I generally post every random thought that goes though my head about Bob, my almost 10 year old QH who is taking me to my bucket list items of entering Ranch Horse Shows and working cows. However, I haven’t posted anything about our quest in 5 weeks --although I did answer the CoTH people who asked after him.
Bad things happen.
We own horses, we know bad things can happen in an instant --and in hindsight, Bob and I have had a charmed path from buying him (everything owner told me was correct and honest), clear PPE, and progressive improvement over two years after finding a suitable trainer who would put up with a +70 rider trying Western Riding for the first time after 60 years of riding everything else except Western.
On July 17, after a 7 hour trail ride with a gal pal, at 3:45, I unloaded Bob from my trailer and turned him out into his pasture. As I stood by his water tank filling it, he walked about 20 feet and lay down in the dirt and rolled first right, then to my horror, rolled completely over on to his left side, sticking all four of his feet through the high tinsel wire fence. He lay quietly. I shut off the hydrant and thought I could grab his hind foot --closest one to me, and pull all 1250 pounds of horse away from the fence to free him. The closest wire cutters were in the barn 50 yards away, where we were was out of view of all neighbors and no one was home but me.
I touched his foot and he panicked. He kicked me in the elbow hard enough to send me flying backwards on to the ground. Bob tried to leap up, caught his hind leg in the wire, cried in pain, then the wire slipped off his leg and he ran three legged away to the other side of the pasture.
I couldn’t move for a few minutes with no feeling in the arm, not able to move it, I grabbed it with my other hand and stuck it into the collar of my tee shirt and made a sling.
Still sitting on the ground, I called the vet --his office answered and told me that it would be at least 2 hours before anyone could be at the farm. The vet’s office is a group practice and the office person would see if anyone else could come. I told her I thought I had a broken arm, but would wait until the vet arrived before going to the ER [yes, hoping for the sympathy to expedite the vet’s arrival.]
I got up off the ground, walked to Bob and he willingly followed me to the wash rack. I turned on the hose and sat on a bucket holding a cold hose on the leg he appeared to have cut --there really wasn’t much blood, but a cut across the inside of his hock, about 3" long. He wouldn’t put weight on it.
I called DH (no answer). I called Nurse Daughter --she told me to go to the ER, I explained I could not as I couldn’t leave Bob and I couldn’t drive --she said she’d be there in 20 min coming from Hospice where she works.
Vet called --Bob’s regular vet --and said he was close, he’d be there in 15 min --it was now 4:15. At 4:30 the cavalry all came at once: Nurse Daughter, DH, and Vet all pulled in at the same time. Nurse daughter got leg wraps from the barn and stabilized my arm across my chest. It had swelled massively at the elbow joint and I still had no feeling in my fingers.
DH took Bob, Vet was there, so no reason for me to stay --off to the ER . . .
Now the rest is a bit hazy due to some morphine at the ER --I was immediately seen --DR asked for x-rays --but we had to wait awhile for the morphine to work so the tech could move my arm --vet called and talked to daughter --Bob had a cut, but he predicted he’d heal without a scar --for now, bandage and one week stall rest, no turn out until he saw him in 4 days.
x-rays showed no fracture --but the swelling was pretty big by then so rest, elevate, and ibuprofen for a week.
And I don’t remember going home, or that DH came to the hospital.
After a week, I was 100% but with the most dreadful looking purple bruise elbow to wrist.
Bob did a week of stall rest, then a week of stall rest with one hour AM and one hour PM hand walking. Week then week three he had supervised turnout in a small pen (100x50) up to 4 hours. Week 4 he had unlimited turnout in the small pen, but stall at night. Finally Week 5 he has unlimited turnout in his 2 acre pasture.
For the first 5 weeks I did twice daily bandage change, 10 min hosing, and daily pix sent to the vet who came every Friday for the first four weeks.
Last Tuesday, Bob was cleared for riding!!!
And while he won’t be going to the July Ranch Horse Show as planned, he will go to the September show.
I am taking my old fox hunter to the Ranch Horse show and riding in one or two trail classes. He looks cute in Western tack!
Meanwhile, Bob is up to 30 min of under saddle work at the walk and trot.
Oh-- my neighbor and I put in a new electric fence 3’ inside the high tinsel fence --it is just an electric string --but it has its own charger (solar powered). I hope it will keep Bob far enough off the fence that this will never happen again. I have had the same fence for all my horses for 40 years and this is the first accident we’ve had with it.
Vet wisdom when I asked the vet what I could have done differently: Always pull the fence off the hoof, never the hoof off the fence --the fence won’t kick you.
This is Bob today --you can see the “warning fence” inside the regular fence.
.