Looking good. Feeling good.

Leg looked amazing last bandage change. No photos, but it looks great.

Dani has a winter coat and is kind of the odd girl out right now. The other four horses have "coupled up" and she eats by herself. :-(

Lucky she's so adorable. She's the one who ends up getting the most attention I think, because she seeks human contact and affection.

Love her!

Ick.

Swelling is all down from the leg debacle last week (week before?), but the gooey is back. Blech!

Changed bandage and opted against taking a picture as it is just stinky and sticky again. Sometimes it feels like one step forward, two steps back. But, it doesn't bother her at all and it's not painfully sensitive when I wipe it off.

All horses were de-wormed today. Dani is about as good as it gets with accepting that. They almost all do the Flehmen response thing after the paste (curling upper lip) and Dani is no exception.

"Wait! I want another turn!"

New pics

Please ignore the copious amounts of manure. My tractor was injured and the poo pick-up goes so much quicker with it, so I waited for it to be fixed. Pens are now clean. :-)

Dani with a chunk out of her hip. Healing up. It was just a hair removal attack. Cranky bad Pie!

Did I mention she likes to have her nose in everthing?

Padded. For now.

I think Dani got kicked or rolled on it wrong or...who knows? When I removed the bandage last time, she was way ouchy. Not just looking back "what are you doing again?" ouchy, but pulled away and left the scene. I've been changing and checking while she's eating. I don't tie her and we have a little bonding time while I check her leg and she eats.

She actually left her food to walk away from me. Leg hurts.

It looks like, perhaps, a bruise. A kick, a stumble, we'll never know. I gave her a line of bute (sounds a bit like she's got a habit there) and left the wrap off for awhile so the bute could do it's magic.

When I came back it was puffy, puffy, puffy. Cold hosed and she stood well for that. I thought she'd be dancing all over, but apparently the bute worked. I had to leave her again so her leg could dry and then rewrapped as per 2 months ago.

Today, swelling is down. Leg looks good.

I had taken the camera out to get photos when I noticed the pain, so needless to say, was a bit distracted and didn't take any pictures.

Basic bandage

We are done with the big standing wraps!! After I took the last one off a couple of days ago, I put a track bandage on, just to see how it would do for half an hour or so. It was great. I take it off and rewrap each day, but the leg is good. No swelling. Nothing weird.

I put her in by herself at feeding time and at night, just so there is less risk of a kick or craziness from the other horses.

She looks good. She's affectionate and sweet.

New leg photos

Speaking of horses getting loose...

After a series of unfortunate events on Saturday, several gates were left open, including the one leading to our property. Even if all the pasture and corral gates are left open, the horses and dogs cannot get out of our property as it's completely fenced with an electric gate to come in and out. Mostly,this makes me feel better about cars not screaming down our driveway to mow down our kids and dogs, but it also gives a sense of security that horses will not wander away.

Until Saturday night/Sunday morning.

At about 3am on Sunday morning, I heard a horse yelling for all it was worth and the frantic pounding of hooves going from one length of a field to another. It sounded a bit like Phelps. Pie and Flame are gone on a hunting trip with Adam's dad for a couple of weeks, so I could immediately eliminate those two from the drama. Adam will join his dad hunting next week.

* * * Dogs going nuts. To finish later...

8:34am - next day- Time to finish my story of almost woe.

A couple of days ago, one of the horses knocked down a couple of rails separating one pasture from another. Not a big deal as both pastures are fenced, gated and, again, even if by some weird miracle those gates are open, we have the gate to our property.

At 3am, my mind was slightly fuzzy and I thought that Phelps had stepped over the last, lowest rail and couldn't figure out how to get back to the other pasture. I listened to the whinnies and stampede for several minutes, thinking it would stop.

Finally, I got up to see what was going on. The yeller was Stetsan (not Stetson) the neighbors Arab, and he was going crazy. Though that's not super unusual, it was for 3 in the morning.

I was in PJ's, my husband's big, fleecy coat and Crocs. Not the best situation. None of my horses were in the adjoining field. Uh oh. Coyote? Cougar? Either was an option. I let my dogs out to help alert me and went to check on my horses. Belle, Phelps, Shelby...no Chavez or Dani.

No worries yet. The gate to our property is closed, or so I thought, so they must be munching in the hay stack or trying to get in with the grain, or just eating the lawn. I turned on all the outside lights and made my way around. No horses. As I crossed our back lawn, I saw that the pasture gate was open. Not good, so they are definitely out roaming our property somewhere.

I crossed to the side yard to see if they were eating over there. THE FRONT GATE IS OPEN. In a matter of seconds, I went from meandering around my own house at 3am to grabbing halters and leadropes and thinking I should probably put on some more supportive undergarments.

Adam was sleeping on the couch upstairs (we have a reverse living home) because he had a cold and, kindly, didn't want me to get sick. I called up that the horses got out of our property and he asked "which ones?". I told him, he said "okay" and went back to sleep. O.....kay.

I ran back to the tack room to get some horse cookies and heard Levi, my 4-year-old, screaming at the top of his lungs. Only the worst goes through a mothers mind when her child is crying and screaming in the middle of the night. I dropped the cookies and ran to my kid. He had heard me talking with Adam and went to look for us. We weren't in bed, and he didn't even think to look for a parent upstairs. Why would he? He was outside in his bare feet, crying and looking for us. Though I don't understand why my kids first idea is that we've left them and moved to Zimbabwe in the middle of the night, they still freak out. I calmed him down, Adam got up to see what the commotion was about and we got him back to bed.

Now, what is my plan to catch the renegades? I closed the pasture gate and walked out our front gate. I closed it, thought better of it in case they came back, closed it again, opened it. I don't think clearly that early. I walked down the canal road and immediately spotted hoofprints. I followed them until they got lost in the the sagebrush and Manzanita. I went toward the road and picked them up again, following the curves of Neff Rd. which is busy in the daytime, but blissfully empty at 3am. I followed the tracks to our neighbors with the horse. I couldn't see into his driveway. There was a beautiful full moon, but his place has lots of old growth trees and I couldn't see anything. I really didn't want to get myself shot by Old Bob who is 198 years old. Really, I think he's 88 this year. He can't hear or see very well, and I looked like a genuine horse thief with my halter and no flashlight.

I snooped around his shed where Stetsan can get out of the weather and saw no extra horses. I backtracked and followed their hoofprints going down the canal road the opposite direction. I could see I was going to have to get in my car.

I went back home, got in my car, an SUV with 4-wheel drive. That will be important information later. I drove down the canal roads, following hoofprints which went in BOTH directions. Not especially helpful, other than knowing they had been this way, not that they still were. I know our other neighbor on the far side, has a motorhome blocking the canal road right by his house, so I followed hoofprints until I saw the motorhome. I knew I'd have to turn around and go that way via the paved roads. It was pitch dark, with only moonlight to help. I have been down this road many times, and know there is an open patch right in front of me. I stopped, pulled forward, backed up to turn and...went nowhere. The super soft dirt had caved under back tires and I was good and stuck. I put it in 4 low and rocked back and forth a little. This only served to dig my back tires deeper in.

Yes, this is just what I need.

I'm only a few hundred yards from my house, but it will take me about half a mile or a little less, to traverse the roads to get there, unless I want to cross the canal in my pjs at 3:30am.

I got back home, changed into slightly more reasonable clothing and fired up the 1982 dually diesel. Not the quietest vehicle, as you can imagine. Avoiding the canal roads, I drove around our neighborhood, looking for signs of the horses. Nothing.

I am about to go back to the house and drink all the liquor when I saw a car coming toward me. It was a police car. I tried to flag him down, but he ignored me and kept going. He turned into the fire station which is close to our house and I turned around and followed him. I caught up with him as he was getting out of his car, and told him my tale. He seemed remarkably unconcerned about 2, thousand pound animals roaming the neighborhood and said that, technically, it was not his jurisdiction. It was the county I should talk with. I asked him what he was if not the county police. Apparently, the police and fire station only 1/2 mile from my home are CITY personnel and I need to talk with COUNTY personnel. Lovely.

I gave him my name and number to pass along in case a COUNTY officer noticed two horses running amuck. I wasn't really expecting him to help look, but thought that he would care about the potential danger to motorists. But then, who really is at their best at 3:30 am?

I was getting nervous and was tempted to cry in frustration, but at the ripe old age of 29...okay...36, I know that is not only unhelpful, but will hinder my vision. I called the gal who trains Chavez and gives Faith lessons on her pony, Belle. Voice mail. I left a message, explaining the situation and kept driving. She called back within 5 minutes and said "We'll be right over." We? Someone cares. Praise the Lord!

I called my best friend, Patricia. Voice mail. I left my message. I called her husband, Paul. Voice mail. Same dumb message.

Within 5 minutes Paul called me back. His voice was wonky, but said they'd be right over. I love my friends.

I took the truck home, got more halters and leadropes and opened the front gate. I had previously fed the remaining horses, so they wouldn't be tempted to follow their buddies out the front gate. I had closed the pasture gates, but was slightly paranoid.

I walked back down the canal road toward Old Bob's house. Stetsan was screaming again and that was unlikely unless our horses had headed back that way. Just as I got to his driveway, I saw a large, dark shape moving slowly toward me. Chavez. I spoke softly to him and he walked closer. Then, my phone rang. It was Kali asking where to start looking. I said he was RIGHT HERE, and told her how to get here. I hung up and Dani turned and trotted off to a different house. Chavez followed. %$(*!#!

I walked back and met Kali and Les, her fiance. We spread out and walked toward where I'd last seen them. Les stayed on the road, hoping to turn them if they looked like they would cross it. There are miles of irrigation district land on the other side, and I really didn't want to try to find them there.

By this time, there were lights on in Old Bob's house. I walked up to his door and rang the bell. Thumps and crashes follow, but no Bob. Knock. Ring. Nothing. Suddenly, Bob came from around the other side of the house with a flashlight in his long handles. I yelled that it was just me. He said he was coming out to see what the noise was about. He checked on Stetsan, who was running like he was on crack, but was fine, and gave us the okay to look around and get our horses if they were there.

Paul called and said they were almost to my house. I asked them to go in the gate and wait there a minute in case the horses came back, as they were headed in that direction. We all met up and made a plan. Patricia went to my house to make coffee, Paul and Les spread out along Neff Road and Kali and I spread out and walked through the neighbors property. I spotted them in the neighbors yard, close to Bob's house. I called Kali with coordinates.

My phone buzzed with a text message "where's the coffee grinder?" My phone doesn't text. It spits out little symbols and I'm supposed to read the manual to figure it out. Not gonna happen. I called her and she whispered back. Adam was still asleep on the couch 20 yards from her.

Kali had brought horse cookies. She is teaching Chavez to target and when she said "Target" he walked up to her and got his treat. She haltered him, I put a rope around Dani's neck and we walked them home.

Once back home, the horses were put away, and we all went upstairs. Adam startled awake when the coffee was ground and he was mumbling gibberish, asking what I was doing. I told him Kali and Les, Paul and Patricia were here and they just helped me find the horses and bring them home. He was shocked. How could I call people up at 4 am and get them out of bed for horses!?! How could I explain that? At least he was wearing clothes, I guess.

Kali and Les don't drink coffee. Neither does Paul. Patricia took hers to go. Faith was up by then and was giving everyone hugs. She asked why we were all up and I told her. She looked very sheepish and crawled onto Adam's lap. Within a minute or so, she came up to Patricia and told her that she had left the gates open. She wanted to ride Belle in the pasture and had forgotten to close that gate. Then, she had ridden her bike up to the cul-de-sac and had left the gate open so she could ride right into our property. She had forgotten to close that one too.

Well, at least the mystery was solved. Faith was very brave to tell us. She caused 6 adults to be up way before they wanted to be on a Sunday morning. All is forgiven.

Now, what about my car?

When it got light, Adam took a different truck, not the dually, over to pull it out. We were able to rip the front bumper off, and scratch the paint, but the Envoy didn't move one inch. I called AAA and they arranged for a towing company to come pull it out.

Waiting on the tow, we went back to the house. Faith rode her pony with a neighbor friend and I had more coffee. The guy who showed up to tow out my car was very gracious and kind. It took several tries and some tactical maneuvering to get it out, but he got us safely back to civilization. When I asked him how many jackasses like me he pulls out of the ditch every day, he thought for a minute and said "ask me again in the winter.".

My car even works.

Ground driving Dani

Dani did a really great job at ground driving today. She balked a little at first and then it clicked that I was steering her! Oh, right, she remembered.

A few new photos.

But none of her leg under the wrap. Sorry.

Still the lovebug and needs her nose in everyone's business. Faith has decided she'll take Dani as her horse, once she's ridable again. Hmmm...maybe we'll armwrestle for her.

Remembering the September 11 attacks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11,_2001_attacks

Pics soon. I hope. Busy, busy.

When I went to check on the horses for the evening, I just put my head on the panel and let Dani and Chavez snorkle my hair. I love that feeling of horses noses in my hair. The smell of them, their warm breath; it calms me.

Dani is... just herself. Her personality is beautiful and I love to hang out with her.

Leg looks good, again.

Changing Dani's bandage today was a good experience. It looks as though it has not only gotten back to where it was before the big bath fiasco, but has made some good progress forward from there.

She still comes right up, looking for love, or perhaps a snack, whenever I walk into the pasture.

She does not like Phelps. I think she is asserting her womanhood and doesn't want to think this boy can come in and take over. Like he wants to.

Anyway, Dani is good. Busy, crazy day here.

Healing

I changed Dani's bandage again on Friday morning and it looks like the open/granulation tissue area is getting smaller. Just want you to know that I have been changing it. Just busy and haven't sat down to write about it.

Malodor defined

Forgot to mention, the nasty smell inside the bandage is/was "opportunistic bacteria". Basically, bacteria that found a nice, warm, wet place to go wild. No big deal, just make sure it's dry before rewrapping if I hose it.

Catching up on pics and a trip to the vet

A few bandage changes ago Dani's wound started getting gooier and smelling REALLY bad. I gave it a few days see if we could go in the right direction, but, to no avail. Here are pics from several days ago. I decided to hose it off since it was SO gooey and icky. I thought I might as well give her a bath too.
I tried to shave some of the hair off that keeps getting stuck in the wound. She only let me get a small amount off. It seemed very tender and painful for her, so I quit messing with it and rewrapped it.

This is a SMB instead of a traditional wrap. I had to go quickly as she has having none of this standing still bit. I threw a Telfa pad at it, wrapped some brown gauze loosely around and got the boot on. You can see even here, she wouldn't let me get the Elastikon tight. Bad pony!





After I turned her back out, she walked back to her friends and proceeded to roll.

Of course she did.

This is Dani telling me she prefers the grunge look.

* * * * * * *

After changing the bandage again last night and smelling the nasty odor for several minutes, I decided to make a vet appointment for today. I was able to get her in at noon and the vet cleaned it up, shaved around the wound area and debrided it to, hopefully, get it to heal a little better.

Veterinary assistant, Carol, and new Intern (Resident?) Vet.

Dr. Krebs hosing off the debris.A temporary wrap to staunch the blood flow after debriding.
In the stocks, Dani, is sedated and feeling a little loopy.

* * * * * * * *

In case this isn't enough pictures for our dear readers, here are a few more I took yesterday evening. Horses were munching grass and weeds we pulled from the garden.

Smacking the root ball against Belle, the pony, to get the dirt off.

Pictures

These pictures are from her last bandage change. Should have done this one for the 4th of July.

Ground driving

Since Dani can't be ridden for quite awhile yet, I really don't want to start back at zero when we finally do get the green light from the vet. So, since I've been ground driving Shelby, I thought Dani could learn that too. It won't put any extra weight on that leg and we're only talking about a few minutes here and there, so unless she panics and injures herself, there really isn't a worry, health-wise.

After working with Shelby, I left the equipment out and got Dani. She was her loving, happy self as I took her into the round pen.

First, I sent her in a couple of circles to see if she could free-lunge, and of course, she did great. A few little bucks and she wanted more speed, but it was purely joy, no maliciousness involved. I mean, we're talking about Dani here.

Then, I did the same with a line attached. She felt the weight and slowed right down. Both directions then on to the surcingle. She didn't mind it on her back, but tightening it AT ALL was not comfortable for her. Not sure if it's that she hasn't been ridden in months or that it was not a saddle and she just wasn't used to it. Eventually, after many times of just laying it on her and taking it off, then pulling the belly strap just touching her belly and taking it off, she let me put it through the buckles. She didn't take off, she didn't panic, but I could tell that she was wondering what in the heck I was doing with this microscopic little "saddle".

So I free-lunged again and, again, the happy little playfulness, but once the line was on her halter, it was all business. I put the long line through a ring in the surcingle and she didn't mind at all. In fact, she listened quite a bit better and was "hearing" the cue through the surcingle very well.

Then...a moment of silence...I attached the long line on the off-side. We were still in the round pen, so nowhere to go, but I thought she might get panicky with too many lines dangling around. Nope. No big deal. Soon, she was going at a calm walk in both directions and stopping with little effort on my part.

Out we went into the pasture. She got coiled up a couple of times, but figured out very quickly what I was asking and went right to it. We went away from the other horses very easily (something I still struggle with driving Shelby) and circled the round pen twice. I drove her back to the gate by her buddies and let the surcingle fall off her rump. She did great. Since it's a little hard to snap pictures of myself and Dani while driving her, no pictures today.

I changed her bandage too. She is so good for it. Just as calm as you please. Faith likes to help and I let her wrap the Elastikon at the end. I like to get it rewrapped as quickly as possible to avoid flies. I hate flies. Nasty, nasty creatures.

The leg looks the same as the last bandage change. One part doesn't seem to be healing much. It's like there's a pocket, or hole, of some kind that just isn't closing. I'll need to take another horse in soon, so will bring her then to have Dr. Krebs check it out. It doesn't smell so wonderful, but I think it's that she likes to play in the water and it's always damp and gets kind of musty.

We groomed her and fed her grain with her supplements after her less than strenuous workout. She loved to be pampered. Faith put sparkles in her mane and tail. I think she kind of liked it.

Blah!

I guess I got what I deserved. Dani sure didn't. After her bath a few days ago, I left her wrap off for a couple of hours and let her out by herself. Later, my daughter came running in saying "Dani's leg is bleeding!!!". I ran out and, sure enough, it was puffed back up like a beach ball and bleeding a little bit.

Note to self: Leave the wrap on!

I cold hosed it and wrapped it back up. It's back to "normal" now.

Sheesh...sometimes I can't believe my own stupidity.

On a happy note, Dani is a hit with any visitors we have. She is the first to the gate (I know, lots of people say that about their horses, but this is true) and wants to know everyone. She is not content until she knows the people who are visiting. Very cute.

Bath day!

Pictures to come of Dani wet from her bath. I forgot the camera at the beginning and didn't want to run out on her to get it while she was soapy and tied. Not a nice trick.

Her leg was unwrapped (still is!) and though she didn't like the spray heading in that direction, it didn't seem like a pain thing. More like a sensation she is unused to, which I totally get.

I used the sprayer (EZ-all) type thing and it worked well. I don't think those do a GREAT job, but it does distribute the soap better so I can scrub faster. She didn't mind any of her body being sprayed, except she was goofy with her head. I didn't spray soap in her face, but did dribble some there just so I could rub her face with a bit water.

I turned her out by herself and she immediately, seriously within about 5 seconds, rolled in a dry patch of dirt. I had the camera RIGHT THERE and she still was able to roll before I could snap a picture. I took a few anyway and will post them later.

* * * * * *

Updating with pictures.

Back with the thick cotton

A few bandage changes ago, I left the thick cotton padding off to see what would happen. Well, nothing much other than I think she got a little bump or bruise and it didn't seem to heal as much during that time, so we went back to the thick bandage and, voila, it is good!

I used a new product in her mane and tail today. It's supposed to keep it clean, slick and tangle free for 1 - 2 weeks! If only... I don't remember the name of it. It comes in a spray bottle. I do like it and it is silicon free, so I think if it does half what it says it does, I'll buy more.

All this fuzz is from a vigorous brushing of her leg. It just looked itchy and like there was some hair kind of stuck in there. I think she appreciated the help. I'm tempted to shave it again.

Farrier time.

Still no new pictures. Will try next time I change it.

Dani is the only one who would let me catch her today as she, Chavez and Shelby were loose at pasture. Of course, I don't have anything I need to do with her.

Dani got trimmed again yesterday and it was so much easier for her to stand on the "bad" leg and bend it up and back when he trimmed that leg. She tried so hard to stand still and not move around. Randy (farrier) really likes her.

Padding is better...

I didn't put the huge cotton wrap on her leg last time. I think it felt really weird to her to not have it so bulky. She kept lifting that leg really high and sniffing it. It worked okay that way, but I think that it got bumped or something, because it obviously bled a little bit. Not a great deal and it was dried and no big deal.

So nice to not have the Telfa pads be a sticky, nasty mess when I remove them. I used two horizontally. I like having all the wound and scar tissue covered with Telfa before I wrap it. That would suck to have the gauze or something else stick to it and try to pull that off later. Ouch!

Not much else. She told me she doesn't understand why she can't come into the house and watch RFDTV with me. She is a 4-legged human-wannabe.

Not much going on here.

Dani is the sweetest horse around. While I LOVE all my horses, Dani is so...curious. She wants to know what I am up to, wherever I go. While the others will check out the bucket I am carrying and walk away when they realize it's gardening tools, Dani will stick around to pick something out to play with.

She has taken a liking to Belle, my daughter's pony, and hangs out with her all day. Picking at her mane, resting her head on her back, generally acting like they're best friends. It's quite cute.

No pictures of the last bandage change. Sometimes it's all about efficiency and just getting the job done. I know this sounds wacky, but I really enjoy changing her bandage. It's like Christmas every time. What part has healed more? Is she less tender in that spot? Will the wound have completely healed and the scab dropped off? It's just a wonderful moment of discovery.

Dani is beautiful, both inside and out.

Scar tissue. Fragile but holding.

June 9, 2008. Bandage change and it's windy. Things are blowing everywhere and Dani is a little spooky. She has been so obliging with letting me change her bandage that I just kneel right down next to her leg and don't think much of it. She shied to the side a couple of times when the dogs came running past and the wind was rattling things. These top two pictures were taken by my daughter, Faith. Too cute not to include. Dani is VERY inquisitive and has to have her nose, literally, into whatever is going on.
The scar tissue is soft and fragile. The wound section is very small (comparatively speaking) now and I look forward to the day when I can leave the bandage off for a little while and dirt and gunk won't get stuck in it. I won't leave her unbandaged in with the other horses for months yet, but I think she'd like to not have it on out in the grass, by herself for awhile. Imagine the freedom you would feel if you've had a bandage on 24 hours a day since February and suddenly, one day, it wasn't there anymore. I think I'll have my camera ready for that day. I anticipate some bucking and rolling.

All these pictures were taken with our little camera that was amazing when digital cameras first came out. Now, not so much. The quality isn't as good as with my other camera, but you get the idea. Oh, one more thing...this was the first time she's stood with her right leg back, instead of forward while I was changing the bandage.