The abscess, for, dear Reader, ’twas an abscess indeed, emerged last Thursday. Thus ensued five days of poultice, cloth, vetwrap, and boot for the foot; standing wraps to support the legs; and cold hosing to calm the inflammation. Oh, and cookies, to get Rocky through this difficult time.
His leg is still a little bit swollen but tonight I’ve decided not to do the standing wrap. I know if I’d been poulticed and wrapped for a week I would be more than ready to have my legs free all night. I did hose and wrap the foot and put the medicine boot on it. Just in case there’s a chance of keeping it somewhat clean.
Here’s where the thing came out:
Treatment staging area (the Adequan is not related to the abscess, but it was Monthly Injection Day):
I wrapped the injured leg and the poulticed foot; the medicine boot’s strap is broken so I fell back on the duct tape. Jan did her first standing wrap on the supporting leg, beautifully:
This experience made me realize that my horsecare knowledge is 20 years out of date, and that I don’t remember enough from my horse husbandry class in college to be of much use to my equines now. I don’t want to remain dependent on the Erins, Donnas, and Jennis of the world indefinitely. I know I have a horse medical/veterinary reference around here somewhere but it’s not layperson-friendly, so I indulged my inner Hermione and ordered two books based on recommendations from Jessica Jahiel’s Holistic Horsemanship website. I’m gleefully devouring them, although so far I haven’t read anything specific to abscesses.
Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage: Designing and Managing Your Equine Facilities
Horsekeeping Almanac: The Essential Month-by-Month Guide for Everyone Who Keeps or Cares for Horses
Horsegirl on a Journey 