A trip to the Vet

A trip to the Vet on New Year’s Day

New Year’s Eve was quiet and a trip to the vet was not how I thought my first day of 2021 would go. The new Wonder Woman movie and fun appies for the three of us had me feeling like I was ringing in 2021 with anticipation of good things to come. I slept great and woke up early on New Year’s Day. Coffee in hand, I settled at my desk to start on my blog schedule for the next few months.

I was on a role. I may have also been feeling like this year was one I was going to slay.

Seriously.

Possibly a little of the Wonder Woman vibe that had rubbed off on me from the night before but let me tell you, I had powers, and my fingers were typing at the speed of light.

A few hours in, and the sun has come up, the kids are wandering in with coffee and settling on the couch in their pj’s. I think that I will let Dolly stay all wrapped up in her blanket for the day and offer to do her morning chores.

A sure sign of trouble

I throw on her barn boots and run out. Not intending to be outside long, I have the geese and chickens cared for in record time. I grab Opal’s extra treats she gets every day and head to the horses. I am not even halfway across the yard when I see it.

Rygel has clearly cut himself.

Fear sets in, and I run the rest of the way. There is evidence of a good size wound somewhere on his front leg. He then takes a step, and I notice a deep gash on the bulb of his heel. I don’t even look at it; instead, I turn around and run back to the house.

“Get dressed, kids. Logan hook up the trailer. Dolly, get the dogs dealt with!” I yell as I sprint up the stairs to get my own self dressed and make a few calls.

Normally I head to our local vet for things needing attention, but this one is a wound that I am concerned about. It is in a bad spot on his hoof, and it is looking like it is deep. After texting with Dolly’s jump coach, I decide to head to an Equine Vet.

To see the cut on Rygel’s hoof you can view the image HERE.

Dolly holds Rygel’s head while he is sedated. Normally not cuddly we both took full advantage of giving him snuggles and him not being able to say no.

An x-ray from the vet shows how deep the cut goes. There were concerns that Rygel may have nicked the tendon.

A solution containing antibiotics is injected and held in the bottom half of his leg for 15 minutes.

Prognosis

After cleaning the cut, taking x-rays and consulting with a surgeon, we have been at the clinic for 4 hours. Rygel is stitched up, out of sedation and ready to head home to recover. It has been a long day for the kids, and we want some food to snack on during the two-hour ride home. Also, we found out not much is open at 7 pm on New Year’s Day during a pandemic. We loaded up with jerky, chips and ice teas.

Stall Rest and Diva Rygel

As we don’t have a barn, needing to be on stall rest for the next 3-5 weeks presents a problem for us. A few messages and calls with my Vtown Farmily and I have portable panels lined up for the morning. The neighbours delivered straw for bedding. Rygel is a diva at heart and lets me know every day that fresh bedding is his jam by rolling as soon I put it in his pen. A Facebook friend, Dottie, says it is like having clean sheets. I laugh to myself and tell Rygel every day as I pitch the straw in ” fresh linens, your highness.”

Telling a horse they need to stand still as much as possible for a cut like Rygel’s to heal is impossible. Here, the solution to that is stall rest. Putting a horse in a smaller pen or stall limits their chance to move. Since Rygel has been retired and is out in the pasture with his buddies, he was not happy about being alone and away from his friends. Temper tantrums ensued, and our solution was to put one of Rygel’s pasture mates in the pen with him. That keeps him happy and quiet.

Rygel resting in his portable stall with his pasture pal Zip.

Wound Care

After the initial 8 days of being wrapped tight, Rygel had a daily routine of washing the cut, applying antibiotics and taping it back up to keep the bacteria at bay. Rygel is very quiet and stood patiently for all of this. Because he does not like taking his medication and found his height advantage had us being creative with our administering all he needed.

Two days before stitch removal and healing slowly but cleanly. View the image HERE.

The Final Outcome

It has been a week since the stitches came out, and Rygel turned out to pasture. He is healing nicely, and we are so thankful for all of the Vets that gave him care, the neighbours who showed up with panels and bedding so we could create a makeshift pen for him. Also, my family can drop everything and come to the rescue, no matter what that may entail. I would be lost without the help they give.

Things are back to normal, and seeing Rygel in the pasture makes us smile as we pass the field during our day.

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