Well That Plan Was a Bust

Today I had the day off in honor of Martin Luther King Day. I promptly texted Heather and asked if she was up for a trail ride. It was clear and sunny out and in the 50s, great day for a trail ride! I got some chores done around the house and headed out.

Milo followed me down to the far corner of the pasture, where he ditched his neck cover (it is warm out, he doesnt necessarily need it, but hes a stinker nonetheless!).

Wait, was that a short step?

Hmm. I continued walking to retrieve the neck cover. 

This horse yawns more than any other horse Ive ever met. 

And he even had the nerve to stick his tongue out at me upon retrieval of the soaking wet and crumpled neck cover. 

I haltered him up and led him over the the gate. He felt odd at the end of my line. I turned around and there it was before me: my horse was lame.

Milo was lame on his left hind. You can even see him favoring it in the above photos. Oh no.

I tied him up to the fence and stripped his blanket off, then promptly ran my hands down his legs. Cool, cool, cool, warm and swollen, cool. Ahh. The fetlock. It couldnt have just been a hot hoof that I could then treat like an abcess. Nope. It was definitely his fetlock that was hot and swollen. There was a boarder turning out her horse, Scout, in the outdoor arena, so I got her to video him walking:





I made a call into the vet, who isnt available until Friday. So, Friday it would have to be. Im hoping that by then Milo may just "walk it off" and I can cancel the appointment, but if not, at least we are penciled into his schedule now.

Im not sure what happened. He was fine on Friday when I rode, and a fellow boarder said he was running along the fenceline of the outdoor arena with another horse on Saturday. So he must have done something Sunday (yesterday). It is muddy, so he could have slipped, or, doubtedly, Jake could have kicked him. Maybe I will get a better clue on Friday when the vet sees him, if not hopefully Milo is better before then.

I gave Milo 2 grams of Bute, reluctantly, and two cookies with a pat (btw, my horse is so awesome, I can bute him (even worm him for that matter) off the halter. He takes the syringe like a champ). Of course, now sitting here at home I realize I should have cold hosed it, but I can do that tomorrow I suppose. Dumb, shocked me, not thinking clearly when I was there with him.

It just wrenches my heart out to see Milo like this. :(

I made a call into Boyfriend to let him know he can open up his schedule for Saturday. Oh yeah, remember? The second to last reining show is this Saturday. Boyfriend asked if I could use another horse. Haha, what? My standings are with Milo, if I were to go on another horse it wouldnt count towards series points on another horse. Besides, um, I dont have another horse. So here is where my agenda has to get out of the way for Milo and his health. Boyfriend asked if he got better this week if we could still go. Whats the point, really? To possibly make something worse or re-injure, if that be the case? Or to go on a newly sound horse and not perform well? As it stands for the series, I am in the lead, and if I went to the last one in February and did really well, I could still manage to take it. But right now, Im focusing on my horse and how I can get him better.

Oh, Milo. :(