The farrier kindly came out to Echo first thing yesterday morning. I decided it was necessary for her to see a farrier and I am really glad that I did. After a bit of a root around in her right fore, he found a small stone, about the size of a small piece of gravel, that had worked its way up into her foot and was about an inch deep. No wonder she was sore! He dug the stone out and didn't think that there was any infection, but he was worried that this had exposed the delicate laminae to dirt and bacteria, so he recommended that I poultice the foot for a few days to make sure.
So Echo is now on box rest. It's typical - she has just got used to her routine and now it has changed again. She isn't a bad patient really - she has accepted having her foot held up for long periods of time, while we fiddle around with animalintex and vetrap! However, she's not impressed by compulsory imprisonment and has started kicking her door noisily in the hope that somebody will remember that she is there and put her out in her field with her friends.
When poulticing her foot, I couldn't find any duct tape and so in order to protect the vetrap and keep the poultice in place, I have been putting a bag around her foot and bandaging it in place - not very glamorous, but it does the trick! She has one more night of staying in, then she can go out on Sunday afternoon, after the hole in her foot has been plugged with Stockholm tar. The unfortunate outcome of this situation is that my farrier is adamant that she needs front shoes on now; this is a shame, as I was hoping to keep her barefoot for another year if possible. Her feet are normally fine, but I can't risk this happening again, so front shoes it is. Proper grown up girl.
It has been rather bad timing, as I was hoping to have sat on her again before I went on holiday, but that is not an option. At least she will have a week to fully recover before we get going in earnest. Fingers crossed! The enormous relief in all of this is that the farrier entirely dismissed my laminitis worries and said that although she is a little overweight (but shrinking rapidly!) she is definitely not laminitic. It could have been a lot worse.
So Echo is now on box rest. It's typical - she has just got used to her routine and now it has changed again. She isn't a bad patient really - she has accepted having her foot held up for long periods of time, while we fiddle around with animalintex and vetrap! However, she's not impressed by compulsory imprisonment and has started kicking her door noisily in the hope that somebody will remember that she is there and put her out in her field with her friends.
When poulticing her foot, I couldn't find any duct tape and so in order to protect the vetrap and keep the poultice in place, I have been putting a bag around her foot and bandaging it in place - not very glamorous, but it does the trick! She has one more night of staying in, then she can go out on Sunday afternoon, after the hole in her foot has been plugged with Stockholm tar. The unfortunate outcome of this situation is that my farrier is adamant that she needs front shoes on now; this is a shame, as I was hoping to keep her barefoot for another year if possible. Her feet are normally fine, but I can't risk this happening again, so front shoes it is. Proper grown up girl.
It has been rather bad timing, as I was hoping to have sat on her again before I went on holiday, but that is not an option. At least she will have a week to fully recover before we get going in earnest. Fingers crossed! The enormous relief in all of this is that the farrier entirely dismissed my laminitis worries and said that although she is a little overweight (but shrinking rapidly!) she is definitely not laminitic. It could have been a lot worse.
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