What Happened Jackson?

Sunday morning when Brett fed the horses, he noticed that Jackson was all scraped up.  He suggested that I go take a closer look.

Jackson was filthy so I walked him to the barn and gave him a bath while assessing his wounds, of which there were many.  Thankfully, they were all superficial.

He had claw marks by his withers and on his back.

Two fetlocks were scraped down to the skin.  There was a big scrape on his haunches and an even larger one on his front leg.  None of them were bleeding or tender, although the one on his leg was quite swollen.

I put Swat (fly repellent for wounds) on all the areas and hand walked him while he dried.  He munched on dry grass under the trees while Mufasa called like mad.

Mufasa came all the way up from the bottom of the pasture, and into the smaller pasture we call the bedroom, to be close to his buddy.

Mufasa was very happy when I brought Jackson back into the pasture.

Jackson was "meh" about the reunion.  Its funny how the horse who leaves doesn't care, but the ones left behind have meltdowns.

The swelling has steadily diminished and is completely gone now.

We do have mountain lions in the area -- and coyotes.  It doesn't look like the typical scrapes and scratches Jackson gets from playing with Mufasa, and engaging in mutual grooming activities.

Something jumped him or scared him so much that he got tangled up in a tree or the fence.  Jackson is a very level headed horse, not prone to panic, so something legit was out there.

I wish we he could tell us what it was.