A Bad Day

Wed Sep 29, 2004

Haven't shared any Quzqo tales lately, mostly because I haven't been doing anything with him the past week or so. The shoe on his forehoof was getting looser and looser, so I didn't want to ride him. The farrier is coming out Friday, so I figured just let well enough alone, he'll last 'til then.

Tonight I go to the barn after work, get to walk out to the pasture to get Himself...happily he was heading in towards the barn, so we met half way, he gave me a nice welcoming whinny (!!). Automatically I glanced down at his forehoof...the shoe is gone! Oh, great...BUT...all the nails were still in his hoof! When Tez pulled his shoe off, the nails tore right through the hoof (taking chunks with it)...surprised me that the nails were still in the hoof like that, with the nasty sharp clinches sticking up, grrrgh!

I automatically give the horse the once-over when I catch him, taking advantage of the good light outside...just a habit I picked up with Tezlu...was NOT pleased to find **8** fresh, bleeding wounds on my boy!!! A big abrasion on his left shoulder, and the other 7 wounds on his right side, starting at the shoulder, elbow, armpit, and three in a row on his flank. They're like 4-6" long stripes, nothing that needs stitches, but had been bleeding...but they were definitely done this afternoon! GRRGH! Can't imagine what caused them, they reminded me of like wire cuts or something, but the pattern made no sense. Tez had a similar injury on his hip years ago, it never did heal back right, so he had a ridge there for the rest of his life (a "brush stroke", lol!). C'mon, it's a 30 acre pasture, I couldn't imagine Quzqo got in a tussel with another horse with all that room. But none of the wounds looked like toothmarks (owning Tezlu, I got REAL familiar with what horse bite marks look like) (i.e. he got bit, not me, LOL).

All I figure he was doing SOMEthing, stepped on the back of the loose shoe, tripped himself, ripping the shoe off and taking a tumble. He was limping slightly, but that could also be due to his left leg being shorter than the right one (with the shoe gone). Boy, was he obnoxious as hell though...you can't ignore that horse, he just gets SUCH a 'tude!!! Bob, the barn owner, was nice enough to remove the nail clinches for me when I brought the horse inside, so those sharp metal bits are gone...just hope Quzqo doesn't do any more damage to himself 'til Friday.

So he got well-doused in Betadine. I've got some Blu-Kote, but didn't think big blue spots on a white horse would look that great, LOL! Luckily none of the injuries are where the saddle or cinch would go, so once he gets retreaded he's gonna get WORKED!