Diary of a Dusty Summer: Why do injuries always happen when we are unsupervised?

Howdy all,

The summer has been surprisingly busy and I have not had the chance to write for your entertainment. Please accept my apologies and allow me to rectify that situation.

Some of you may be aware that until 2012 I was never really a horse person. However, circumstances changed with the arrival of the most amazing woman into my life. She also managed to coincidentally herald the arrival of horses in my life. At the time, I knew two things about horses... "They are dangerous at both ends and, crafty in the middle."- Sherlock Holmes.

That being said, I immersed myself in horses. I tried to soak up all the information, all the situations, all of the knowledge that anyone let slip about these big, beautiful, majestic, expensive and, suicidal animals. I still listen to everyone and take the nuggets of wisdom and tuck them away for later use.

If you would, keep these things in mind as I relate to you a story that occurred earlier today.

My horsewoman has left me for the weekend. She has some duties to see to back home on the east coast. Most of these duties involve the marriage of one of her best friends and the assorted maid of honor things that guys don't understand. I have been told there is wine, beer and, horse stuff going on. Either way, I am home alone and in charge of my own life as well as that of the dog and two horses. No pressure right?

This morning I decide that I should go and check on those two beautiful, majestic, expensive and, suicidal animals. As I walk up the driveway to our paddock Jellybean nickers and starts walking toward me. Gracie, on the other hand, is happy to hang out in the back of the pasture with her boyfriend Orion.

Jellybean thought I had treats

I had treats in my pocket so I figured that is why she was so interested in seeing me but as she got closer I could see her left eye was a bit swollen. Sadly, it looks like someone kicked her in the face!
This is where all of that listening and watching and storage of nuggets came in handy. I did NOT freak out. I got the halter and pulled her out of the paddock. Now I could really see the swelling.

Swollen left eye

Laceration

Now, here is the point I would like to talk about how far I have come in the last 3 years. I mentioned that my horsewoman was out of state. What I failed to mention was that the barn owner and exceptional horse medic is ALSO out of town. So, here I am, on a Saturday morning with a swollen bleeding 4 year old horse that does not like being tended, all by myself. Time to suck it up and make it happen.

Thankfully the cut is very superficial. She was most likely kicked at feeding time this morning since the swelling is still pretty high. My response was to go get the betadiene and some gauze so I could wash it out. As I was digging through the first aid kit, I remembered how much Jellybean likes (Severely DISlikes) the medical supplies. This wonderful memory of a kicking pony inspired me to pick up the dressage whip as an aid. (See! I learned to take a training aid with me!)

There is still some learning to do though. My first attempt was to squirt some betadiene in/on the wound... she did not like this and stomped her feet,swished her tail, pinned ears and, pulled back rather insistently. I was NOT going to deal with THAT response.... so she got the whip! After she calmed down and walked forward again I tried option number two. Gauze soaked with betadiene... Turns out horses can smell really well! She still knew it was betadiene and did the same stunts as before. This time she got the whip twice. Thankfully, That got through to her. She came forward and let me clean her cut.

Cleaned up

After that I had the task of calling and informing Amanda about the injury. I have learned not to communicate these things through text and NEVER to send pictures without warning. I am not sure if she was as okay as she sounded or just resigned that she could do nothing herself but, I did not get a million questions and I was actually praised for the cleaning and handling of it all.

All in all, it was not as exciting as I have written but, I realized how competent I have become with horses. It is a good feeling to know you have come so far. Oh, and just so you can rest assured... Jellybean went right back to photobombing as soon as she was turned out.