Injuries

Lots of injuries at the barn lately! While Saddle Club has been going on (post about that later), three horses have gone lame in the past week and three have been mysteriously injured. Hm... something going on here? Maybe. Just maybe. Now for a list of injuries:

1) Tarzan's eye. When we brought the horses in for Saddle Club and I took Zan's fly mask off, his eye looked like this, just a lot more swollen and all the way shut. This is what it looked like in the middle of the day, and by the end of the day it was better but not totally healed. We're still not exactly sure what caused it to swell shut, but we assume either he poked it on something, or something got in his eye, or he had an allergic reaction to something out in the field. BUT! Today (the 4th day of Saddle Club, also known as Thursday, July 29th), Zan's eye was totally better. =) Yayy!!

2) Mallory's left flank. When I went out to get her earlier this week (I've ridden her three times this week), I noticed this on her butt. It looks kinda like a barbed wire scratch, or as if she'd been whipped - but there's no barbed wire at Victory (that we know of), and no one would whip any horse, let alone Mallory. Since it looks like an old scratch, Katie and Erica said just to leave it alone and let it heal itself. Mal also has a few smaller scratches similar to the one in the picture on her other flank, and one more smaller scratch a few inches above the long one (pictured). =( The scratch was still looking like this at the end of today... Poor Mal.

3) April's legs. After the morning riding at one day of Camp, Katie noticed swelling in April's back right leg; by the end of the day, both legs were insanely swelled and April was miserable. I went home, and Katie wrapped April's legs in polo wraps and put some special liniment on her. The next morning, I arrived an hour early to take care of April while Erica and Katie slept. That afternoon, Dr. Kelly Whitesell came out and took a look at April. She's to get one shot a day in her neck (the muscle or the vein, whichever you want) and she should be fine by Friday. Today, she was looking and acting fine. Still unable to canter under saddle, but it's fine for kids to ride her walk/trot. Go Apey! Feel better soon, baby!

4) Rascal's fly bites. When bringing the horses in for Camp, Rascal was being pushy and trying to roll and rub up on Taylor and I. Taylor noticed the millions of horse flies and regular flies swarming on Rascal, who was drenched in sweat. We told Erica, who told us to bring him in and take care of him. So, we brought him in and sprayed tons of fly spray all over him. That's when we noticed the cuts. He had tens of tiny little cuts - and one big cut - all over his butt, back, withers, shoulders, legs, and face. Pretty much all over, really. So we kept him inside with the fan running and a fresh bucket of water so that he could be comfortable. Today he was much better, and he didn't seem as bothered by the flies. Yay!

5) Taco's leg. When one kid (a kid who shouldn't've been riding Taco) hopped on Taco to ride, the poor pony had to truck around the arena with a boy that was too big to ride him. Taco was stressed and, in result, started limping badly. He was retired to the barn for the night and I think he'll be okay. =) YOU ROCK, TACO!!




6) Sonny's leg. Sonny went limp one Camp morning, and he couldn't walk or trot well. Not much to say about that, other than that he's all better now and back to his ornery tricks! He gave us lots of trouble today, so I'd say he's feeling loads better! ;)

Last but not least, a little 'unwanted bonus' injury:

Tarzan's.... hernia?

Katie noticed this when I was saddling Zan up for a demo today. It's a bump that is soft on the outer edges and stiff/hard in the middle. If anyone has any clue as to what it is, can someone PLEASE send me a link to some information? We're not sure if it's a hernia, or a tumor, or what... we just noticed it today, and we're not sure what it could be or what it could be from. What really perplexes me is that it's about the same size and shape as the bump on Zan's butt... a tumor? Maybe, but I think not - the bump on his butt is in his muscle, and this is on the bottom of his stomach, which is 1) a whole different area of his body, and 2) totally different parts of his insides. Ideas? I'd like to figure out what it is and HOW THE HECK I CAN FIX IT. Thanks guys. =)

That's about it for now, guys... more pictures (and posts!) to come! It's been a busy week, and guess what we get to do tomorrow after the last day of the first week of Camp? Tay, Katie, Erica and I are going to ride our ponies out back! I haven't ridden out there since Em died... I think the last time I rode out there was last summer, when I broke my arm. Wow, that seems like forever ago! That was a year ago. Can you believe it? Wow... amazing how time flies!