Dani - Torn extensor tendon? We can fix that.

Dani goes to a new home...

2009-12-14T16:52:00.000-08:00

Dani left today for Granite, Oregon. She becomes the 2nd rescue we have found a home for this year. That is great news for us! Two doesn't seem like alot, but it is for our little operation and I think Dani will be very happy with the amount of mountain trail time she sees with her new family.

She is going to a lady who recently lost her mare of over 20 years. They pack into the wilderness with mules, which apparently are more likely to follow a mare than a gelding. I think this is a good fit and am hopeful for updates, and possibly even photos.

I have a good contract in place with first right of refusal as well as stipulations that seem basic to others but I have found just aren't in the world of horsepeople. You know, appropriate farrier care, vetting, that sort of thing. I think these are good horsepeople, but I have learned the hard way to have it in writing. Hard to enforce from afar, but I've done it before and I'll do it again if necessary. I don't think it will be.

Anyway, on to the other rescues, making them fat and happy. Dani is a success story.

2009-11-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

These are all photos I've posted before, but I just haven't taken any in awhile so thought I'd repost some favorites.

Peaceful, at home.

Look at the dust!

I love the moment of suspension!

My first ride on Dani. Awwww...

Her first hunting trip.

Getting a winter coat.

2009-10-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

Dani is doing very well and enjoying her very mellow lifestyle. She is called to action only minimally for a trail ride or hunting trip since we are working mainly with Chavez in training. She still gets lots of love and pets as she is the most social and human-loving of the bunch.

We brought in a new rescue a month and a half ago and she is trying to figure him out after his month of quarantine. They are making headway in the friend department.

I am not excited about mud season, but at least Dani can go into it with no bandages and a healthy, sound leg.

Pics to come.

No post on the hunting trip?

2009-08-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

This past spring, Dani went on a(n unsuccessful) bear hunting trip with Adam, my husband, and Ken, my father-in-law. She did all the expected things a green horse will do, but nothing bad in response to humans. Just some questionable judgement when allowed to make her own decisions. Sounds like most people I know...

Truck got stuck before even entering the hunting area. At least the hay was safe!

They camped on a bit of a hillside. Somehow, Dani toppled and ROLLED down the little hill to land in the mud. Hard to tell with her coloring, but that is mud dripping off of her.

And, ready to hunt. That's Dani on the left and snow in the background.

Holding weight and looking good

2009-08-29T09:12:00.001-07:00

Dani has had some issues with keeping weight on. She gains weight fairly easily, but if I try to wean her off the grain or put her in with more than one other horse to eat with, she loses weight. She's definitely not the Alpha mare, so gets moved around alot during feeding time. Even with plenty of piles and places to eat, Pie and Ilo want ALL the piles to themselves. So, Dani has been eating with Chavez. He likes her and they are similiar in age and position within the herd.

A couple of goofy pictures. I was actually taking pics of Chavez as it was something of a miracle that he allowed me to put a fly mask on him. Dani was so cute and inquisitive that I had to take some of her too. (She's on the far side in the pic of two horses.)

Flies love her, much to her chagrin, so she's been wearing a fly sheet as well. Seemed to really help. I took it off last night when I turned her out with her buddies for roll in the pasture and the flies were immediately on her, despite almost dipping her in fly spray.

Adam rode Dani

2009-07-13T20:46:00.001-07:00

Adams regular mount, Apple Pie, was feeling a bit off yesterday, so Adam took Dani to the base of North Sister (a mountain...) to ride looking for hunting possibilities for the fall. He didn't find any suitable hunting areas, but had a good ride on Dani. He said it was really windy and she was somewhat spooky for that, but overall did great.

That was his first time riding her.

I rode her last week, for the, I think, third time. We went to Todd Lake horse camp. Didn't camp, but parked there and rode the trail. We didn't make it all the way to Todd Lake, but did cross a couple of pretty deep streams, went over a bridge, through some still quite deep snow patches and lots of mud and rocks.

She does better going back to the trailer. Not like she's trying to run home, but that she's seen this trail before and is more comfortable. Just lots of new things at once tend to make her a little wired. I've never felt like I was about to come off. Well, except that one time I did actually slide off when riding bareback...

Leg looks awesome. Feet are good. She's just a great girl.

Dani photos

2009-06-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

I RODE DANI YESTERDAY!!!

2009-05-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

Dani has been ridden for weeks by our trainers and I finally decided it was time someone else rode her. We don't have a saddle that fits her really well, so I rode her bareback. She did great. Not the best at steering, but she is easy to ride and didn't spook and get silly. We went for an easy mile or a little more at Horse Butte. She was getting tired near the end, but never got stumbly or off.

I am so excited about her!

Broke, not broken

2009-04-04T23:17:00.000-07:00

Our trainer has been riding Dani for about a month, after groundwork and some conditioning from the ground, to make sure her leg would hold up. Kali (trainer) says Dani is as close to "deadbroke" as a young horse can get. Obviously, we're not throwing kids up on her, but her personality and willingness to please make her very easy to handle and ride. I haven't ridden her yet, but she has gone on trail rides, done lots of arena and lunge line work is a great horse to have around.

She hasn't had a wrap on her leg for a few weeks now and the swelling is absent except after a long workout. It's always getting better, and is fine during work, but when she stops, it swells a bit.

It was super nice out today and all the horses were frisky.

Her toe is still a little long. Our farrier works with it every time to take it back a little more. Getting closer to correct.

Photos from February 2009

2009-03-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

I opened the pasture gate for them to run back and forth. That's why she looks a little sweaty. This was the final "big wrap" before switching only to polo wraps, then nothing.

Wrap off

2009-03-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

Dani's leg hasn't been wrapped in days and days. After the vet check over a month ago to see if she was ready to start some real work, I have slowly wrapped it looser and looser, ending with a polo wrap for a few days.

In the end, I think she worries for it a bit and I have seen some small amounts of swelling, but I think it has more to do with exercise and general lymphatic drainage rather than long term swelling issues.

Personally suffering from gross cold/illness. Haven't spent much time out there recently, but she looks good and frisky.

Candy cane...or injured leg?

2009-01-03T15:06:00.001-08:00

New photos of Dani's leg. I was out of vetrap and had to buy a couple of rolls from a local ranch supply store, so of course, bought red and white. It was, after all, Christmas eve.

Looking good. Feeling good.

2008-12-05T18:47:00.001-08:00

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.

2008-11-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-10-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-17T23:18:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

Speaking of horses getting loose...

2008-09-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-13T20:19:00.001-07:00

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.

2008-09-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-04T23:57:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-08-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-18T01:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-21T22:04:00.001-07:00

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

Ground driving

2008-07-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-06-25T19:35:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-06-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-06-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-06-09T19:12:00.001-07:00

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

2008-06-05T21:32:00.001-07:00

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

June 4, 2008

2008-06-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

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.

*She's such a good girl.

2008-05-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

Dani's leg continues to improve. Here are the recent photos, taken May 27, 2008. The wound actually looks a little larger, but the surrounding areas look better. I don't think it's digressing. I think it's healing elsewhere around the leg and next we'll see progress in the open section. The rest of the leg looks like a more normal size and shape that it has in the past.

She continues to be a character. When turned out today, she reared and raced and was a general mischief maker among the other horses, causing a stampede from one pasture to the next. The leg is perfectly sound (apparently!) and she is not off on it. Perhaps a bit short-strided, but I certainly expect that to be true until she feels she can trust it 100%. Horses take better care of their injuries than humans do, I think.

*Dani's leg looks amazing!

2008-05-22T20:48:00.001-07:00

Dani's leg seems way better to me today than it seems it should from the last bandage change. Obviously, this is the right direction and I'm so pleased that the wound is not only closing without too much goo and granulation tissue, but that it is closing so cleanly. It's not ragged and horrifying anymore. It's just a big, sticky scab that looks like it's healing just fine. I'm just so pleased.

(Please ignore the boat in the first picture. So White trash...)

Her leg is so light colored in these pictures because I was picking away at that loose hair that has been stuck in there for awhile now. I ended up using a rubber brush with soft, nubbly things to get alot of that old hair off and it worked up some dust too.

I think it felt really good to her to get scratched there. She hasn't had bandages off for longer than it takes to change them since February.

When it heals a bit more, and I don't feel like I would risk infection, she's going to get a bath. It would probably be fine now, but I've had horses that have taken a wrong turn with leg injuries for less reason than getting water and dirt in it, so I'm being cautious. Soon though. Very soon.

*Improvement is improvement. Training or otherwise.

2008-05-20T21:00:00.001-07:00

Dani is a lovely three-year-old filly who tore her right hind extensor tendon in February of 2008. She came to me on April 4th, 2008 after her previous owner had done all the surgery needed.

Previous owner, Cassie, is a great lady who is now a trail buddy of mine. Many good reasons for being in the right place at the right time. Cassie is also a barrel racer and, while Dani will heal and be sound, Cassie was concerned for her future as a barrel horse and decided a good trail home (with me!) would be her best bet.

This blog will be about Dani's rehabilitation and eventual return to active duty as a trail mount.

April 7, 2008. First bandage change with me.

May 1, 2008 Many changes in between of course. Just the next time I had the camera.

May 9, 2008

She's pretty cute!