So Keenan is lame. I don't mean uncool, I mean hurting. On Wednesday night Sarah texted me and told me that Armando (our head groom/nicest guy in the world) called to tell her that he's been favoring his right front. This surprised Sarah and I because when he'd been sore at the show, it had looked like it was his LEFT front and/or right HIND that was/were causing the trouble. And when I went to see Keenan yesterday, I got even more confused. When he walked, it seemed like, again, it was his left front causing him pain, but when he stood in the cross-ties he was trying to take the weight off his right front. Armando and I could see a tiny bit of heat and swelling in his right leg - at the back of his cannon bone and up just below and to the front of his elbow - but nothing that should cause as much limping as we saw when he walked.
I'm confused. Because of the lack of really obvious swelling/heat, we haven't yet called the vet. We're icing that right front and mineral icing his other legs and right shoulder. I wonder if he's a.) getting an abcess and it's manifesting itself in a weird way or b.) is sore and stiff through his back and neck and he's trying to favor everything at once. The bright side is that Armando told me yesterday that he's already seen an improvement. I just hope that this either becomes something more acute so we can properly diagnose and treat it or that it's just some vague soreness leftover from the show and it will go away over the next few days. Either way, prayers for my horsey, please.
On the flip side, Nathan and I managed something with Rapper yesterday that I was really beginning to suspect was impossible. We gave him a bath in the wash stall. I know that doesn't sound like a miracle, but Rapper has been trying to make it clear for the past 10 months that he is in no way interested in going in that stall. Each time we've tried, we have encountered a lot of hoof-planting, snorting, head-tossing - you know, the usual complaints.
It's not that Rapper necessarily hates baths themselves, but he once had a traumatic experience in a wash rack that makes the biggest hurdle of any bathing adventure just GETTING there. Yesterday was no exception. It took all of my convincing to get that horse in the wash stall - convincing and a few LifeSavers (his new favorite treat). But once Rapper felt the cool water - he was a sweaty mess - he decided that maybe life in a wash stall wasn't so bad. After all, he got treats, he was pampered, he didn't fall down and he got to lounge in the sun, eating grass, afterward. I was so proud of him for being *so brave.* Sometimes Rapper really amazes me. Ever since he moved to Triple Rise, he's been a changed horse. He's always been good and I've always loved him but there's no denying he used to be something of a head case. He still has his moments of course - sometimes things are just plain scary - but for the most part his whole perspective on life has changed. Things that would have caused an uproar a year ago are, generally speaking, now more interesting than frightening. He has changed stalls, he's walked bareback up the driveway, he spent a weekend at the Oregon Horse Center, where we had a delightful walk around with no theatrics whatsoever...Again, these are small triumphs, but a win is a win, no matter how you look at it.
No comments:
Post a Comment