Finally, Some Good News

After Calvin's injury, I decided to try alfalfa again. I had this feeling-- something didn't add up since he's been on alfalfa his whole life up until a year ago. I decided to move him into the big pasture, where they only feed alfalfa and he gets about an acre with a few other horses to see how it would go and I figured worst case, I put him back on orchard.

Calvin was stall bound for about 10 days and it was a long 10 days, he had so much pent up energy and was taking it out by being so bratty: chewing, pawing, stomping, not holding his feet up, spooking, etc. Basically being a five year old. Now I realize why we used to drug the h/j horses so they would just stand still or walk calmly after being confined, unfortunately I did not possess any tranquilizers to make my life easier.

I moved him into the pasture and right away he starts running and playing with the other horses. I wish I had video of him with one of the geldings, but it looked like something you'd see in the wild with them rearing and play-biting each other--but I just couldn't stop watching.

"Catch me if you can angry paint mare!"

The first week of any new pasture involves establishing pack structure. This means he gets chased off, bitten, or kicked while he tries to figure out his place in the hierarchy. It can be hard to watch, so the first week most barn owners are nice and will feed/water the new horse separately until they are integrated. Calvin is used to this and luckily knows how to stick up for himself well enough to sneak some food/water when the more aggressive horses aren't looking, nothing like growing up wild to learn how to survive.

"weeeee! space!"

Within the first 15 minute he hit it off with an old chestnut gelding and they enjoyed antagonizing each other. However, the other day I arrived and he had a girlfriend he was sticking with, so cute!

Calvin's new friends

Oh and did I mention his hives have completely disappeared? I put his allergies on the back burner due to his hoof injury, so my only guess is that it was the wood chips in his stall that caused him to break out and not the alfalfa.

I can't even tell you how relieved I am, this seriously simplified our lives SO much and I am so grateful it was an easy fix!

Hoof Injury

Calvin stepped on a rusty nail type object in his pasture. I noticed it only because he was dead lame walking around his pasture while I was cleaning. I looked at his legs thinking maybe he got kicked when I saw this huge metal thing sticking out of his foot. The fact he even lodged this in his foot is really impressive.

Wtf is this metal thing even? If anyone has a guess let me know, no idea how it ended up in his pasture.

I pulled it out, which the vet later advised against should this happen again as they prefer to Xray and see how far in it went. It wasn't in far, but right in the center of his frog and did penetrate enough to draw blood.

R foot after soaking (hence odd color), puncture in central suculus of frog, blood is coming from an accidental poke from the scissors when cutting the duct-tape bandage (bad mom, sorry calvin!) 

His leg was swollen from walking toe-first for however long that metal thing was stuck in there. Also, his tendons were swollen and hot from inflammation. All this being said, he was as happy as a clam following me around, eating, and drinking normally.

The vet advised us to soak his hoof in epsom salt, bandage, and monitor for change. She said puncture wounds are dangerous and if any internal structures were hit, the chance of infection is high and he would rapidly decline. However, she suggested not to worry (haha okay), but to just keep an eye on him, keep things as clean as possible, and confine to stall.

 He got some painkillers as well to take the edge off. Funny story about the painkillers-- the bute I have is powdered citrus flavor that you sprinkle on their food or mix with feed. The vet originally advised to mix with applesauce, but he would *not* eat it. I tried everything and he could detect that damn bute in absolutely everything-- even straight molasses! Next time I'll have to use a syringe... stupid horse doesn't know a good thing when he smells it.

To Calvin's credit, he stands very well in a bucket! He could be a model for Epsom Salt at this point lol.

We kept this course for a week and thankfully he did progressively better and was able to bear weight on his leg with some minor swelling.

Day 3: Puffy R hind

It's been a little over a week and now he's back to probably 95%. I'll give him a few days off of riding, but his w/t/c is sound. I will put him back to lunging (and *maybe* light riding) on Monday, but he got the "all clear" from the vet. Even though he's clearly accident prone, it could have been far worse, so I'm really very thankful that he's okay.

Bonus picture: Calvin's foot stuck in the hay net, no joke, one day after he stepped on the nail. He's also barefoot, so he really is a special kind of snowflake. I couldn't make this up if I tried.

+1 for hobble training so when your horse gets his leg stuck he doesn't freak out, but instead just looks at you helplessly