November 17, 2008 - Healed up

I chased them again on Friday, and the other mare would not walk a full lap of the field. I did the best I could and they were all fine when I went to check on them before I headed home.

Rory looked good Sunday morning (no more compresses). I rode past their field in the afternoon and the mares took off expecting me to chase them. The third mare (without the foal) was standing there looking at them go and back at me thinking "What?" Then they all had an attack of high spirits and went bucking and cavorting across the field.

November 13, 2008 – Healing nicely

Another super cute show pic!

Well the chasing prescription worked. I went out last night and took out my hot compress gear with the night feeds. I checked Rory after he stuck his nose in the bucket and the lump is much smaller and breaking up. And he was a bit gooey - drainage! I hot compressed and then took all the buckets and the foalless mare back to the barn.

Tonight I rode the brat and pushed the mares and foals around. The brat was much more relaxed about the whole deal than I'd expected. It took very little effort to get them moving this time, but a lot of experimenting when it came time to bring them back to a walk. The other mare kept trotting part of the circuit. Rory's mum walked more and stopped a few times. It was another night with a full moon and little cloud. I did get the brat to do a bit of lateral work as we kept the herd moving, but it wasn't really a schooling ride for him, just a leg stretch.

I went out to check them over before I left again. The other mare wasn't as sweaty tonight and both Rory and his mum showed no signs of exertion.

Today's forecast is for rain and freezing rain, so if I don't get out I won't be too concerned about Rory.

November 12, 2008 – Prescription: Run!

Another show pic - just because he was so cute!

The vet was at the farm yesterday and checked Rory. He said the incisions are closing a bit fast, but the swelling is mostly because Rory isn't moving enough. Prescription - chase him around.

So I went out, fed the mares and compressed Rory while he had his nose in his bucket. Then I went and got my QH. The field Rory is in is far too big for me to be able to run around and keep the horses moving. Plus I'm hoping that if I chase from horseback Rory won't be expecting me to chase him around when I go out on foot.

My intention was to keep Rory and his mum moving, but I ended up having to get all four going because mum just kept dodging around us back to the other mare. At first they stayed near the hay, but after a bit they were using the whole field and I backed off to try and get them to trot instead of canter. Then after half an hour I backed off more and kept them walking for a few laps to cool out. Rory's mum was the most laid back of the bunch. The other mare felt she had to scoot past us the odd time.

Remember all of this happened after dark. Well after sunset. Fortunately for me the sky was pretty clear with only some thin clouds scattered about, and the moon was near full. I could see the mares and foals running and judge the pressure applied better than if it had been really dark. I caught a flash of Rory's stocking and white blaze at times. My QH was really good about it all.

I went out and checked them later before going home. The other mare was worst off - she'd sweated the most but was dry enough and warm (cooled out but not cold). The other foal still had a bit of sweat condensation on the tips of his haircoat, but was also cooled out and warm. Rory's mum had a little bit of dried sweat on her, and was a good temperature. Rory wasn't showing the least signs of any exertion. No condensation, no dry sweat patches, nothing.

That's my boy!

November 11, 2008 – Recovery

Rory is recovering nicely. He is rather more swollen than I'd like, but with frequent hot compresses it is going down. He's being really good about it all and hasn't yet tried to kick me. Walk away, yes, but not kick.

I scooted out first thing before work yesterday and today to do the hot compress. I took morning grain out for the mares when I went to look after Rory, and it's amazing how the comfort of a bucket of grain makes everything better!

Last night I drove out to the barn during a freak snow squall (I'd have turned back to home if Rory hadn't needed me), and was out there in the blowing snow hot compressing him. Brrr! Naturally it had stopped completely an hour later.

I am discovering just how well he ties too. I took him outside the field on Saturday for the first hot compress. After a bit he'd had enough and started moving to see how he could escape me. At one point he went right up to the fence and put his nose up over the top rail... onto the hotwire... Yes, he got zapped. And went backwards. But he didn't fight the rope. He leaned on it for a minute, then settled and took a step forward (but not too close to the fence!) when I encouraged him to do so. Sunday he got his head under the rope and didn't like it over his neck. After a bit of struggling he managed to turn himself around completely under the rope so that it was no longer crossing his neck, and then he was perfectly fine again.

November 7, 2008 – Gelding time

And the deed is done. Mum was distinctly uninterested and in fact left the scene shortly after Rory started wobbling as the first sedative took effect. She was on the far side of the field right up until I took Rory back to her after it was all over. The foaless mare actually spent more time at the gate whickering reassurance than mum did.

As for the specifics, he went down quite gently and stayed quiet throughout the procedure. The vet had us put a folded towel over his head, and stay very quiet - he said they stay down longer that way. I couldn't see much of the gory details given that I was kneeling on his neck (half kneeling). Rory being Rory, he got up earlier than he should which kept us pushing him back and forth until he could balance on his own. Then I stood with him and kept him relatively still for twenty minutes or so until most of the sedative wore off. At that point we started walking back and forth along the fence and he got more stable and secure as he moved.

The vet checked that he wasn't bleeding too much (just a few drips) and then I escorted him back to mum. I had visions of him trying to gallop to her and taking a header so I decided safe was best and didn't let him go until after he'd bumped into her bum.

I rode past his field much later (after dark) and he was alert and whinnied at us as I rode the brat past. I fed the mares and foals after finishing with the brat and Rory followed me about as I dumped the grain in each tub, and then happily munched on his own. I took a peek at his sheath as he ate and things look good. A tiny bit swollen as expected, but nice and clean.

A good day.

Oh yes, one more thing. His extra bits were picked up by another vet (who teaches at the local college) to be preserved for next year's students to dissect!

November 3, 2008 - Big changes ahead

I was out playing with Rory on the weekend. He got groomed and a little leading practice. Yesterday he took a little nip at me (without connecting) when I insisted he walk beside me and not crowd or rush past. I growled and threatened him for a few seconds and he didn't try it again.

He's so dusty that I took my spray bottle of water out to help keep the static electricity down and get the dust onto the brush. He was perfectly fine with being sprayed when I was braiding his mane for the shows that it didn't occur to me that it might bother him. But we all know horses. He decided that it was scary and tried to walk away from me. Good thing it's just water and I could keep spritzing until he settled. He stood still and just rolled his eyes at it after a minute or so. He looked so good with the dust off. Of course I couldn't get all the ground in dust out of his coat so as soon as I scritched him for being good I brought up a new layer.

He's getting the feeding thing figured out. I go out and dump the other mom's feed first, then Rory's mom, then the other mare's, and then hang Rory's bucket on the fence. He follows me around from tub to tub and then back to the fence to get his feed. I've been hanging out with him at a gradually increasing distance, just staying close enough to warn off any of the mares (mostly the foaless one - she always finishes first as she doesn't get that much feed) if they try to bother him. Rory doesn't get very much so he's usually done before the two moms are.

The other foal came to see what we were doing during yesterday's leading lesson, and stuck around after I'd slipped the halter off Rory. So he got a little leading practice too.

We're getting close to weaning time soon. The BO's are working out turnout plans for the winter. We're looking at another 3-4 weeks before weaning day. Rory's up for gelding on Friday (if all is well) so he'll be healed up by weaning time.  The other foal's scheduled for later. Which is actually a good thing. That way the healthy foal/weanling will be able to chase the recovering one around and help keep things draining. At least that's the plan.

I was afraid we'd be getting rained on tomorrow, but the forecast looks good with no precipitation expected.  I'm actually looking forward to the weaning. Once he's weaned it will be easier for me to take him out and around by himself and do more with him. Right now I have to bring mom in too and she's rather herdbound just now and calls for the other mare the whole time she's in. So I don't bring them in very often because I don't want Rory learning that anxious behaviour from her. When he's weaned we can start going for walks and learning how to pony off my QH. My QH helped me with the brat, and now he'll get to help with Rory.