*Side note before I start my post. We have a new member of Ridge Farm (where Texas lives). Remember this post here…Well this morning she FINALLY had her baby! Yay! I have a lesson today with my trainer (and one tomorrow with his owner…I am so going to be sore by Wednesday) so I can’t wait to see the big dark bay colt! I will take some pictures and post them soon. I hope it is a very cute and sweet baby! Sorry…back to my “real” post now 
Poor Gen. Most horses who are retired, get excellent care, and have an owner who loves them are happy. Not my boy though. He was PISSED this weekend because he came in early on Friday because it was supposed to rain, and didn’t get to go outside until yesterday afternoon. The torture! He was not shy at all in making sure that we all know exactly how unfair it was that he was not allowed out when the other horses were. The injustice of it all.
Let me back up a minute here though and tell you why. Gen’s sore has not been healing like it should be. Yes, it is getting better, but at a snails pace. Because of his bad leg, my horse is not allowed to be on turnout without support. Because the sore is on his good leg I tried just one boot on the bad leg, and a different style of boot for even pressure on the good leg. That failed miserably because Gen got an infection in the sore. So after a lot of discussion and compromises with my vet the best solution we could come up with was stable bandages. I would not recommend turning out a horse with stable bandages on. The only reason I feel okay with it and Gen is because my horse is a rock star about wraps. He leaves them alone and is a very good boy about it (even still when it has been a year since he was wrapped everyday for 11 months ). The issue with wraps like this is that if they get wet they stretch, and if they stretch they are not only useless, they are dangerous.
So with the forecast saying 70% chance of rain Friday afternoon I had to go and bring my boy in (mind you it didn’t rain…stupid weather!). The sore was looking okay, but not scabbing over the way I want it too, so I figured I would just leave the cut almost totally exposed (I had a gel that is supposed to be like a fake skin that I put on). Well, that turned out to be a pretty terrible idea because on Sat when I went to check on him I had 2 matching front legs. While that is a great thing for a normal horse, my horses legs are def. NOT EVEN. The good leg had totally swelled up at the bottom. I was hoping that it was just from lack of movement so being the good owner I am I took Gen out to do a little walking and hand grazing. That is when the above picture got taken. I know it is not very flattering, but it was cracking me up that Gen was like in my lap. Gen is a good boy about personal space most of the time. Sat…well, not so much. It was kind of funny though that no matter where I was standing Gen had to graze right by my feet. Anyone else out there ever have the same problem?
By the time I brought him in the leg still looked like crap so even with good weather coming Gen had to stay in his stall yesterday. And he was livid about it. I might be a bit of a drama queen, but Gennyral is the one who gets the crown on that front. By the time I got to the barn after church my horse was full on pouting trying to get himself outside. I was hoping that the swelling had gone down with the pressure from the wraps. I didn’t even care what caused it, I just wanted it gone. As I took off his wraps I was given a great Easter present…uneven legs! The swelling was gone. Yay! So after treatment time and a quick grooming Gen was allowed to go out. And my goodness he was happy about that.
So the sore is still there. I now know that his leg needs to stay wrapped or it swells. I also know that the infection is gone because the leg is cool to the touch. The sore does look better at least. I am so over owning a grumpy special needs pony though!
FYI – I knew Gen was going to RUN as soon as I turned him out, so I tried to take a video of that. I missed the first lap and LEAP around the field because there was no way I was taking the camera out while still attacked to Gen. I needed all my focus to make sure I could unclip him and get out of the field safe. Anyway for anyone that wants to see Gen enjoying this fine spring day here is the video…
Ugh, us and our ponies! Ace is getting really crabby about being stuck in his stall, but I want a few good days of normal leg before I let him out with the other horses again. I don’t want him to hurt that tendon! He gets out for a bit on his own morning and night and has a good roll and runs around and bucks a bit. Thankfully, he’s incredibly good about his stable bandages too so I can leave them on. I put them on the very first time and he nosed them for 3 seconds and hasn’t touched them since. Other than walking his stall and turning his poo to mush, he’s being a good patient.
He looks happy with his turnout – all that head-shaking is telling you all about it! Good luck with the legs and healing.