Thursday, July 26, 2007

the mysterious muscadine caper and the very loyal sidekicks

Monday morning Keil Bay ate breakfast as usual. From his bright blue feed tub, he munched two spare scoops of Vintage Senior, one cup of black oil sunflower seeds, licked his Glanzen and DE and Source, crunched his carrots, and did the grand panther walk back out to the field.

Within five minutes he was back, hanging his handsome head over the stall door, just looking at me.

I knew something was wrong.

He'd torn his hind leg up, not hideously, but inside and out, and the bright red of the blood was most alarming.

I washed it with chlorhexadine, gave him Bute, cold hosed for twenty minutes, and applied triple antibiotic ointment. Walked the back field and discovered he had tangled with a wild muscadine vine. The evidence was laid out perfectly. One pile of horse manure, a number of very hard green grapes scattered on the ground, and a vine, just behind the manure pile, broken.

Tuesday morning his fetlock was swelling. I called the vet. She arrived within the hour and assured me I'd done all the right things. She taught me to put on a standing wrap and remarked how amazing the Big Bay is - how smart and kind and good. I heartily agreed.

So twice each day since, he gets all of the above and fresh wrapping. By Wednesday the swelling had decreased significantly and he was whinnying and cantering through the field to claim the apple offered by my daughter.

Apache Moon has stuck like glue to Keil Bay since Monday.



I think he likes wearing the wrap. He does look quite regal with it on. And he seems almost eager to get his special attention. Walk out to the field to take a picture and... here he comes.



This morning I was so caught up in re-wrapping his leg before leaving for my writing group, I forgot to bring Chase in with me. He was found shortly thereafter, waiting loyally by the barn door.



Dickens E. Wickens was keeping him company.

It's been a notable week. Time to go cold hose.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice pics

billie said...

Thank you, lord galen... :)

Anonymous said...

You write the best titles!

billie said...

Thanks, Matthew. I have a lot of fun with the titles, that's for sure.

Bella Stander said...

Amazing what one little vine can do! Good luck with the hosing.

Thanks for the comment on my blog. I didn't know about Charles Owen helmets. Checked 'em out online & they look great. Is there any particular model you recommend? I'm leaning toward the skull, so I can get a light-colored cover that won't absorb as much sun.

billie said...

Hi, Bella - I only learned about the Charles Owens last year when a former Charles Owen rep (who became a rep after her own terrible riding accident which resulted in serious brain trauma) moved to our area and gave talks and free fittings at our local tack shop.

After hearing her explain how the Charles Owens are constructed, seeing the "crash" models she had, and seeing other brands of helmets that had also been crashed, I did some more research on my own and promptly got my children fitted with Charles Owens.

I confess I have still been riding with my Troxel although the C.O. is and has been on my list all year. This is actually a good reminder that I need to go get fitted for my own!

A number of adult riders I know, including our trainer, prefer the skull model. Some models fit certain shapes of heads better than others though, so if there's any way you can try them on before buying I'd go that route.

Keil Bay is fine now - back to work and doing great. :)

I'm glad you stopped by!