I Repeat, With Exasperation...Horses...

Do horses go around looking for ways to get hurt? It can sure seem that way. Last Friday I’d barely gotten to work when my phone rang. Isn’t caller id great? I knew instantly one of my horses had done something stupid. Yep, it was Whisper, his leg was bleeding and the stable owner couldn’t catch him. I told her the tried and true methods and hung up to call my husband to assist her – I work in Bend while the horses (and husband) are in Prineville. The stable owner called me back about 15 minutes later to let me know Whisper was in a stall and needed stitches. I told her to call the stable vet and went back to work. I wish now that she could have given me some idea of how bad it was but she probably couldn’t tell. I got a call from the vet about 3pm – yeah, I thought they had been and gone by now also – wanting to know when he’d had his last shots and letting me know they’d be there in about 30 minutes. I called my husband again and asked him to meet them at them stable. An hour later he called to tell me what the silly horse had done to himself. The good news – it wasn’t life threatening. Apparently he had an altercation with his feeder, a metal behemoth so heavy I have to have help sliding it away from the fence where the horses periodically push it. The only thing I can think is that he pulled it over onto himself or one of the other horses pushed it over. Anyway, he cut open the backs of both knees to the bone. He missed tendons and ligaments and there was no joint fluid leaking. He’ll be fine in about six weeks. In the meantime he is confined to a stall for the next couple of weeks in order to lessen the chance of ripping out the stitches. This is not his favorite place. He misses his pasture mates but there is generally some activity in the barn and he talks to the arabians who pop in and out at various times of the day. And, he attracts a lot of attention. Big, stately, and aloof with both front legs wrapped in horrible lime green vet wrap, how can you miss him.

The most surprising and rewarding aspect is Whisper’s attitude towards being worked on. While we hacked off the old bandages and fumbled through applying new ones the big guy stood still and allowed whatever we did. No stamping, no fidgeting. Velcro and ripping noises don’t bother him. He checked out what we were doing occasionally but was more interested in finding the treats I had in my pocket. He doesn’t seem to have much pain, little swelling, and has never been lame at all even when we put the knee brace on him. Well maybe for the couple of steps it took to pretty much destroy it.

Now comes the hard part according to the vet. About 6 days in is when they usually rip out the stitches. They were still good last night. We just have to keep him quiet for another week then he should be ready to go into a nice flat round pen to finish recuperating. He’ll like that – outside and still getting all the attention. He may be aloof but a good neck rubbing trumps all.