My goodness, there is always something that comes to the peak of needing my attention. I am sure glad I am in California right now & able to take care of my babies......& wouldn't you know it....not one but 2 have a problem at the same time.
I was lucky to move my horses back to the ranch where I previously had them boarded. I only moved them because the new husband hit the same trigger several times right after my going through the trauma with my Mother......so decided to take care of myself at that time......1 1/2 years ago.
I posted about the problem with the ranch I was currently boarding at & that problem led me to the perfect decision to move my horses back to where I had them previously boarded. (I am much stronger now also & know I can take care of myself without leaving). Izzy is now 3 & I needed to know what potential she has for being a dressage horse before moving her back to my farm in Kentucky. She is definitely not the dangerous horse I was told she was by this last ranch owner.
Just before leaving that ranch, my old man (Mister) wasn't eating well & snot was running out of his nose. Thought it might be the heat, or teeth problems with the not eating & maybe a cold......who knew.
I got all 3 horses moved last Wednesday & we started observing Mister because of the not eating. My first question was should I call my vet.....but that was a wait & see. My gut feelings about his amount of blindness was also confirmed by the move. We knew Mister had some problems, but then cropped up a lump under Izzy's jaw bone. Couldn't figure out that because she had already had a mild case of strangles 2 years ago on her 1st birthday & that is supposed to be a once in a life time illness like mumps for people.
Well, the watch on Mister showed up that there was a hole or something running from his mouth into his nose......go figure. Everytime he drinks, the water comes out his nose with the snot. That seemed strange, so I gave him tinny bites of carrot & sure enough....out came orange snot. Finally had the vet come on Saturday night to check him out. Mild bacterial infection & sure enough, there was a broken tooth or tooth that had fallen out....or something....but there definitely is a hole there. In some ways, that was a very lucky thing because the other options were much worse & more difficult to treat. As things are constantly going well for me right now, the timing for the horse dentist at the ranch was arranged for tomorrow.....so all I have to do is give him injected antibiotics to keep the infection from going systemic.
I have been spending all my spare time & even time that isn't spare with my horses. Sunday evening, I went to the ranch to take care of both my sickies. I tied Mister to the pipe coral & we gave him the shots. I mixed the bute (horsey asprin) with molasses & put in in a suringe & put that into his mouth. He flips his head all over, splashing the molasses all over everything....so the flys love this.
After washing off the molasses from all over him & the railing & myself, I went on to treat Izzy's strangles. Strangles is a type of absess & it hasn't burst open yet. To treat it, it gets rinsed off with a mixture of iodine & hydrogen pyroxide......then topped off with a black gewy drawing salve. I tied her up like I did Mister & had a measuring cup with the iodine mixture on it & a cloth to apply it with. She was standing real peaceful & I started applying it. I must have hit a very sore spot because she pulled back & started flinging around. There I was between her & the pipe coral as she banged my head into it. It seemed like a forever until she calmed down, but sure is was only a few seconds. My head didn't hurt, but there was a wierd tingle.....no blood....that was a good thing. However, the iodine mixture was all over me. She calmed down almost immediately & I couldn't release the rope because she had pulled it so tight. I was able to release the rope from her halter & she immediately started nuzzling me & rubbing her face on me & I was telling her that is was ok & that I was so sorry I had hurt her. Luckily is was all quiet at the ranch so no one was making a fuss out of what happened & she just held her head next to me where so I could put my arms around her neck & hug & kiss her. I was so surprised because usually when horses scare like that, they stay that way for hours afterwards. She came right to me wanting love & maybe wondering if I was ok......It seemed like that to me. What an awsome bond I never could imagine in my life. After a few minutes I was able to get the salve onto the sore & everything was great with her.
I was surprised that the fence hadn't gotten bent with all her weight pulling on it. My head was still tingling...it felt like it had been squished together on both sides but nothing hurt. I put everything away & went to my car...looked in the rear view mirror & found huge red marks all over my face....above my eyes. I must have been banged into the railing so many times....but the amazing thing was that my glasses didn't have a bend in them.
I am praying that she doesn't have future issues with being tied up & that her scarry time will be gone from her memory as soon as it was over.....one never knows with horses. I went home & showered off the iodine & put an ice pack on my head. Luckily, the next morning, there is no black eye.....just some really read bumps. That was definitely a major lesson in that I don't tie her up (being so young) when I have to care for her. She needs an escape route for her to feel safe & that is the most important thing.
I am so glad I have been here to care for my babies......but the best part is that they are now back at a ranch where there is care available while I am back in KY. Taking the time to focus on my horses & getting them settled & having them at a healthy baseline before taking them to KY is a most important part of the move. They always have something new wrong with them to take care of.....I hope that being alone in KY, I will have enough knowledge & wisdom to care for them myself.
This is why I have been away for the past few days.......if anyone was wondering,
Debbie