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.

Missing pictures

Some photos I meant to include but got distracted. These are from a couple of weeks ago.

June 4, 2008

Granulation tissue appearing. There has been some in the past, but it is raised a bit and before it seemed flush with the rest of the leg.

There was a small amount of blood when I picked off a dead bit of scabby skin. It stopped very quickly.
She still, understandably, favors the leg when standing. I think it's habit at this point. She doesn't seem to be in pain at all. It's uncomfortable for her when I pick at it too much (my bad), but she certainly hasn't been cranky about it in any way.
I forgot the bands, but did braid her mane!
These scratches are interesting to me. I don't know what they're from. When I noticed them a week or two ago, I thought my irritable mare, Pie, had raked her with her teeth. Upon closer inspection, I don't know how that could be possible. Pie's teeth wouldn't make those kinds of marks, spaced that way and that skinny. Plus, she kind of likes Dani.

They look like a cat. Too big for my barn kitties (like they would ever attempt a horse, though they are prolific hunters). Too small for anything but the most adolescent of cougars. One was spotted in our neighborhood last year. He/she could still be around, and that would be like a cat to target the "lame" one.

Bobcat? Could be. Thoughts? It's only on the left side, but we were thinking it could be that the cat jumped on her back and tried to grab around her but couldn't reach both sides. She did have some minor scratching higher up on her rump on the off side. Nothing that looks like these though.