Tuesday, February 14, 2023

"hakuna your tatas, emma"

Happy Valentines Day, everybody! Let's celebrate the occasion by reviewing an extended-cut collection of recent photos (and gifs omg) of Charlie being entertained by his favorite barn friends and obvi some gnarly updated shots of the #HoofHole2023....

charlie is the luckiest horse to have so many friends enriching his days during this long recovery!
First Update: As anyone who's been around long enough may have surmised, my optimistic tone and ambitious hopes for beginning Charlie's reintroduction to full turnout last Friday were.... hm, premature.  

after switching to the dry wrap protocol we ended up with a bit of a blockage
As you may recall, we transitioned protocols by the end of last week to a fully dry wrap. Meaning we stopped soaking the hoof, and, a few days later, stopped using Animalintex wet poultice pads in the wraps. Meanwhile, we continued applying the antibiotics slurry.

using betadine for a little extra flushing
My vet advised me on Thursday night to be more aggressive in scraping off old residue from the medicine. Tho, I'd already finished Thursday's wrap by the time that advice came through, so I figured it'd just be a new part of the protocol for Friday. 

these little curved-tip syringes are extremely versatile and useful tools!
But by Friday night, the residue had already blocked things up enough to increase pressure inside Charlie's hoof, so he was decidedly less comfortable again. Not critical, but a setback. 

not really soaking, here --- kinda just dunking a bit to help clear the blockage
My vet said to do what needed done to clear out the blockage, but then otherwise continue with the dry wrapping plan -- don't reintroduce soaking or wetness to the wrap. 

side story:: michael almost came to the horse show with us omg haha
She also recommended scuttling my original plans for attempting a start to reintroducing full turnout. The horse was much better by Saturday, but she still felt like slower was safer. 

moving on to sunday, the first day where we didn't reapply an antibiotic slurry.
also omg his sole is BLACK
Charlie is doing well with brief stints in the paddock tho. He goes out in the morning while barn staff does chores. I assume this is for about an hour. Most days I pop him out again in the evening while I clean his stall and prepare for his wrap change. 

mmmmmm fluid in da hole. just treating with betadine from here out
And some days he's lucky enough to have a friend willing to sneak him out again midday. Realistically, Charlie is not a great paddock pony, bc he eventually gets impatient and weaves. And the charm of the paddock is already wearing off a bit....

charles is so helpful
But the frequent changes of scenery (aided and abetted, naturally, by a fresh flake of hay!) are still entertaining enough, I suppose. 

d'aww his friends turned him out midday for some fun in the warm sun on Monday!!!
It's good to see him out, too. Stall rest is just plain hard on this horse's body. I'm starting to create a mental inventory of what all we'll need to do once he's past this process. 

so happy to see him moving around even tho he's lonely and sad
(also. pls be nice. i know he's lame. you know he's lame. the vet knows he's lame. we all know. the whole system is operating in distinctly suboptimal conditions right now, mkay?)
Probably, uh, some ulcergard lol. Honestly probably should have maybe already started that... But I really didn't think we'd be looking at so much stall rest, whoops. 

ugh his condition is so discouraging rn, i might have actually cried a little lot when my friend texted this picture :'(
I'm also noodling on plans for what Charlie's general reintroduction to riding might look like. Realistically.... he's just in bad shape, all around. 

boot performed well in its first mud test tho!
We'll probably do his hocks right around the very tail end of this whole saga, tho ultimately I'll defer to my vet on her thoughts re: timing. Then... Well. We're basically starting at zero.

honestly feeling good about this! after snapping the pic, i pulled out the leather insert to let it air out and brush off the mud. might also cut up an old yoga mat to add padding***
(**based on the input of an anonymous commenter who shared successes from how they coped in a similar situation.
pro tip: unsolicited advice? meh. sharing stories of what did or did not work for you? amazing!)
I tried to do the math the other day, and it's kinda an ugly set of numbers. Charlie got basically the whole month of August off after his #TangleWithTensile

wondering if those heel bulb marks are just bc it was more wet this day.... still using a "pillow" of cotton fluff inside the wrap
Then there was another 6wks off after kinda general malaise in October/November leading up to the vet prescribing Equioxx.

mmmmm #bubbles #gross #itsBETADINEnotblood
i think this is progress tho? reminder: we still expect this is a "false sole" that will eventually (soon?) slough off, revealing a new sole underneath --- sorta like growing in a new toenail underneath the dead one.
And now we're already 6wks into this saga, with every expectation of a few more to come. That's.... a shit ton of time out of work just in the last six months. And Charlie's condition right now, paired with the effects of prolonged stall rest.... reflect the consequences. 

"your coat matches my slipper <3" -- charles, who adores children
So ya know. Brace yourselves for the transition to unending "Rehab" posts, I guess. And --- before you even go there, I do NOT want to hear a SINGLE bit of unsolicited advice about the value of "walking" and "hills." Please, kindly, go fuck yourself. 

my sweet goofy pony, we'll take care of you!
Ahem. Anyways lol. Aside from Charlie's splint surgery, this whole ordeal is running away with the prize for "Most Ridiculous Ding Yet." Here's hoping those won't be famous last words, tho, lol..... 

And in the meantime, I'm gonna do my best to just calm the F down and keep giving the horse what he needs** <3 

(**aka, beefing him back up that #DadBod shape we know and love!!!)

26 comments:

  1. I very much appreciate the gif of pushing on the sole and having it bubble through the toe hole. So crazy!! The side on paddock shot right before you started switching to talking about his condition I actually thought in my head "wow, all things considered he has kept his weight and muscle well." So my unsolicited advice is to only look at the flattering angle/lighting pictures and try not to dwell on the rest for sake of your mental health.

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    1. omg i was like "somebody quick come video this!!!1!" lololol.... this was the first time that i could push down on places so far away from the actual hole and still see that bubbling. could be way off, but my hope is that this means that whatever is happening underneath is finally forming? and yea, omg, ugh, flattering light only from here out! (and maybe some purina outlast too, just to cover all the bases.....)

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  2. Awww poor guy. Also I love how Charlie's body shape on his worst days looks like mine on their regular days lol

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    1. ugh i like my pony plush and well upholstered !!!! :(

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  3. Emma you have all my sympathy - as someone who has rehabbed a large horse from extended stall rest. It is daunting to watch the whole system "collapse", so to speak. For what it's worth, I thought Charlie looked great in his gif.

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    1. thank you!! and honestly... i thought so too. i actually sent that video to my vet to be like, "i think this is normal-to-good, am i crazy?" and she completely agreed, esp given the size of the original abscess.... i'm kinda secretly hoping that charlie will sorta suddenly go sound again when whatever is happening inside his hoof finishes forming. we'll see, i guess!

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  4. Honestly he looks sounder than I expected him to in the video. So yay for that!

    Also, I almost choked on my drink laughing at the comment about "walking" and "hills" lol

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    1. LOL!!! i swear, people literally cannot resist going on and on (and on and on and ON OMG) about the benefits of walking and hill work like they just discovered the god damn cure for cancer.... like srsly, we know, guys. it's cool. (bUt HaVe YoU tRiEd WaLkInG uP HiLlS BaCkWaRdS??!?)

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  5. OMG, have you tried walking up hills? Also, xyz supplement will work magic. And maybe getting him the equine peloton.

    LOL, sorry could not resist. He looks pretty good all things considered. I also admire that you have not yet become a raging alcoholic.

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    1. oh lord, i make zero promises about the 'raging alcoholic' thing, definitely already halfway there on 'raging' ha! jk jk... sorta...

      for real tho, you might be on to something with the equine peloton..... that might call for a little MS Paint magic.... ;P

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  6. Since you said no unsolicited advice, here's mine. You said no hill work. Have you tried rolling up a hill? I mean, you'll be really strong after.

    In all seriousness, how about feeding him random foods and having him rank them. It's almost Easter and Passover (at least now that valentine's day is over in grocery store land). What does Charlie think about matzo? Or bad kosher for passover desserts? Or Easter candy? This is the content people want to go along with hoof picture. We need food along with hoof pictures.

    And, if all else fails, teach Charles tricks and you can join me and Nay and we'll be 2 bay thoroughbred trick pony circus with a random jiminy distracting everyone from our disaster... Since I'm not riding right now, I should get on that trick thing to give Nay something to focus is sad brain on... I'm only half kidding with this suggestion. And the food one.

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    1. omfg hahahahaha pretty sure you just #nailedit

      charles agrees 1,000% that i should use this time to offer up platters and buffets of all manner of 'exotic' snax (in fact, he may or may not have gotten into my reeses pieces this weekend...), plus finally seizing our moment to dive into the world of trick training i always muse about.... pretty sure charlie would like to be one of those animals that paints pictures haha. hmmmmmmm :P

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  7. I hauled Peebs up to Cinder's barn for dental day last week and one of the other boarders was picking apart Peebs' conformation. I introduced him as my older, retired gelding and she goes on about his lack of top line and how long his back is. I was ready to punch a bitch. It's so irritating when people offer "advise" on your horse's condition or rehab.

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    1. Uhhhhhhh excuse me WHAT? Omfg why are people like this tho. Like. Oh ok great input. Super actionable. Guess I’ll just go dig a hole for my beloved longtime partner bc he doesn’t match what the text book says is ideal. Too bad so sad, thanks for the memories Peebs!!

      Like. Ffs people. Sometimes a filter is healthy omg. Sorry people said that to you!!!!

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    2. You should have punched her. People are the worst.

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    3. I feel like this could be an entire blog post "things people have said". I literally had a friend say to me last week "I was telling my friends about you putting Irish down because you were worried about the ice. But he would have been fine this winter so you didn't have to do it". Like, WTF?

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    4. oh. my. god UGH -- like what on earth does somebody have to be thinking to say something like that? i'm so sorry, that's just so thoughtless.... we all make the best choices we can with the information we have, and Irish is one of the luckiest horses i know of, having an owner who gave him dignity and grace rather than risk unnecessary trauma or horror....

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  8. I think he looks pretty good all things considered in that gif! You're doing a great job, I know how frustrating this is, and how freaking long it takes.
    Rehabbing also sucks. Sending good juju for all the patience as you get through all of this.

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    1. thanks -- yea honestly i'll just be happy to get back on and go places with him again. he's a pleasant horse to spend time with, even on the ground just changing wraps and whatnot, but he's definitely bored and definitely eager to get back to turnout and wandering!

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  9. I had a moment of panic for you with the bubbling ooze video and then I read the caption. Phew!
    Phantom had a chunk of her sole come off at a farrier appointment after an abscess. I wish I could tell you about what I did for it, but I can't remember - which means it was a non-event. I have a feeling that a wee bit more of Charlie's sole is going to come away than the half of Phantom's though.
    The hills thing is also useless to me - there's no hills out here in the prairies!

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    1. if you are curious about what we are doing for this particular injury, or what the vet had to say about Charlie's sole, i actually posted the whole report right here: https://fraidycateventing.blogspot.com/2023/02/let-tigers-take-me-charles-probably.html

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  10. Poor Charlie! Those hoof bubbles are kind of freaky. With Improving Weather and Diminishing Mud over here, I'm trying to get Bird back into something resembling shape but they're timbering next to our usual work area (so loggers yelling, chainsaws running, trees falling over, log skidder bopping around, log truck being loaded, etc). Bird has seen the loggers previously and it was OK but they were quite a bit further away, behind trees. Now they are "closer" and NOT behind trees anymore (because they cut those trees down) and he just... can't. *sigh* Road work it is. I'll fetch out the neon reflective vest.

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    1. dude... i'm so grateful for the diminishing mud right now.... glad you are able to get out at least a little bit, tho agreed i'm not sure many horses would be cool with the whole logging situation, eek....

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  11. I feel you on the time off. I had sore back/sore feet/xrays showing thin soles/heel thrush/leg sliced open/strangles in the barn. So from November to now he's been ridden exactly once for a saddle fitting. And he grew almost 2 inches so now we are looking at saddle fitting again. Basically starting over from zero. Except he's been able to go out the whole time so we are not looking at the same consequences as stall rest. Heal quick, Charles!
    Betsy in WI

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    1. oooooohkay so i thought *i* had the market cornered on Kings of the Dings omg.... but that's like, every single little just-serious-enough-to-cause-a-problem-but-still-not-so-serious-the-horse-won't-be-fine type thing on the list.... sheesh!!! for real, tho, at least having the horse get out really really helps with their own physical condition (aside from the whole "grew 2 inches" thing omg). charlie's sole is starting to do weird and surprising things so we're hopeful that means it'll do whatever it needs to do sometime soon, fingers crossed!!

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  12. What if you taught him to use those animal communication buttons that are all over TikTok with cats and dogs? I'm pretty sure I've seen videos of horses using them too. I've been mulling over grabbing a set for Gwyn just so we can have lots of brain work with minimal physical movement for those bad rehab days.

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