This year we made the covered round pen into a winter stall for him. He has a window to the outside, and a gated doorway into the barn.
He's been content; watching the other horses and watching us throughout the day.
Tonight, he was waiting for me at the gate. When I asked him to move back so I could open the gate and bring in the cart to pick up manure, he resisted. Then I noticed he was lifting his hind right off of the ground.
Uh oh. He played with the muck cart while I looked at his foot. He stayed at the doorway while I picked up manure and when I took the cart outside. Brett said he finally hobbled painfully over to his hay, so I mixed him up some bute. Jackson is notoriously picky so I mixed the bute with some sweetened grain and a little water. He sniffed it suspiciously and, when I placed it on the ground, he lifted his front foot and kicked it across pen; sweet feed went flying into the dirt.
So, I guess he'll just have to tough it out. Hopefully, the abscess will burst sooner rather than later.
Poor guy. I did laugh at the bute rejection though! But one this winter as opposed to 6 or more is way better! I hope it bursts soon.
ReplyDeleteDo you soak it in Epsom Salts? I usually do that, then cover the sole with Ichthamol (sp.?) and do a wrap. Seems to hurry things along.
ReplyDeleteHope he feels better soon.
Poor Jackson. Guess he gave his opinion on the Bute. We have a horse who can sniff it out too and refuse to eat his food. Just had the same thing here with Blue. He had an abscess and the farrier sort of opened it up a little. We put ictamathol (not sure of spelling) on it wrapped it and put a boot on it. Cleared up nicely. Hope Jacsons drains soon.
ReplyDeleteI have always heard bute delays abscesses bursting - the anti-inflammatory effect prolongs the process... Maybe Jackson heard that too lol. Hope it clears up quickly!
ReplyDeleteJackson has very thin feet so abscesses usually break quickly. I have heard the same about bute and only use it when Jackson is in a lot of pain. Otherwise, I let him tough it out - which sounds mean but the more he walks on it, the sooner it bursts. I don't wrap it or soak it -- tried that but, in his case, it doesn't speed things up. Again, I think its because his soles and hoof wall are thin so the abscess has a relatively easy time finding its way out. I've wrapped, poulticed, soaked ... no difference for Jackson. The good news is that he is already better this morning, almost back to normal, so it must have burst during the night.
ReplyDeleteHope it passes quickly. So close!
ReplyDelete