...recovery...

...Tom, and a speedy recovery...
Tom has made an incredible recovery, in fact, it's as if nothing has happened to him  at all!

 

 

















Calm as pond he is, here is a reassuring photo, so if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, there's hope.

...a check-up...

...today the vet comes back to check Tom.  Fingers crossed...

It's windy today, very...and the horses are out in restricted grazing still, but they're finding the small space simply a challenge which they meet face-on.  They are speeding about, but I am keeping an eye on them.  Tom is not supposed to be leaping around, he has stitches, but I guess he's feeling better?  Off the anti-biotics by yesterday, but still a sachet of Bute morning and night, for it's anti-inflammatory properties more than pain relief now.

I decided to add some happy photos to remind us all why we go through all this worry, just look at their pretty little faces, and that's all you need to know.
 

 

The plan is for Tom's stitches to come out next week, you can see here the swelling has lessened.  Then I am hoping things can get back to normal around here. Out again at night and free-range to graze.  Tom will get some well-earned rest alongside Henry and because his scar sits under his saddle area, I'll need to be extra careful he is ready and pain-free before I ride him again.
 

Fingers crossed.

The vet actually used the word WOW when she saw Tom today, which is good news.  happy with his recovery and on-track for next week.

Single dose of Bute only a day.

Henry is making his feelings about Bute quite clear!

 

...planning for emergencies...

...it's not nice to think about, but trust me when I say, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail...

Be prepared, it's the Brownie motto for a good reason, those Brownies (and I was once a proud member) know what they're talking about.

So, managing your horse in emergencies is important:  what provisions are there for individual quiet turn-out?

Luckily, I keep Tom and Henry at home, so I can devise a flexible living arrangement when needed, and as I have said to Henry many times, Tom has had to suffer restriction when Henry has a tendon injury.  

When you look for the perfect yard for your horse, ask about injury turn-out, can his friend join?  is it quiet?  is it flexible, in other words can the area change size as the horse progresses? if he needs box-rest is there a separate quiet place for rest?  where his pal can join him.  Studies prove horses recover much faster if the herd bond is close by.

Tom and Henry are in at night until the vet comes Wednesday and gives Tom the nod.  So I am trying to make their living arrangements as interesting as possible, this means interesting dinners and a bale of Horsehage each in haynets hung outside their stables.  not only does this mean their stables are less messy, but they can keep a look-out and eat at the same time.  I can't tell you how much my 2 appreciate this arrangement.          

...turnout...

...restricted turn-out can be tricky...

But, as I keep reminding Tom, he's lucky to be alive, I'm sure he doesn't really mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So Saturday am:  I folded back the 'gate' end of the corral to allow two large horses room to pass.  Tom was tentative at first and Henry huffed and puffed a bit, but once they got the idea, they were out together and happier.

 

 

The day is calm and sunny one minute, cold and grey the next.  Tom has his customised fly sheet on and they are wandering about together after some mutual grooming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If your own horse gets wounded badly, take heart, because it's easy to picture worse case scenarios, but horses are surprisingly stoic, and whilst your own insides feel like they're about to boil over, your horse will likely remain calm like Tom did, and he's a big boy, so I'm very thankful for that.

 

My advice:

• apple juice, to encourage him to eat all his dinners including the powders,
• flexible electric fencing to allow restricted turn out,
• cheap flysheet to protect the wound (assuming it's on his body),
• apples and carrots to keep him occupied,
• a great husband for support (and to make the tea - tea is VERY important to the process),
• Hibiscrub, in case the area needs a quick clean,
• a first aid cabinet in your feed room, stuffed to the gills with everything you need.  Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have any!  I now have more first aid stuff than a small saddlery!
• Haybars, John customised these for outdoor use and they fit on a straight edge in my yard, with hooks on the back to be movable, this means their points of feeding can be flexible too,
• lots of hay, since your horse likely will be stuck in without access to growing forage,
• web-cams, I know this might sound expensive, but so is your horse?  I can watch every inch of my land from anywhere in the world on 'PonyCam', (of course it helps that John is and IT geek-genius), which means when I go back to work on Monday morning, I'll know exactly what's going on at home.

 

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by a trauma on your own horse, but look at what a difference a few days have made to Tom, Monday am early, nasty tear in his side, the following Saturday am, turned out with Henry in the Pony Paddock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom seems fine, he's not as stiff walking as the beginning of the week and his wound, apart from a bulge over torn muscle underneath and bright blue stitches, looks encouragingly good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom & Henry have missed sharing drinking time, mutual grooming and generally wandering about together, fingers crossed, deep breath, it's all going well.

 

Here they enjoy a drink, it can't be beer, Tom's on anti-biotics! And Henry chews Toms mane, to say hello.

...healing...warning: bloody wound picture...

...it's incredible to believe, but I've seen it with my own eyes...
warning, below is a bloody gaping hole picture: but it ends in good news...

What was once a gaping hole in my horse has now healed over to the point where he can be allowed out into a restricted amount of land to graze with his friend.

...from this...and this.....with the drain still in...


 
 






 ...to this...







.....healed over and protected from the flies by the rug.  Tom has now slept on this side and rolled on it too.  The stitches have not shifted and the heal has not been compromised.





Tom and Henry have been more or less separated since Monday, but tomorrow the corral gets taken down and they can graze together again.