the saga, in pictures!

Happy Sunday, y'all! Today is extra special for folks in the US too, bc it's right smack in the middle of a three day weekend. Yessss!

charles needs all the moral support he can get

Things have continued on here in much the same way as I wrote about last week: As of this writing, Charlie's abscess has not yet resolved itself. But it continues to keep ghosting us - heating up and cooling down. Crippled horse, sound horse.

i told the cashier at my neighborhood pharmacy (my neighborhood being one densely packed with college kiddos) that this was for a 'science project' lol

At this rate, I'm trying to be practical about it. It is not an "injury" in the truest sense of the word, right? It's not a situation where aggravating it risks it's ability to heal completely. Actually, in a way, it's kinda the opposite. It's kinda like a zit. In Charlie's foot. That needs to pop. And what can I say but that I'm a picker??

tho i guess plenty of moms are faced with a similar sight regularly too? luckily (?) for me, this is just ichthammol and epsom salts in a diaper

So on days when he's ouchy and sore, he gets all the good stuff. The good stuff, for the record, being mostly what's either on hand or easily obtained via ye olde amazon prime or local pharmacy. Primarily I've been using ichthammol ointment for it's properties of being able to stick on the hoof and coronet band despite turnout conditions.

even better? i had the perfect duct tape for the job!

Tho I also decided to take it a step farther and wrap that puppy up with the ointment. Plus a generous dash of epsom salts bc why not. All wrapped up in a diaper and taped on to Charlie's beleaguered hoof with flying pig duct tape. Bc... at this rate, I expected that the abscess will finally blow right about when pigs actually fly. Womp.

put upon gelding is put upon

Naturally tho, I also don't have a whole huge amount of faith in my wrap jobs. I've heard great things about including a layer cut from a feedbag in these wraps to help prevent the shoe from cutting through... but opted to just forgo all that this time around.

hairy gelding is also very hairy

Figuring, any time in the wrap was beneficial even if it only ended up being the hour between when I put it on him, and when I turned Charlie out. Therefore I sought to make good use of that hour. Much to Charlie's chagrin. Poor fellow. He leads a troubled life, lemme tell ya!

Also tho, I include the above picture of his pile of pulled hair not out of pride or validation or whatever.... But mostly out of evidence bc I swear you can't even tell by looking at the horse that he just sacrificed so many luscious locks. Homeboy's got hair. 

yep, that's about what i expected of that...

Anyway. Who knows how long the wrap actually lasted. It was all up around his fetlock, worn through the sole by the next morning. Tho his hoof was actually still quite nicely coated in ointment. No signs of drainage tho :(

fighting the good fight?

But still heat. So. Onto greener pastures buckets.

charlie appreciated the mountain of crack cocaine hay that i supplied for him

Soaking hooves isn't exactly my favorite activity. And if you believe everything you read on the forums, there are entire sects that believe soaking is counterproductive. Idk. I figured if nothing else, it would help me get the hoof a bit clean.

he looks placid, no?

That lasted about 8 minutes tho. And then Charlie was all like, "ha take your epsom salts and shove 'em!"

So.... yea bro. Wtf. I jogged him out tho and he was pretty freakin sound. So since the abscess had declined my invitations to come out via various drawing agents, we moved on to the next tactic of riding that horse while he's sound and see what happens. More on that later.

taken just moments before he sent that bucket flying across the stall. womp. also i told you there wasn't much of a difference in mane pre- and post-pull!

The plan is to keep riding him since he's sound, tho being careful not to make him too sore. Considering. Ya know. He's basically been out of regular work for going on six weeks now. Wtf how does this even happen????

We'll see tho. Today is supposed to be a fun a tutu-filled day. I've got some ideas for how Charlie can comfortably participate - but given the way things have been going, everything right now boils down to game-time decision making. Wish us luck - I reeeeeeally want it to work out!

In the meantime, I've gotten the distinct impression from literally everybody that I've mentioned the word "abscess" to that there are approximately one zillion different preferred methods of treatment. Whether that's in the form of different soaking agents or wrapping techniques or various ointments, tinctures, and salves....

There are so many ways to do this! And apparently every trainer, farrier and vet all have there own favorites and standbys too. Do you have a favorite abscess treatment method too? Any hard and fast "Dos" and "Don'ts"?