare is skeptical. "NEEDS MORE SCRITCHES PLZ!"

So suddenly her stint on stall rest has extended indefinitely, and obviously her whole care regimen has been modified accordingly. No grain foods, soaked hay, deep deep deep bedding, some very fancy new footwear, no treats, pain management, etc etc etc.

And of course, my own personal addition to the routine: lots and LOTS of gentle currying in all the itchy scritchy places.

As an older horse, she's still not really fully shed out and has been very susceptible to skin funk so she could certainly use the attention. Well, frankly, she could use a bath... but that's not super feasible right now. Plus, idk, I just get a lot of satisfaction from grooming. 

I think she enjoys the attention too - last time I went to pick her stall out, she practically pinned me to the wall with her shoulder, stretching her neck out to be like "HERE PLEASE!" I also like to think it breaks up the monotony of her day a little, especially given she was accustomed to living outside 24/7.

Plus after the grooming sessions there's lots of yawning and blinking and grunting haha. This mare can apparently make some silly faces!!

I want to be cautiously optimistic for her recovery - as she seems comfortable enough in her stall to move around from hay net to window to door. Slowly, yes. Very slowly. But not as gimpy as you might expect. I just don't know a lot of details tho, and haven't really been able to discuss much with the people closest to her veterinary care. 

So we will see. Hopefully Ms Dolly will continue to stay comfortable and happy enough in her confinement to fully heal. Founder and laminitis basically scare the shit out of me tho, so I never really know what to think or expect. In the meantime tho I'll just keep doing what I can to improve the quality of her day, and ask that you keep this sweet mare in your thoughts!