Sunday, October 29, 2017

Patient and Long Suffering

Jackson has always been a level-headed horse.  He was unflappable on the trail -- crossing anything, be it water, logs or boulders.  If we encountered something new, he would drop his head and study it for awhile.  Then he'd carry on.

He's also been through many abscesses, standing with his hoof in a bucket of warm water and Epsom salts.  He no longer jerks his foot out, but stands stoically with a bored look in his eye. 

Saturday, I treated his white line.  This required slipping a bag with a nasty smelling solution over his hoof and leg.  It was tied above his knee; and he had to stand like that for 45 minutes.

I did the treatment at lunch time.  Brett brought his feed bin out to the tie rail and filled it with hay.  I brought Jackson out and tried slipping the long sleeve over his leg.  I wasn't sure how he would react and didn't want to try it with the solution inside, until I'd managed it empty first.  Jackson was unconcerned about the whole operation. 

I poured the contents of a small bottle into the bag and added a gallon of water.  Then, I slipped it over his hoof and up his leg, securing it at the top.  Jackson stood in the sun, with the heat bouncing off the black stall mats, sweating, for the entire time.  He rocked back and forth on the leg a few times, as he ate, but stood quietly. 

Our farrier will put his pad and shoes back on tomorrow.  In six weeks we will see how it looks -- and repeat if necessary. 

Thank goodness he is such a good boy about all these treatments.

8 comments:

  1. Poor thing. He is golden-hearted. I sure hope this resolves quickly for both him and you. I know how hard it is to see your horses lame. At least he’s a good patient.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Get well wishes to Jackson, I hope this treatment makes him feel better.
    It's always a pleasure to read your posts, you take such good care of your crew.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow that is quite the rig. I hope that this works!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Curiosity begs me to ask what you are using to treat it - White Lightning, or...?
    Just so I have more ideas if I ever need (fingers crossed that I don't). That soaking boot is awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. White Lightening was recommended to us but my trainer (and her farrier) have had better luck with this. It's called Clean Trax and treatment is similar to White Lightening, but doesn't have to be done as often so it works better with horse (like Jackson) who need protective shoes/pads.

      Delete
  5. An American in TokyoOctober 30, 2017 at 6:20 PM

    Get well soon, Jackson!
    I hope it works and this is the last of the white line.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ugh I battled white line this summer too. I'm glad Jackson was a star for his treatment. I hope it clears up quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a good boy he is. And you, such a good mommy.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for commenting!