Friday, March 2, 2018

out like a lamb

Big news, guys! Friday is here!! Yay!! It's going to be a breezy, cool weekend here, with ground conditions still pretty well saturated from all the recent rain.... But spring is coming. I can feel it. Surely I'm not the only one counting down the days until we change the clocks, right??

lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting vet
Charlie, for his purposes, seems indifferent. Idk. He's still living up the pampered pasture pet dream lifestyle. Tho, once this week he actually jogged out well enough and had no heat in the hoof, so I figured I'd go ahead and either ride him til he went lame again, or declare him officially sound.

same story, different day leg
Turns out tho, yep, still lame. The intermittent nature of the lameness had me slightly bugged tho so I may or may not have parked the horse outside the office door waiting for the vet to finish with another call. Just in case, ya know?

Not like the vet was gonna do a full unscheduled work up at late o'clock after being at the barn all day already.... but I figured she could at least put the hoof testers on him or something.

ugh charlie. the struggle is so real.
And Charlie was very offended by the hoof testers haha.... Poor guy. He sat there waving his hoof around in the air, making the saddest of sad puppy dog eyes at the vet.... like, "How could you do that to me? I thought we were friends!"

So..... Yea. That hoof is real sore. And Charlie's still a real delicate princess.

"buckets r hard. idk. all feetz hurt anyways" - charlie, probably
I didn't think to ask the vet to test out the other hoof (ya know, that other one that was recently punctured by a nail....) but I'm honestly kinda paranoid that it's still sore too. Idk. Maybe Charlie's just being fussy. Or maybe he's actually a hot mess. Idk.

omg but look at this itsy bitsy little newborn lamb instead!!!
So I dunno. I really am not convinced that soaking these sore hooves actually does anything to help. I mean. Maybe it does. At least it doesn't hurt. Mostly it's a good opportunity for me to really lay eyes and hands all across the hooves to evaluate any problem spots or anything like that.

omg you'll have to forgive my dark blurry pictures but how freakin cute tho, right??
And wrapping the hoof in this weather seems like spitting in the wind. But. Ya know. I'm gonna go ahead and keep doing that too. Plus, naturally, I'm throwing basically everything else and the kitchen sink at his feet too. Blasting some thrush buster up in there just in case. Packing again and again with poultice and epsom salts bc the magic cushion I ordered still hasn't arrived.

It's something to do. Some way to feel like I'm actively helping the horse along in healing.

omg it's so playful tho
Plus ya know, he's still just a pleasant horse to be around and spend time with. Very personable and friendly. Which has been very welcome this week as an evening respite from long work days and looming deadlines.

charlie says "TGIF!!!!!!"
In any case, he was finally really crippled last night. Looking more like that classic three legged lameness that I've come to appreciate, as it might mean the abscess is about ready to pop (ew). Fingers crossed lol. So wish us luck on that front lol.

And hopefully y'all have more exciting plans this weekend than just sitting around staring at your horse's hooves!!

38 comments:

  1. That lamb though 😍😍😍
    Ack Charlie. You can't have adventures like this, you gotta get better! Hopefully the (presumed) abscess blows out soon so he feels better. Thanks

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    1. the lamb is so sweet and reminded me of your little goaties!!

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  2. Uhh idk whats up with the random "thanks" at the end, I guess I accidentally hit my predictive text trying to submit the comment. Oops!

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    1. lol i mean i'll be saying "thanks" when that thing eventually blows out too, so it's cool!!! haha

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  3. LOL That lamb I MUST HAVE AND HOLD :) HA so cute. And Charlie. UGH. I hope that damn abscess pops and we can move it along people! :)

    I wish you were closer I would let you hop on Remus and jump or something just to get the cobwebs out of your brain.

    And this weather. OMG SO WET out. and so windy. EVEN if the sun comes out tomorrow and Sun i doubt i can ride, the water is literally on top of the ground everywhere. gross. BUT I FEEL IT TOO. Spring is coming!! And grass is coming up (if it can get past the mud!) Here's to Charlie feeling better soon!

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    1. the lamb is so freakin adorable i can't even deal with it haha. definitely improved an otherwise wet dreary morning! and thanks for the offer of Remus -- honestly i have horses available to ride (hi, velvet!) but i just don't have time. or really the motivation tbh. i want to ride charlie. everything else is kinda like, but what's the point? hopefully tho charlie will be ready to go soon!

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    2. this weather sure doesnt inspire ANYONE . I am waiting for a cow to fly by my window the wind is INTENSE! ugh IT WAS SNOWING EARLIER. wtf.

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  4. If the lamb disappears, I did not steal it. Just so you know haha!

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    1. haha but of course, and i will happily turn my eyes the other way and whistle dixie lol

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  5. Yay for being really sore and crippled (only horse people understand that- my husband thought I was having a nervous breakdown the first time he told me Irish was 3-legged and I was all ‘thank god’). I have found that if Irish was sore on one foot he would often abscess the other too-probably because of trying to baby it. Especially when the ground is very soft and soggy

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    1. ha yea i agree to being grateful that the horse finally goes all three legged. it's the little iffy intermittent stuff in the middle that freaks me out.

      and yea i kinda figured this hoof would be abscessing too when he first went lame on it. not sure it would have had charlie kept that damn shoe on, but he took this shoe off in turn out (we don't know if he stepped on a clip or anything in the process either) and then became very very sore from constantly resting the other foot. so yea. not shocking. but annoying.

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  6. This weather isn’t helping anyone out. Finally have sun in the forecast the next 4 days here but the ground is saturated from yet another 24 hour rain storm yesterday with mini lakes everywhere. Hoping an abscess blows for you and heals back up quickly.

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    1. oh man the ground is SO WET!!! it's insane. it's gusting wind out today which hopefully will help dry things out.... but idk. there's just so much water everywhere!

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  7. I think you should shred up hundred dollar bills and feed them to Charlie. And you could prob use as foot pack too.

    Charlie, c'mon

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    1. ugh seriously. tho i should at least be grateful that aside from charlie's splint abscess and subsequent surgery ($$$), he really hasn't cost me much money with his never ending parade of dings. sure, i should basically be buying stock in smzs at this point. and have a much deeper war chest of supplies like duct tape and vet wrap and epsom salts and all other manner of wound dressing and application tools..... but those are also useful things to have on hand and are applicable for a variety of needs, so the cost is ok. in terms of actual vet bills? we've honestly been pretty light. thank god for small miracles lol. it's just the time that costs the most. i'd gladly pay a higher bill if it meant less lost time....

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  8. So gross out! And poor charles! I hate abscesses with a passion! And I really recommend voodoo white lightning and vinegar soaks. It's in a bag and with all this mud, it really helps kill everything that causes abscesses. Even when nails help cause them too! http://www.grandcircuitinc.com/products/white-lightning%C2%AE-8-oz-bottle

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    1. yup you've recommended that stuff every time i write about abscesses haha, i'm so glad it works so well for your guys!

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    2. That said, it was recommended to me for 2.5 years before I tried it. And I only tried it because someone handed me the damn bottle with one treatment left and forced the stuff on me. I'm never going to suggest again though. I'm done being a pain. I hope it burst and Charlie is feeling good! At least the weather sucks and he wouldn't be doing anything fun today anyway.

      Also, I want the lamb. Seriously.

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  9. I'm super excited about today's wind bc it should help dry the ground out faster and it NEEDS so much help bc omg the amount of rain we just had 😝 And isn't it such a relief when your horse is 3 legged lame? It's like oh thank god it's just an abscess instead of god only knows what that is causing you to be lame … now it just needs to pop!!!!

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    1. i hope the wind dries things up too. it's a big job, but then again this is a big wind so.... maybe??

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  10. Girl, I feel your pain! You and I are pretty much living the same existence right now. My mare would also loooove to be a pet. Here's hoping you get good news and that abscess pops soon and you can get back to work.

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    1. ugh these horses. they just need to stahp. when will the figure out that we're actually offering them pretty great lifestyles, and all we ask in return is a couple hours under saddle each week????? it's not that hard, c'mon!!!!

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    1. Also, as I pressed publish on my comment I just fully appreciated the punniness of the title and the diapered creature. 👏👏

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    2. haha glad you appreciate the puns. there are so many levels to this one... obviously the actual lamb lol. but also considering one of my earliest february posts ("fabulous february") was all about charlie killin it in a jump lesson, it's not a stretch to say we came into this month like a lion and went out like a lamb after being crippled for weeks..... sigh.

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    3. also i just googled "in like a lion" bc that's the type of shit i google, and apparently the proverb is specifically about the month of march, relating to its mercurial nature as a transitional month between seasons. so. boom, another layer to the pun. and maybe it means that since we're coming into the month lame (like a lion??) we'll go out not... lame??? like a lamb??? idk haha, i'm reaching here...

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  12. OMG that lamb with a DIAPER. How cute! Charlie is simply testing you to see if you really want to get ready for a show season. He doesn't think you do. Maybe after this episode you can convince him to cut the crap and start being the superstar he obviously is going to be!

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    1. lol i think he's pretty well convinced that i'm serious, considering i saddled him up to ride the moment i thought he might be soundish (which, turns out, he was not lol).

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  13. Charlie get a hold of yourself man! Your mom needs to go riding before she goes insane! Hopefully whatever is messing with his tootsies works itself out over the weekend and you can start next week fresh and riding again.

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    1. i think if we can just avoid stepping on any more nails, he should hopefully be fine. but damn, that nail really knocked us out going on four weeks now.... sigh.

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  14. Blagharrrr! :( Really I am happy it is an abscess but, f#$@. Cheers to a fellow rider who just... doesn't... ride all that much. :P

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    1. yea definitely agree that the abscess is preferable to.... lots of other things. this time of year is just so tough tho. here's hoping for more warm weather and dry ground and RIDING TIME sooon tho!!

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  15. Ok, but like yay for one abscess and then be done for the year, Charlie. I don't want to keep cheering for them. (Also I looooove Hawthorne hoof packing for tender toes. The Magic Cushion probably works just as well though!)

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    1. honestly i'd also like to start cheering for things beyond "congrats horse for almost being sound!!" too. like i'm cool with setting the bar low but this is getting ridiculous lol

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  16. OMG Charlie! but hopefully that is a sign of a possible abscess bursting! Crossing my fingers! But seriously Charlie you're missing out on the jumping! And I know how you feel. I'm getting pretty down not being able to really do anything with Amber lol

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  17. Blech - best of healing to him. It's always something, right? We've had a bout of ulcer flare ups at our barn right now which is awful as well

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  18. Aww baby lamb!!! :) We had pet lambs when I was younger - then they grew up to be big sheep and my parents sent them to "live in the countryside with some nice people." I only recently learned what that really meant :(
    And Charlie - give your mom a break, no more getting hurt or abscesses!!

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