Friday, August 4, 2017

King of the Dings

I occasionally struggled with Charlie's management team at his last barn. They're a hands on group - he got great care. But... sometimes it felt a tad... alarmist.

Like that time a month into ownership when he came in three-legged lame with a fat leg and the mgmt team were pretttttty convinced he had blown his suspensory. No easy task!

"who, me?" - charlie, probably
Charlie was fine tho - totally fine. Gave him some bute and wraps and stall rest and three days later it was as if nothing had ever happened.

"such woe.... oooh is that a mare?"
(also: a couple folks have asked why i clip the cross ties so far back. it's cuz charlie has what i call a "busy head" - he likes to flip and fling it all around, while mostly keeping his feet still. so the clips give him more leeway to avoid any claustrophobic moment that could result in a break, something that's happened before)

And I would kinda get frustrated with the staff for coddling him a little bit. Like, we know he's a sensitive butterfly. We know he's gonna blow up if you look at him sideways. But he's pretty much always fine.

"why u do dis to me?"
So it's my turn to chuckle (ha puns) a little at myself now too. Bc I totally fell for the alarmingly fat leg this time. Zomg but cellulitis!!! 

"oooh feels gooood tho bro"
After Charlie's evening of cold hosing, poulticing, wrapping, and drug munching, our new vet tacked him on to an existing appointment the next day. She wasn't really sure why I wanted her to look at him since I was already treating for cellulitis, but when I said the leg was steaming after cold hosing, she got right on board.

#nappin 
Turns out tho. It ain't cellulitis. In fact, that whole "boot rub" thing was a total guise, a ruse. A distraction. Misdirection.

Sure the whole thing puffed up in anger.... and sure I noticed the swelling was somewhat localized (which was why I hoped it wasn't cellulitis).... But connect the dots, I did not.

the offending leg. much splint, very drama. or uh, something. MS Paint for emphasis lol
Surprise, it's a SPLINT! Betcha didn't see that coming!! Haha.....

Except actually, yea... this is kinda old news. He first popped that sucker back in February when a miscommunication with barn staff while away for work left him stuck in his box for way too fucking long. And he weaved himself right on into tizzy violent enough to whack his own splint bone.

freedom in a freshly mowed paddock - what's not to love?
He was basically sound throughout, and we only treated enough to get the swelling out before carrying on with life as usual.

ponies for neighbors (get it? neigh?? lol i'll be here all night folks)
This time tho, I had brought out the vet bc ain't nobody wanna fuck with cellulitis. So she gave us some of the good splint stuff. More drugs. Oral. Topical. All of 'em.

so majesty tho. i swear that long mane is super on trend too
But she also deemed him sound (not something I'm used to hearing vets say about Charlie LOL) and better off in turnout. So he got to escape the wraps and get right on back out again!

"yes hello there is a toll to cross these here roads, ma'am"
Naturally not without a little more fussing by me tho - he got lots of icing in our new(ish - bought a while ago but not yet used) Roma ice boots first.

Something he was..... kinda unhappy and almost spooky about. Right up until he started blinking heavily, licking and chewing, and then actually fell asleep. I guess it felt kinda good?

"carrots preferred, will settle for scritches"
Anyway tho, I'm basically equal parts relieved, and slightly humored with myself for falling for Charlie's patented "Zomg I'm dying!" routine. Stoic this horse is not, and I should know by now.

charlie loves dem ponies tho!
It's cool tho. I'll take a splint over some sort of massive infection any day. We'll continue the course of antibiotics I started him on anyway tho, just in case. But I'm pretty sure he's fine. The leg already looks basically back to normal - aside from some slight fill around the old-but-aggravated splint.

and a thistle. 'cuz why not
So he'll live another day! And I'm maybe slightly chastened by my eagerness to cry wolf at another one of Charlie's fat legs. Who knows, I might even pop on him for a congratulatory hack about the property this evening ;)

That makes it a happy Friday for me haha, hope it is for you too! Ever been really happy to be really wrong about your horse's health or care? Or been fooled by an oversensitive horse? Tho of course I know a few of you have the opposite problem of stoicism that never lets on about a problem until it's real bad. Oh horses, it's always something, right?

49 comments:

  1. I'm glad that it's nothing as bad as cellulitis. I didn't realize that a splint would make his leg swell so much. And OMG those ponies.

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    1. Those ponies are so freaking adorable - OF breeds Shetlands and I die of the cute. Also yea I'm glad it's not cellulitis too. Honestly some of the swelling was definitely attributable to the boot rubs - he does blow up at any minor scratch. But the presence of the rubs distracted me from looking at the whole leg more objectively I guess

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  2. Heal quickly Charlie!! And talk about angry, I've seen some thistle growing around here that's meaner than Audrey from little shop of horrors.

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    1. Ha really?? I think thistle is so pretty! But then again I'm never the one who actually has to deal with it so.... Ya know. lol

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  3. Charlie is sure keeping you on your toes. I'm glad it is something much more minor and that he got back outside.

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    1. I'm glad he's back outside too, and that the leg basically went back to normal in a day. So it turns out to be just another one of Charlie's dings, only I got all worried about this one lol.

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  4. i mean i do not think you overreacted but what do i know. everything is going to result in a leg falling off.

    i asked my vet that on saturday and our conversation went something like this

    "so is his leg going to fall off???????"
    "it is improbable that the leg will fall off"
    "... but not imPOSSIBLE."
    "i mean it's biology and it's horses nothing is impossible"
    "...... SHOULD WE GO TO THE CLINIC?"
    *facepalm*

    I really feel bad for her. i also feel bad that both vets gave me their cellphone numbers. but that's their own fault.

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    1. I mean. Leg transplantation is still fully on the table as far as I'm concerned. Also I feel like you and charlie should never be left to have a conversation about injuries or medical anomalies together bc between the two of you, you'll certainly conclude that we ARE ALL DYING OMG lol

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    2. BUT MAYBE WE ARE

      I DONT KNOW

      IF ONE VET SAYS ITS OKAY HAVE ANOTHER VET OUT

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    3. needs a second opinion STAT!

      giant delicate TBs need ANSWERS!!

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  5. I'm the human version of Charlie I think... casually bump a hip? Giant purple bruise.
    In the last month: dropped phone on face, busted lip swollen and bleeding for-ever (...don't ask), dog ran into my head (...yeah) and boom, giant egg and bruise on forehead + two day headache.
    But... I walked on a major broken foot for two days before deciding it needed attention?
    Charles, I feel you.

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    1. omgggggg you ARE charlie!!! you guys are NEVER allowed to meet hahaha, bc you'll like, idk, casually bump into each other when charlie goes to bite at a fly at the same time as you trip over like, a wayward curry comb or something, and EVERYTHING WILL EXPLODE lol

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  6. Oh man. I had a gelding like that, anything and I mean ANYTHING and there was swelling and drama and much flailing around. Silver lining is I never had to guess when he wasn't feeling good! He made any boo boo abundantly clear��

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    1. haha aww poor baby! charlie luckily doesn't really "flail" per se, but he will legitimately hold up his ouchy leg for you to notice and inspect it haha. or point with his nose to the ouchy spot on his belly that one time when he colicked. he's very communicative that way!

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  7. Poor Charles. But hey! At least the vet was already coming out and could pronounce him sound 😋 so glad it wasn't cellulitis! Although splints also suck. Charlie -- cut your mom a break haha

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    1. yea it was definitely convenient that she was already coming out. i wouldn't have likely called her otherwise unless the swelling had persisted or gotten worse.... and seeing as he was basically back to normal on day 2... yea definitely would not have merited his very own special farm call lol. all the same tho, i'm glad i did and i'm glad we got some good drugs for that splint, since it's been known to occasionally puff up over the six months since he did it to himself.

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  8. Hoof abscesses. I have been tricked twice into believing my horse's leg must be broken and I was about to say goodbye to my horse. Luckily my vet never shows it if he thinks I am an idiot.

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    1. omg haha yea abscesses are notorious for the whole "omg it really is dying, isn't it?" reaction. isabel was TERRIBLE about any kind of foot problem - even just bruises. luckily tho they kinda catch everyone by surprise!

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  9. Yay!! I think? Sound is good anyway haha. Also I used to clip the cross ties on those rings for Katai but it was because the crossties at my previous barn were tied too high for her and that way she didn't have to hold her head up too high. Not a problem you'd have with Charlie ;)

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    1. haha aww poor shorty Katai! charlie's just such a busy body in his head lol. and yea, sound is great!

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  10. I never fully understood the OTTB ability to self destruct until I got Hero. Glad Charlie boy will be ok!

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    1. i know, right? and like, charlie isn't even a wild and crazy guy. like he doesn't really run around or play. but he's also got no respect and is giant..... so. idk. stuff happens i guess!

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  11. I'm so happy to hear it's just a splint! Scout is SO hard on his legs man and I had the cellulitis freak out moment this week too! Cue drugs, sweating, wrapping, hosing, freaking out. Oh, and then he got loose Wednesday morning with some pasture mates, you know to really give me a complete heart attack. PS. I love his little friends!

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    1. ugh yea these guys need to be a little more careful with their long limbs - haven't they heard they're supposed to be GRACEFUL and ELEGANT?!?

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  12. Oh good! I'm so glad the prognosis is good! That turnout is lovely. I'm sure Sir Charles is having a blast out there lol

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    1. haha maybe he's having too much fun since i'm betting that's how he blew his leg up in the first place! but yea, fully agreed on being happy he'll be just fine!

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  13. Splintex works well on reducing those suckers! I mean so does time though. Yay no cellulitis

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    1. ha Megan K swears by splintex too - so i asked the vet about it. i was surprised she hadn't heard of it. she prescribed surpass tho, something else i've heard great things about so we're gonna roll with that for now.

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  14. Better to be safe than sorry I figure.

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    1. yep! i'm happy to give this a little more attention and TLC so that hopefully it doesn't continue to crop up as an issue

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  15. The nasty elderly mare (she put me off with malice a couple of weeks ago and my shoulder still hasn't forgiven me, plus she's 19) is stoic to a fault. She had a massive gravel in her foot (dug it out about half an inch deep, icky) and was "slightly and vaguely off when trotting a small circle on gravel to the left". Like, that was the only time you could see the issue. Grass footing = OK. Pavement = OK. Circle to the right, any footing = OK. But on gravel, to the left, there was an intermittent and slight irregularity to the gait. I couldn't believe how big the hole was when we got it dug out and soaked and such. Luckily, Da Bird is a bit easier to read on the injury front. If he's hurt, he lets me know... but he's not a fainting violet, either.

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    1. omg that gravel is intense! poor thing. i honestly kinda like a communicative horse, even tho i tease him endlessly for it lol

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  16. I love it when the vet is like " Hey, horse is not dying, it's just this other NBD thing." :)

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    1. yea for real haha. i definitely don't mind being wrong about some things!

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  17. There is something soothing about a horse that wildly overreacts to every little thing. Once you get used to it, you can always rest assured that you're not missing something big.

    Source: BTDT omg

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  18. What's the "good splint stuff" I used some stuff on Annie's so I'm curious :)

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    1. this vet prescribed surpass (a topical anti inflammatory) and an oral steroidal anti inflammatory (for which reason we stopped the bute). for topical stuff, i've also heard great things about splintex gold.

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    2. Ah yeah I have used surpass before. The Splintex is what I used on Annie. :)

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  19. Oh, Charlie. Always keepin' us on our toes!

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  20. I wish I was wrong about vet stuff. Splints are great though. I love getting that diagnosis.

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  21. My guy is weirdly stoic about some things (like less than ideal saddle fit) but anything to do with his feet and he acts like his leg is going to fall off - which means constant background noise of 'did he step oddly there?' If he's in a field with a stone in it (and we're in Ireland!) he ends up off at some point and everytime I worry it's something serious! I really had no idea I was buying a drama queen.

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    1. my mare was the same way! she was made of tuff stuff - right up until you messed with her feet, and then she was a huge baby. it's kinda surprising!

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  22. oh Sir Chuckles. Glad he is on the mend!

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  23. We must be twins. I'm so glad it was nothing awful and he's been "cleared" but I am the type to overreact at that kind of thing so I completely understand how you feel.
    We're still working through the "lameness" issue with Mae. Vet has cleared her. Farrier has cleared her. Yet she limps like her life depends on it when I'm on her. I'll keep you posted throughout this ridiculousness...

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