Tuesday, August 24, 2010

This is Lucy in her "garb" to protect her shoulders from getting pressure sores.  She managed to get one pressure sore, & I finally figured out that the sore on the outside of both front legs were being caused by her hooves when she laid down to rest.   I've tried different ways of protecting the sores.  Figured out they need to be open rather than bandaged, otherwise they stay gooey.  She had habronema larvae in one of the sores, & I think I got them all out, the wound today was dry all day, which is a good sign.  

Courtney came out Sunday & trimmed Lucy.  She suggested putting boots on Lucy to help stabilize the bottom of her feet & maybe make her comfortable enough to not lay down so much.  The boots came today & really were easy to put on.  I was afraid we were going to have a battle, but she cooperated, although she wasn't sure what to do for awhile.  She finally started moving around & actually looked a little more comfortable, so hopefully they will help.  

It was raining during chores tonight, & after we got done I noticed Sha'ba was laying down & had not eaten his mush.  Had gut sounds, & didn't seem really uncomfortable, so we watched him for awhile.  Checked on him later, & he was up & eating, so I assume he had gas colic, from too much green stuff or mesquite beans.  There aren't many beans left, but if the wind blows, some of the beans still on the trees hit the ground & they know it.

This morning when John went over in Burroland he found Pepper enjoying some type of greenery all by himself.  John said he was buried in some brush, surrounded by all this green stuff & really having a good time.  John said there wasn't anyway he could have went in to get him, so he tried asking him to come out.  Boy was he surprised when Pepper actually came out & started following him back to the pen area.  

Jenny got trimmed Sunday too, & is pretty ouchy on her right front for some reason.  She was moving pretty slow before the trim & has been for awhile.  Of course her feet inside are a jumbled mess, & Courtney thinks because these chronic foundered equines do not have normal circulation in their feet, that the hot weather is really hard on their feet.  Our ground can be over 120 degrees for hours at a time, & normal feet can handle it, no problem.  But if we go out to round them up, Jenny is always standing in the shade, & is very reluctant to move out into the sun, so there might be something to what Courtney says. 

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