Came to the barn yesterday evening, fully anticipating a lovely quiet evening trail ride, maybe using the bitless bridle for a change. It was in the low 70's, sunny, the trees are finally starting to think about changing color for Fall...it'd be perfect.
There's probably some sort of horseman's Murphy's Law.... the more you WANT to do a horse-related activity, the greater the chance the horse will be injured, preventing that activity.
This is what I found waiting for me in the pasture:
Don't have a clue as to how he did that to himself. Common theories revolve around a little greedy Arabian sticking his head through a wooden fence section and then being spooked so that he bumped his noggin and scraped half his face hide off.Whatever he did, he gave himself a big swollen nose for his trouble! To me he looked like a Kladruber, no more lovely Arabian dish!
He didn't want me to touch his face (no surprise there), I knew there's no way I could get a cold compress on there.
But hey, the rest of him was in good shape, so I did take him for a short trail ride through the neighborhood. Needless to say, the bitless bridle was "out" (all that noseband pressure...ouch!), we used a snaffle without a cavesson instead.
Inconsiderate monkey that I am, I did get him cantering, and he kept halting...then it dawned on me; he probably couldn't breathe very well through those swollen nostrils!!! Arrrgh! I apologized profusely and we walked the rest of the way home. My poor boyo!
Before (cute little dish face!):
And After:
Kladruber Nose!!!
Well, it gives him character, and so what if everyone thinks I beat my horse with barbed wire!
====================
UPDATE 10/7/08
Happy to say the nosal swelling has disappeared with no permanent lumps, and the scrapes are filling in with white (and fleabitten) fuzz! Whew! He'll be normal-looking in no time... or as normal-looking as Quzqo can be!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment