Rolling Dog Farm Blog

We were bringing the blind horses in from pasture this afternoon when Kathryn noticed a bad wound on Laddie’s right rear leg.  We examined his leg in the corral, and then Kathryn walked Laddie down to Beauty’s Barn and put him in the horse stock in the medical room.

Kathryn did the initial scrub-down before leaving for Widget’s House to begin feeding the dogs there.  In the meantime, Alayne had talked with our equine vet, Bill Brown, about the wound, and he asked us to email him a photo to review.  So while we were taking photos to send Bill, Alayne also took these photos of me cleaning and then bandaging the wound.  (Say, how do you like the farmer’s tan on those arms?)

Just so you know, the real danger in working on a horse’s rear leg is not getting kicked but getting pooped on!  Laddie was so nervous about being in the horse stock he pooped six different times while standing there.  Alayne would notice Laddie lifting his tail and would say to me, "Look out, here comes another one!"

In truth, Laddie is one of those gentle souls who wouldn’t kick, even during an uncomfortable and perhaps painful procedure like cleaning this wound.  He kept raising his leg to let me know he didn’t like it and was uncomfortable, but all I’d have to do is hold on to his foot and say, "Laddie, give it to me."  And then he’d gingerly put his foot back down. 

So I dressed the wound, covered it with vet wrap, and then Alayne led him back to his corral outside Lena’s Barn.  I emailed a close-up of the wound to Bill and am waiting to hear what he thinks might have caused it.  (It almost looks like an abscess that ruptured, but it could have been a puncture wound, too.)  We’re also starting Laddie on some antibiotics tonight to help ward off infection.

(Click on photos for larger image.)