friday foto finish

Happy Friday, y'all!! Hope you aren't feeling too too frantic with the impending holidays and whatnot!

nap o'clock in the mare's field!

Things are kinda back to being quiet around these parts, esp after a couple weeks of amping up, getting excited about riding both horses regularly again. Lol, sigh.

sleeping beauty

Doozy took the whole "quiet" thing to the next level this week too! I had planned to sneak in a weekday daytime ride with her after Charlie's vet appointment.... But then she was laid out napping in the sun when I went to retrieve her!!

elegant even at rest

And I'm such a sucker, guys, lol... But I couldn't bear to drag her out of her slumber... So, eh. What's another day off, amirite?

less elegant --- almost impossible to get a hoof wrap to last on a shod horse...

She has otherwise had a good week, tho -- I've stuck to my guns about reverting my style a bit to how she's been accustomed, vs the higher pressure / higher contact dressage style we're working on in lessons. 

le flap, 24hrs post stapling

And the mare has rewarded me by returning to being able to wtc in a generally civilized fashion. All good things, and we'll keep nibbling around the edges toward progress!

i felt like a monster peeling the gauze off this wound, bleh

Charlie, for his part, is absolutely furious about being stallbound again. I really really feel for him. 

ooooooh grass!

Luckily, he's still the goodest boy, and lord knows he's had plenty of practice at rehab over the years.... So he's a gentleman about hand walks and grazing. No shenanigans, just grass pls! 

why yes, i'm sitting on my ass watching my horse graze himself lol

Sadly the night after his first day on stall rest, I was snarled in traffic and didn't get out until after sunset to graze him. Which, ya know, was fine. He doesn't care lol, just wants grass. I was frozen solid after an hour, tho, so the next night I was better about arriving earlier. 

#serene

And actually was able to get him up to one of the nicest and best preserved paddocks on the farm --- zero mud, still lots of grass. Perfect! We got to hang out around there for about an hour, tho naughty horse ended up back on the lead when playing with the neighbors proved irresistible lol...

except for those ding dongs trying to make friends over the water cooler

Anyway, his wound looks ok for now. The vet had said each bandage could go for 1-3 days depending on how soiled it looked.... But he actually wore straight through the thing in a single day. Wrapping shod hooves is hard, guys.

back on his lead bc he made poor choices

So we're probably looking at daily wraps for the foreseeable future. Not ideal, but c'est la vie!

subtle changes at the 48hr mark -- more separation at the top left edge, and dryer, darker coloration overall

The first wrap was pretty stuck to his wounds, presumably bc they'd continued bleeding and draining for a while after getting debrided. I felt soo guilty trying to unpeel the gauze from the staples, ugh. 

don't worry, tho, i'm about 1,000% positive the 'ugly stage' is still ahead of us!

The second day was much better, a much more dry wound thankfully. Tho the wrap itself was a total bear to get off --- wayyyyy too much elastikon to try to cut through, and it kept dulling my scissors with the stickiness. 

we'll appreciate the peacefulness for now, tho ;) 

The vet had advised using elastikon bc it'd stay in place better... But eh, if we're changing the bandage daily anyway I'm going to see if vet wrap won't work just as well. 

At some point, this wound is probably going to get seriously gnarly. So ya know. Brace yourselves for those eventual pictures lol. 

In the meantime, all is well around here, and we're looking forward to a pleasant weekend!