Life Is What Happens...

Have you ever heard that infamous quote by John Lennon?  "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans."  That pretty much sums up the past week for me.  I was still basking in the excitement of our first show experience when I tacked up Monday night to hack over for a lesson.  I dropped my phone halfway up the driveway, and after dismounting to grab it I spotted a big log over by the neighbor's rickety barn, and used it to remount.

Big mistake.  Apparently the rickety chicken barn comes with rickety debris hidden in the grass, just lying in wait to sabotage my pony (and plans).  No sooner did we take three steps, and I realized April was three-legged lame.  Dramatically off. 

I dismounted and led her back to the barn, while calling and canceling our lesson, and when we got to the aisle I picked up her foot to discover horror of all horrors - a piece of wire.  We had to have picked it up in the area around the old barn.  It was some sort of heavy gauge barbed wire, and part of the little barb had punctured the tip of her frog.

So first things first, I freak out for ten seconds.  Then I pull it together into crisis mode.  Get my massive collection of first aid supplies ready, and go on the offensive.  I got the wire out, and thank god it wasn't deep.  It did bleed at first, which actually made me a little queasy.  Totally out of character for me.  I have sat through an equine surgery, plenty of small animal surgeries..nothing gory related to animals has ever bothered me.  I think it is the fact that April literally means the world to me. 

But I shoved down a second round of panic and started hosing and sanitizing.  After using about a gallon of betadine, I covered the wound and wrapped her up with a maxi pad and vetwrap.  I fed her dinner right away with a gram of bute and a first course of SMZs to fend off infection.

That was Monday.  Today is Friday, and after several days of keeping it as sterile as humanly possible, she is still off.  I called Ivy this morning, profusely apologizing for being a pain in the A%& worrywart, and she called Douglas to get his opinion on the two things she suggesting packing it with.  She called back a short time later and gave me the poultice he suggested, and the rest of the treatment regimen will stay the same - epsom salt soaks, SMZs, keeping it as clean as possible, and now adding in the magna poultice.

So I am hoping and praying that a few more days of ginger treatment will bring about some improvement, so we can still proceed with our plan to go to Foxtrack at the end of the month.  You know what they say about plans....at last we are getting out and accomplishing huge goals, and now we are sidelined.  But eh - that's horses!  I am profoundly thankful it isn't any worse than what it is.  It could have been SO much worse.  Regardless, I'm counting the days til we can get back to our routine, and I MISS riding her like crazy.  In the meantime, I am waging war on weeds around the farm, and upping Samson's fitness regimen a bit to try to keep myself from losing fitness.  So here's to April - a fantastic patient, and a sweet understanding girl about my clumsy fumbling around to keep her recovery going.  Prayers for a speedy recovery!!!!!!