Oh Boy, What Next?

Yesterday I hoped today would be cooler and Roscoe would feel better. That actually happened. I saw Roscoe jumping and biting at the grey boys until they finally played with him. I let them play while I set the stalls up so they had hay when the farrier was working later.
All good right?
Well not quite.
When Roscoe came in he had a snot smear on his neck. Obviously he could not have done that to himself, so that means at least one of the grey boys has a snotty nose. Yay it's making the rounds. So all the boys got a dose of Pulsatilla.
Then I opened the back door to let the girls in and saw Dottie. If you have had your horse(s) for  awhile then you know what I mean when I say I looked and knew something was wrong. Sure enough, she was almost 3 legged lame favoring her left front. First impression it looked low and she was hurting. I knew there was no way to pull her shoes or get new ones. I put the poor girl in her stall while I pulled DaVinci's shoes.

Dottie's shoe, top and DaVinci's shoe, bottom

Not long after my wonderful farrier showed up. I pulled out Dottie, who broke my heart with her pain, to get his opinion. He picked her foot and hoof tested. No response. ???? Now what? We agreed she could not be worked on, so we would reschedule. I would watch her and see if I needed the vet. Then my farrier took one more look at her and noticed a reaction near her heel. Again he hoof tested her focusing on her heel. This time we got a big flinch. Abscess anyone.
So once DaVinci was trimmed for his barefoot winter, I began to gather my soaking tools. Dottie was in so much pain she was sweating from maneuvering around her stall. I hated seeing her that way. Her size 5 foot made it interesting to get it in a bucket. I will need to find something bigger the next time. Dottie ended up dumping the bucket after 5 minutes. Luckily the vet showed us a way to do a long term soak/poultice. Cotton, Epsom salt, iodine, a plastic bag and duct tape. Soak the cotton, then put Epsom salt and iodine on the cotton. Place the cotton on the foot and put the plastic bag over the whole hoof. I used vet wrap over the plastic bag, then duct tape over it all. I only had gallon size Ziploc bags, which ended up being a little small for her hoof. When she put weight on it, she pushed a lot of the water out.
As long as the horse does not break the bag, the set up can stay on for two days. Much easier than soaking 2-3 times a day and it provides protection for the hoof. She seemed more comfortable and was thrilled that she got the pasture. I conferred with Mom, who is in Florida, and she figured the grass would be easier on the wrap then the sacrifice area. Lucky ponies.

I hope there is some moisture left in there...

After all my "fun," I took DaVinci out for a stroll. I needed to chill out and enjoy the good side of horses. And later I went and rode Comrade. That boy was in go-go mode. Suited me just fine. It was a fun ride to end the day.
Fingers crossed that tomorrow is a better day :)