Friday, July 4, 2008

Thundering Skies and the Missing Updates



As I sit here at the computer listening to all the booming fireworks when it isn't even dark yet, I can't help but think it's going to be another one of those long, long nights on this Arabian horse farm. Dave had to work (which has been the usual for him for probably 30 years on this American holiday) so Lindsay and I are holding down the fort and keeping an eye on the horses. Not much of a liberty celebration if you ask me.

The horses seem to be doing ok with all the noise even though the neighbors are setting off their hoards of fireworks way too close to my barn for me to be comfortable. The only exception would be Scarlet who really hasn't a clue what's currently rocking her world. She keeps looking at her mother, who is quite calm, and shaking her head. By next year, Scarlet will be an old pro to this fireworks thing but for this year, I think the poor girl is rattled for the first time in her short but illustrious life.

The cats are really not happy about all this loud noise. They are behaving very erratically. This celebration of our freedom doesn't seem like much fun to my feline friends. Both of them are the neediest I have ever seen them. So chalk up any typos or huge grammatical errors to Squeaker and Jasmine.

Ann reminded me in the comments on the last post that I have yet to do an update on Andy's condition since I first posted about his accident right before I left for the Arabian horse show in Salem. Friday the Thirteenth...........Oh My! http://risingrainbow.blogspot.com/2008/06/friday-thirteenthon-my.html I didn't mean to leave you all wondering but there really wasn't all that much to tell.

Having never dealt with an injury quite like this before I wasn't really sure what to expect as far as the healing process. Changing the dressings I could see that much of the stitched together tissue had died just as the vet had predicted. No proud flesh had formed as of the last change and the skin didn't seem to be attaching back to the coronet band. What all of that meant would be up for my regular vet to explain when he came to take the stitches out.

The usual timing for removing stitches is two weeks. For me, I tend to hold them over just a bit longer. I've never had much luck with removing stitches right on time and having the wound pop open is really, really frustrating. So instead of removing the Arabian colt's stitches last Friday, we waited until this Wednesday.

I knew immediately when Jack removed the dressing that things were not good. In the brief three days since the last dressing change a mound of proud flesh had developed and even more tissue had died. My poor vet was muttering about wishing he'd been available so I knew he wasn't happy with the way things looked.

The stitches that were still intact were more of an illusion that doing any good. As soon as Jack pulled them out, the skin popped open and blood poured out. At least it didn't squirt like it had been doing in the first place. The only thing that looked like it had mended well was the cut artery. The rest of this wound was a mess.

Jack applied a debreeding pad, followed by some gauze to hold it in place, topped off with Elasticon. He left me with enough supplies to do three more dressing changes at three day intervals. Jack also instructed me to make sure that last two wraps of Elasticon were stretched as tight as it could be. That snugness will discourage any more development of proud flesh.

Once we're through those dressing changes we'll have to see what we've got. If we haven't succeeded in removing all of the proud flesh, Jack will have to cut it out because it's interfering with the skin reattaching at the coronet band. Also it's possible we'll need to do more stitching at that location to help encourage the reattachment process. We won't know about damage to the hoof until we get that skin growing back like it should be.

In the meantime, poor Andy is confined to a stall without even any hand walking. The less movement the better for this healing process and the colt is not happy with this. Can't say as I blame him, I wouldn't want to be cooped up in a 12 X 12 stall either.



On another front, I don't think I ever posted the final outcome in our attempts with shipped semen. I'd posted in Rachel & Grandma and Arabian Horses Go Show in Salem about our delayed departure due to Mother Nature's timing with Dare's biological clock.

While that whole production was very stressful for both me and the mare, we did come out the other side of it with Dare checked in foal. So sometime next April, Rising Rainbow Arabians should see its first birth of a half-Arabian.

I can't believe I've done this! I am such a purest when it comes to my breeding program. The thought of a foal that doesn't look like an Arabian makes me break out into a sweat.

I'm sure that Dare will love it no matter what it looks like but I'm sure hoping for a half that looks like a whole. lol The sire has a very pretty head so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping..........nope, I'm counting on the best............ a really, really pretty half-Arabian reining horse. I'm OK, if it turns out to be gray although it could be chestnut or bay. So stay tuned........you never know what's coming next on this Arabian horse farm.
Any predictions?????

Pictures are Andy with his mother last summer (sorry having no camera really sucks) and then the other picture is Dare.


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9 comments:

  1. All that talk of dressings and finding proud flesh remind me of Dandy's old injury on his fetlock. Thankfully it was in the best possible spot for an injury, and that it wasn't big and bad, even though ar the time it felt big and bad, and I didn't like it, but hey, it's good experience for me if I am going to own horses! hehe. I'd be miserable if his injury is like the one you have. It makes me shudder thinking his cut is on the coronet band. That has to be the worst possible situation for an injury, and it'll probably take 2-3 months to heal, huh? almost makes you wish you were a vet, and that you could do what the vet can do to improve the healing, and being able to cut away the proud flesh, or stitching. And if you were capable of taking care of it yourself, then you'd never have to wait on a vet lol. They do what they can to help though, and was thankful I only had the vet out twice for it. First time, to check it out, and decide what to do, and the second time to remove some proud flesh. Thankfully it healed great, without doing stitches. I felt like maybe we should of done stitches... does proud flesh always grow regardless of stitches, or does it just matter on the type of injury it is??

    Also, I'd LOVE pictures of Scarlet, ASAP! :)

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  2. Thanks for the update on Andy. Sorry to hear that the wound isn't all healed up. :-( I hope you get things under control.

    And, congrats on the breeding. I hope the pregnancy goes well. Crossing my fingers with you!

    Ann

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  3. I was wondering how Andy was going, but I'm sorry to hear it's not all good news. But it could've been worse I supopse?

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  4. So glad that the AI was successful. I am sure that whatever the baby is it will be beautiful.

    On the subject of Proud Flesh I have been there and thanks to my not dressing it with enough pressure it looked like hell after a few weeks. Once I had the right formula for dressing it without overtightenng and bowing the tendon in the process or padding it sufficiently to avoid cutting off circulation, it was amazing how quickly it shrunk and the healing took place. Overall it was 4 months and the final little bit of healing took the longest LOL. The stall rest stunk though because I also had an 18 month colt on stall rest for this procedure! But he weathered it well and has a much smaller scar than I ever thought he would have. The only difference with mine was that I had to dress and bathe it every day right through one of the coldest winters that I have experienced here in the USA. The accident happened the day before Xmas with 8 inches of snow on the ground! I've probably told you this story 100 times by now LOL. One thing though if you are going to go the long term with this, buy Ace bandages, they are reuseable and cost a lot less than the vetwrap. I found mine online and got 6 inch wide ones and they were a godsend.

    (((Hugs))))

    Lori

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  5. I'm sure Dare's foal will be beautiful, when it gets here.
    Poor Andy, I feel sorry for the little guy, cooped up in his stall. I'm sure he wants to get out in the nice weather, but it's for his own good, I do hope that his proud flesh is gone by the time the bandages are done being changed.What a nasty injury.

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  6. Looks like both of us will be having half arab foals next April. I predict a bay filly for Dare. :)

    I'll make no predictions for myself because I'll end up with the exact opposite lol.

    I hope Andy heals up this go round. To keep that proud flesh away, ask your vet about using some Manuka honey. That stuff works wonders and it does promote healing as well. Good luck.

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  7. I hear ya about the 4th! We have neighbors that really make me nervous with all the fireworks! My dog didn't like them! She crawled into my arms~and laided her head on my shoulder! So pitful!

    Man was hoping to hear that Andy was on the mend. Hoping for a speedy recovery! I know ours hate to be stalled up too!

    Man no camera still? Hoping you get one soon!

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  8. MiKael,
    Have you heard of this for proud flesh?

    http://www.equaide.com/horse_wound_care.htm

    I was at the "Celebration of the Horse" yesterday in Puyallup and heard a vet talk about wounds.

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  9. Sounds like you had a similar situation as we did, with the fireworks going off. It's tough because we can't explain to our horses what is going on. I can only imagine what is going through their prey animal heads.
    I am so sorry to hear that Andy's injury is not healing well. How frustrating.
    I am so excited about seeing the half-Arabian foal next spring! What an exciting prospect! It will be beautiful.

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