| "Who's to blame...?" when horses are hurt Posted: 23 Sep 2010 01:33 PM PDT The flip side of the "safety first" principle is that if you try to control too much you're messing with Mother Nature. That can bring on injuries. Need a few examples? Here's my list o'shame... - In an effort to keep Harv warm in the winter I used jammies (lycra-hood for heard and neck) under his blankets. During turnout one day the hood slipped over his eye which was swollen shut for several days.
- While Riley was on stall rest (last year) I normally handwalked him in the indoor arena, but it was super-windy and the ring was crowded. I decided to walk him up and down the barn aisle "to be safe," using a stallion chain and lunge line. He tried to bolt, got a few strides away before I gathered the line, and when the line "caught" he got thrown off his feet. He landed on his belly/hip on the cement aisle. His breath was knocked out of him, but he was okay. The indoor would have been safer.
- The barn manager called me -- Riley's front legs were swollen. Imagining cellulitus, another hoof abscess, or a blown tendon, I drove to the barn in a state of panic. But it was none of the above, The swelling was weird, blotchy, and worse on the inside of the leg... We figured out what happened. The night before I had saturated his legs with fly spray (no stomping!). An hour or so later, I decided to ALSO put on tendon boots. Over the fly spray. FAIL.
Don't leave me out here hangin' -- share your "overprotective mom" stories!  |
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