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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

leg update

So Isabel's leg is still visually a mess. But we are really seriously hoping that medically, it's on the mend. She finished her two week course of Doxy and will continue to get treated with the prescribed topical treatment until we finish it.

still lots of green grass for grazing
The other three legs have been getting treated liberally with a Desitin mixture since there was some evidence of scabbing. The treatment is nasty and gunky and ugly, but the scabs went away without turning into anything more, so we will take it.

not the best light but you get the picture
The bad leg is still losing big chunks of hair, but the pink skin is looking less irritated and is regrowing some hair too. It gets washed daily with a betadine solution before we apply the topical stuff. Then poor thing has to stay in for an hour for it to dry before she can go back out again.

moar grass!
I'm super grateful that barn staff has been so on top of the treatment - the leg really IS looking better. And she's not always the easiest horse to treat... tho I was able to help Brita out with it this weekend and we involved lots of grazing in the process - much appreciated by the princess!

grass and boot
So we'll see. I'm cautiously optimistic about finally getting rid of the funk. Ugh.

In other news - Brita also agreed to hop on the mare and work her out a little bit. We traded horses once last winter to see if I would have any better luck with Wick's left lead (spoiler alert: I didn't), but Brita mostly just zipped around for a few minutes with Isabel. This time she got to actually *ride.* And I think they had fun!

grass and cat
Isabel is super different from Wick in almost every dimension - and not just bc she's so much smaller. Her whole way of going is very different - especially her tendency to get really short in the neck and btv. So Brita got a first hand feel for what I mean when I say the horse is behind my leg lol. But she did a really nice job sorting it out and pushing the horse forward.

adorable mare is adorable
They even got to play with Isabel's first ground poles and jumps in nearly two months! I wish I had gotten more footage - all I got was their first run through this little ground pole - cavaletti trotting exercise... that Isabel clearly thought was a perfect opportunity to show off her cute little knees haha. Most horses would just trot the damn thing (it was seriously 12"), but Isabel is not most horses and will crack that little back of hers over the merest of speed bumps. Goofy mare.

Brita had fun tho - and actually did a really nice job figuring out how to ride Isabel forward to the other jump (our wooden coops). And I think the mare was seriously enjoying herself too, even if she was huffing and puffing after only a couple minutes.

Oh well... we both have our work cut out for us in getting back into shape...

30 comments:

  1. Glad to hear the leg is healing and that B got to have a spin with Miss Izzy.

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    1. i'm pretty glad the leg is healing too... hopefully this is really it now!

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  2. Ugh. You've had a TIME with skin funk. I thought Q had it bad last year. Goodness. Have you had the vet out at all to sedate and remove scabs? That's ultimately what I had to do. Topicals just wouldn't cut it. Had to remove the source of infection and THEN apply topicals before we saw any improvement. It. Was. Hell.

    Cheers to better days and moving past this hump!

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    1. the vet has been out to treat her, tho i wasn't there at the time so idk if he cut any of the scabs off. but he prescribed doxy and a topical solution and that's what we've been doing ever since

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  3. Leg funk is the worst. Hopefully everything will get cleared up soon. I love the snappy little knees!

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    1. lol isn't she so adorable? and i hope it all clears soon too ugh

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  4. Scratches is awful. AWFUL. The antibiotics and vet-prescribed topical goo was what finally kicked it for us, but I was still washing daily and applying meds for a good year, no exaggeration. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of it for you guys!

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    1. yup, i don't doubt that for a minute. we're ticking up to five month mark as it is.... ughhhhh. hopefully it'll be over soon tho!

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  5. Ugh - I hope the end is in sight with the leg funk! That nice pink skin under there is looking good at least, and sounds like she got some excellent care

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    1. i like the look of that nice pink too - it's not as bright and irritated as it has been in the past, and the leg hasn't filled up at all in a couple weeks. we'll see!

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  6. Leg looks improved, thankfully! And that cat is beautiful :)

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    1. lol that cat is freakin adorable - and may or may not be exactly the same shape and dimensions as a soccer ball haha

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  7. Chestnuts+white legs=so much joy. Glad she's healing up.

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  8. I think I'm on over 6 years of battling the hind legs scabs on Stampede. I had a scab sent off and tested and did 3 months of doxy (as in had to hide massive amounts of powder in the center of horse treats to get him to take it) a few years ago now. I've found that if I wrap over the desitin mixture with saran wrap my scabs come off quickly then I switch to my vet made $100 per jar "magic goo" and do the same wrapping maneuver I can get close to ridding of them. Not sure if the overall failure there is that I get tired of wrapping his hind legs like this for weeks on end or that it just won't go away. Regardless his issue is obviously systemic of some sort so I'm fairly certain the protocol would cure any normal horse. He is, as always, a special needs child.
    I'm certain you will cure Isabel of her issue way before I fix up Stampede, lol.

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    1. ugh how frustrating... i've heard of that saran wrapping technique and was preparing to try it out last august when we still weren't sure what was going on and had izzy stay in a couple nights to get wrapped. she HATES staying in tho, so it's not been the ideal solution but perhaps we'll revisit if this persists ugh.....

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  9. Happy to hear you are having success. Got to love those red mares with white legs!

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    1. thanks - this has certainly been quite the trial ugh haha

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  10. I hope you both continue to improve!

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    1. haha thanks - it's kinda funny that we both have leg problems at the same time... tho fortunately isabel isn't gimpy the way i am ;)

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  11. Oh my goodness so many funky legs! I'm glad there's progress on both fronts. (And if you ever feel bad- Miss Lease is literally freshly closed sores, balding patches from rain rot on her butt right now, so I feel your "funk" pain).

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    1. ugh rain rot is the WORST. so far we haven't had to deal much with that... but this leg stuff is driving me plenty crazy

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  12. Hope her leg, and your leg gets better soon!

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    1. thanks! at least i've got a timeline for my own leg - hopefully hers will hop on the bandwagon too

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  13. Yay for progress, no matter how slow forward is good!

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    1. that's so true.... slow isn't always my favorite, but it's definitely preferable to the alternative!

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  14. So frustrating. Hopefully everything is under control now and she continues to improve.

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    1. ugh i seriously hope so. i'm thinking it's promising that it hasn't blown up at all recently - fingers crossed!

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