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Wednesday, August 29, 2018

it's like déjà vu all over again

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***
Oops, he did it again!
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That takes talent!
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I guess lightning does strike twice.....
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Why, tho? Why??
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Maybe I should have just left him out in the woods....
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That's it. Time to break out the titanium hoof pads!
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my phone refused to focus on this gruesome bloodied chunk of wood. apparently even my technology is in denial
Ahem. Cough cough. So.

Charlie punctured his right hind hoof AGAIN. On a piece of WOOD. While WALKING. On the TRAILS.

it takes real talent to weaponize this thing
One second we were ambling along amid the monarchs and dragonflies, and the next we were reeeeeeally fucking crippled. A quick look down behind me confirmed that Charlie was suddenly not weight bearing on that leg, so I hopped off to investigate.

sad charles is sad
After convincing him to maybe not kick my face in, he allowed me to grab the hoof -- at which point I observed what looked like a chunk of mulch stuck in his shoe. Nbd, it was probably uncomfortable and maybe even a little poke-y on his delicate little tootsie-wootsies, so I just yanked it out.

yup... life sucks, buddy
Except uh..... While basically the entirety of this chunk-o-wood looked innocent, somehow there was one curved dagger-like splinter jutting out of it that Charlie had stepped on just perfectly (we're talking one-in-a-million odds here folks, wtf) such that it embedded about an inch into his frog. Complete with insta-blood spurt.

two hooves, one bucket?
Is it weird to admit I kinda felt nothing? Like, not the sudden rush of ice cold fear from last winter when the same fucking thing happened with a roofing nail. And not even really anger, either. Just like.... this slow-spreading numb feeling of, "Ok this is happening now."

evidence of shenanigans afoot
We happened to be at a convenient point following the pasture fence lines around the property - there was a nearby gate wherein I could lead Charlie in hand on a direct route back to the barn, so that was nice at least.

Also nice was that he seemed relatively ok. Whereas last winter it had taken us forever (and a couple hand tools) to get the nail out of his hoof during which time Charlie started looking stressed and I worried about shock.... This time around I got the thing out quickly and he returned to weight bearing immediately.

honestly i'm not sure exactly where it went... somewhere in here.
It looked like it maybe stung tho. Like Charlie would stop every few feet to shake and stamp the leg a bit. And seemed maybe a little extra reactive and sensitive to all the biting flies, tho I guess that could have just been my imagination.

epsom salts and betadine to pack in there
Otherwise tho he was walking pretty normally and we made it back to the barn without incident (despite having to cut through the mares field, filled naturally with extreme drama queens lol).

Based on my experiences last time this happened, I knew there wouldn't really be much a vet could do at that exact moment. So I opted to move forward with treating myself, with the plan to take a "wait and see" approach over the next few days. This plan of attack was aided by knowing Charlie was on the schedule to see the farrier the next day, so I figured the farrier could triage the situation as well as anyone else.

wrapped up nice and snug with pretty blue vet wrap
I let my barn manager know what was up, and set about caring for the hoof. Soaked for about ~10-15 minutes with hot hot hot water treated with epsom salts and betadine solution. Then went to pack with the same type of concoction.

Last winter, my vet had recommended I pack the hoof with poultice. The idea being that it was wet and muddy out and poultice would at least protect the hoof from anything nastier getting up into the puncture. Tho, depending on who you ask, I was a fool for listening to the vet and obviously am bad at horse care for following those directions. Idk. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

charlie is insisting that i get more practice in learning how to wrap a hoof
Charlie *did* end up abscessing last time tho. Actually.... He went full drama queen bc after getting so sore on that hoof, he over compensated on his other hoof -- but then somehow took that hoof's shoe off in turnout, then got uber sore on that one, and abscessed again. It was... an ordeal.

I'd love to avoid an abscess this time around (feels futile tho, tbh) plus the ground is pretty dry right now, so I figured there's less of a risk of other junk getting up into the hoof. So I packed it with drawing agents like epsom salts and betadine, then wrapped it all up carefully as could be.

Seriously, I keep trying to get better and better at this whole hoof wrapping thing. Certainly I'm getting lots of practice! This latest effort tho was a total flop and Charlie walked out of it before he even reached the pasture. Sigh. I guess I needed to go higher over his heel, but there's other ouchies and skin funk there that I had been trying to avoid irritating.... Idk. Oh well. I threw him out anyway. He'll live, probably. Maybe.

apparently i still need more work tho.... womp.
So we'll see what happens, I guess. Last time he seemed perfectly normal for about ~4 days before brewing the abscess. Then we spent about 2 wks dealing with the fallout from that. Ultimately tho, there was no lasting damage from the nail. I can only hope we'll be so lucky this time around. I'd be shocked if that splintery thing managed to get close to the joint, tho I guess it could have gone into the bursa too. It's hard to tell.

It's a real bummer tho, even if we get "lucky" and all that comes of it is an abscess or whatever. Charlie and I were supposed to go on our annual group hunter pace next weekend, complete with very exciting team costumes. And naturally I had just sent in the nonrefundable payment for our first ever 2 day clinic the weekend after.

Who knows tho, maybe we'll get even luckier than last time and he'll be totally fine and won't abscess?? Maybe?? Pretty pretty pretty please?!? Sigh...

55 comments:

  1. Oh Charlie :( I don't even know what else to say...

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    1. Idk.... like maybe congratulate him and pat him on the back and appreciate his prowess at achieving even the most unthinkable results?!?!?? Hahahahasob

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  2. You know with odds like that he should be picking out lotto numbers. I’m hoping that since it was his frog it will heal fine. Also, I have used horse pots to poultice and they work well. But Irish is not shod behind so IDK.

    And yes, whatever you do is wrong. Just accept that. It will make life easier. 🙄🙄

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    1. Omg I didn’t even think of the lottery but now that you mention it... lol. And yes you speak the truth. I can only ever be wrong so I might as well get used to it! Meanwhile I’m hoping what you say about frog injuries healing faster proves accurate too. It’s hard to imagine Charlie passing up such a ripe opportunity to abscess but then again obviously crazier things have happened!

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  3. I'm still in shock over this. Just... Wtf. I mean. It's WOOD. How? Why? Wtf?

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    1. He says, “excuse me Austen but it is a SPLINTER and it was VERY SHARP and it PIERCED my tender delicate SOUL, ahem I mean SOLE!”

      He suffers, ya know.

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  4. But... HOW?! I'm sure he's been ridden over some much gnarlier terrain than, like, MULCH. Charlie HOW DO YOU GET IMPALED BY MULCH?!

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    1. Omg it’s the same freakin pasture lane we ride all the damn time! Half of it is covered with giant gravel bits that we were just doing trot sets on! But nooooo oh no siree bob, that mulch is too too sharp, no can do!! >:(

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  5. Beats. Face. Off. Desk. WHY, CHARLIE. WHY.


    Fingers crossed for NO abscessing and FAST, EASY healing. Like. 100% by this afternoon.

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    1. Ugh thanks. Honestly I’ve told him he has to fend for himself right now and have completely neglected him. Barn management is on the look out for signs of distress but otherwise ?? He’s on time out, dammit. And when I go out tomorrow I expect him to toughen up. Like. Cmon buddy please? Just a little bit more tough?!?!?

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    2. Hah. Mine's "Bangs head on desk"

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  6. Usually the type to wait until I'm caught up on my blog reading but I saw this and was reallyyyyy hoping it was just a thrown shoe! Or random broken piece of tack?! But nooo. Like how do all the pieces fall into place for this?? Sending all the good vibes for a quick healing, sound, non-abcessing pony who is never a metal detector for dangerous objects again!

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    1. ugh thanks. he really is the reigning King of Dinglandia over here, apparently. maybe he also thinks of himself somewhat as a martyr?? like he's finding all these sharp objects himself to protect the innocent masses from similar doom???? lol... but thanks, hopefully *fingers crossed* he comes out relatively unscathed!

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  7. Seriously Charlie?! How on earth did he even manage to do that? On mulch?!?!?!?

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    1. IT'S HONESTLY PRETTY IMPRESSIVE, RIGHT????? ugh.... like my feelings upon just grabbing at the mulch chip only to see that bloody spike were.... not happy feelings. wtf.

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  8. You know how there is "Good Luck Chuck?"... You own the doppelganger "Bad Luck Chuck". Fingers crossed that it ends up being a total non-event.

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    1. lol bad luck chuck..... tho maybe if you ask him he thinks this is the best thing ever. maybe he takes the "retired" part of "retired race horse" a littttttle too seriously....

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  9. hahahah oh my god, i'm so sorry. and i'm sorry to laugh. but how did he even do that.

    on the plus side your foot wrap looks really nice even if he did rip it off.

    you should just ask your vet for a little IV bag of antibiotics that you can give him every day for the rest of his life while he keeps stabbing himself :P

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    1. and see, here i was thinking i ought to just keep dunking him in a giant vat of steroids...... seriously tho wtf horse. wtf.

      and yes, i was mighty proud of that hoof wrap. was 100% already patting myself on the back for finally figuring out how to get it done quickly, easily, and in a way that looked reasonably nice. little pressure-relieving snip at the coronet band and errything. then when i turned around at the gate and it was already lonnng gone, it just.... ugh. it just seemed fitting haha.

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    2. sorry he dinged himself again. Bubble wrap and padding for life! Also I find wrapping the hoof no matter how good it is that shit just falls off. Sorry!

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    3. mine normally dont fall off any more (runkle stepped on the jump clip 5 times.......) but they rip the bottom before then so its like a little flip flop

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    4. ugh thanks Michele yea wrapping is definitely not my favorite thing to do in the world and apparently am not super great at it. oh well, i try!

      and yea Megan mine either fall off or turn into useless colorful bracelets around charlie's fetlocks haha

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  10. Maybe this will be the one that doesn't abscess!!! Good grief Charlie, only you.

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    1. only him indeed. i'm hopeful we can' avoid the abscess but only time will tell!

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  11. WUT THE HELL CHARLES?!!!

    At least the desensitizing for you is working well.... calm and focused response - that's A+ in my book!

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    1. hahahahaha yes i suppose i should be grateful for charlie being so wiling to teach me grace under pressure!! ;)

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  12. HE'S GOING TO BE FINE EVERYTHING IS FINE.

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  13. Replies
    1. ugh these animals. they know how to drive us crazy tho.... :(

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  14. Like... what even?! DAMMIT CHARLIE. Also though, you've GOTTA be racking up the karma points like no ones business... right? RIGHT?!?!

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    1. haha i sure hope so!!! i had kinda been afraid to jinx it bc we had been on such a lovely length streak of No Dings.... but all good things must come to end some time, i suppose....

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  15. OH MY GOD CHARLIE. Wow. That is talent right there to weaponize mulch. I am crossing everything crossable that you'll be able to go to the 2 day clinic!!! That's just sucky. I am still kind of in shock tho. I seriously can't believe he managed to do that AGAIN to the EXACT SAME FOOT. Ugh. Horses.

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    1. ugh talent indeed. he must have some sort of homing device in there, it's insane. actually crazy. ugh haha

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  16. I used a Hoof Wraps Bandage for my hoof-houdini, Porsche and it worked really well and Stayed ON! Oh, Charlie!!

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    1. good to know!!! i've got so many materials right now ugh i'm really hoping to downsize, tho naturally charlie better not be reading this and thinking "Ha, I Can Help With That!"

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  17. I'm going with Carly's approach. ITS FINE. HE IS FINE. IT WILL BE FINE.

    But also like... dude stop doing that. Like now.

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    1. yea seriously. like i'll be very happy if all turns out fine. but i would be even *more* happy if he would just stahp plz!

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  18. Charlie apparently has a special talent for stepping on things. Not cool, kiddo, not cool!

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    1. oh he's talented alright haha. i just wish he would apply himself in different directions!

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  19. Really, though, what *are* the chances?!? :O

    And is it a good thing or a bad thing that you've become totally unflappable in such a situation? lol

    Fingers crossed he's perfectly fine and you'll be able to carry on with all of the fun things.

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    1. honestly i really don't know how he does this stuff. but yea there is something to be said for being practiced at handling scary situations. i never really thought that the sight of a bleeding hoof would be like... "Oh, this again!" to me but, now here we are and i guess it's not necessarily a bad thing? maybe?? lol...

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  20. Oh my goodness girl- when I think I have bad luck all I have to do is come to your blog! Your poor thing, I don't know how you handle it. I'd a freaking anxious mess!!! I REALLY hope that you catch a break and this thing doesn't turn into a huge abscess. Like, REALLY REALLY hope, for the sake of your sanity!!

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  21. No, bad Charlie! Ugh, I think he wins 'most accident prone' horse. Feel better soon buddy!

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  22. Oh my, what rotten luck! I'm sorry you have to deal with this, again :( Hope it heals quickly.

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  23. I had actually been thinking the other day reading through your post that Charlie hadn't hurt himself in a while. I'm sorry. I totally ruined the streak! I will never think those thoughts again.

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  24. God, he reminds me of my very aptly named horse, Disaster haha!

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  25. I squirmed a little on the inside seeing the first picture. Ouch and omg what Charlie! D: Stapppp it

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  26. WHAT NO. Mulch??? Good grief, Charlie,

    Foot wrapping: you need elastikon as at least a top layer to stick it to the pastern. No way to really wrap a hoof without going up the pastern. :(

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  27. Oh lord. Charlie, old buddy, you need to calm it with the self injury! (banging my head on desk for you)

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  28. Why Charlie!?!? Fingers massively crossed for no abscessing and quick healing! <3

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