Post by DorothyB on Feb 21, 2015 15:29:06 GMT -5
I went to Panama on Monday, Feb 2nd and returned home Tues night, Feb 17.
Several days before I left, I began turning Lucky out with the other three (my Shiloh & Trooper and keet's Holly) for short periods during the day. He was separated at night to get his larger than everyone else dinner and alfalfa and breakfast (none of the other horses get breakfast unless it is freezing). All was going well.
I left on Monday morning. All was great until Friday - keet was on the schedule to feed that evening. She found Lucky alone in the drylot with the others grazing in the large pasture. Lucky had wide gouges all around his upper hips and on his back near his tail. None of them are parallel so they don't seem to be bites or kicks. He also had a small scrape on one shoulder. She said he looked terrible, but as she cleaned him up, she determined that there wasn't anything that required stitches. My cell phone doesn't work in Panama, so she e-mailed me.
We agreed to split the horses into two groups and put Holly with Lucky. The two groups alternated the big pasture and the dry lot & front pen each day. Wednesday when keet was checking on the horses, Lucky swished his tail way to the side and she saw a wound she had missed. It is in the crease where the tail meets the body and almost under the tail. She saw how deep it was and texted the vet before e-mailing me. When the vet saw the wound which was then 5 days old, it was still 2 cm deep and almost 3 cm long. It was too old for stitches, so the animal caretakers took turns hosing it out every day until I got back the follow Tuesday night.
Lucky also got 10 days of oral antibiotics and his VEWT shot since the vet didn't want to give it to him in January due to his condition.
The good news is that she rates his body condition now as 5 / 9 He still needs some muscle everywhere, especially along the topline, but he looks good.
The wounds seem to be healing well. Only the worst on one hip still has a red (raw skin, not infection) area and the wound under the tail is slowly closing up.
Still not sure what happened. If they had been in the front pen that day, I would say that one or more of the other horses chased him into the debris of a dead tree and he fell over in the pile of branches - but they weren't in that pen. He seems to be a bit more wanting to stay away from the boys, so I'm sure they had something to do with it.
Even more exciting - Zab tested negative for salmonella twice this year!! That means that after over 18 months at my house, Holly can go home soon! Keet wants to disinfect one more time, then take the new pony, Davey, home first so he and Zab will be friends before she brings Holly home. Keet's mom will finally be able to ride with us again!
Several days before I left, I began turning Lucky out with the other three (my Shiloh & Trooper and keet's Holly) for short periods during the day. He was separated at night to get his larger than everyone else dinner and alfalfa and breakfast (none of the other horses get breakfast unless it is freezing). All was going well.
I left on Monday morning. All was great until Friday - keet was on the schedule to feed that evening. She found Lucky alone in the drylot with the others grazing in the large pasture. Lucky had wide gouges all around his upper hips and on his back near his tail. None of them are parallel so they don't seem to be bites or kicks. He also had a small scrape on one shoulder. She said he looked terrible, but as she cleaned him up, she determined that there wasn't anything that required stitches. My cell phone doesn't work in Panama, so she e-mailed me.
We agreed to split the horses into two groups and put Holly with Lucky. The two groups alternated the big pasture and the dry lot & front pen each day. Wednesday when keet was checking on the horses, Lucky swished his tail way to the side and she saw a wound she had missed. It is in the crease where the tail meets the body and almost under the tail. She saw how deep it was and texted the vet before e-mailing me. When the vet saw the wound which was then 5 days old, it was still 2 cm deep and almost 3 cm long. It was too old for stitches, so the animal caretakers took turns hosing it out every day until I got back the follow Tuesday night.
Lucky also got 10 days of oral antibiotics and his VEWT shot since the vet didn't want to give it to him in January due to his condition.
The good news is that she rates his body condition now as 5 / 9 He still needs some muscle everywhere, especially along the topline, but he looks good.
The wounds seem to be healing well. Only the worst on one hip still has a red (raw skin, not infection) area and the wound under the tail is slowly closing up.
Still not sure what happened. If they had been in the front pen that day, I would say that one or more of the other horses chased him into the debris of a dead tree and he fell over in the pile of branches - but they weren't in that pen. He seems to be a bit more wanting to stay away from the boys, so I'm sure they had something to do with it.
Even more exciting - Zab tested negative for salmonella twice this year!! That means that after over 18 months at my house, Holly can go home soon! Keet wants to disinfect one more time, then take the new pony, Davey, home first so he and Zab will be friends before she brings Holly home. Keet's mom will finally be able to ride with us again!