Relative Something

The guessing about what has hobbled Mix is over. Tom from This Old Horse came by last night to unwrap the poultice and assess her hoof. We confirmed the suspicion of an abscess, as the infection has erupted from the hard outer layer of her hoof in two places.

That relieves the extreme pain from the pressure that builds up as the infection festers. Mix is showing some of that relief with a return of her usual spunkiness, but she is not completely pain-free yet. We are still giving her something for pain, but now we have added an antibiotic as well.

She is not fond of the taste, even though Cyndie tries to mask it with applesauce. When Mix was practically unable to move from the pain, it was easy to restrain her and push the medication concoction into her mouth with a syringe.

This morning, Cyndie needed to follow Mix around the paddock to even get a halter on her because the mare knew what was coming and wasn’t in the mood. She still limps, but it is good to see her able to walk away faster than Cyndie could contain her.

We’ve got the gates arranged so that Mix is isolated from Light and Swings, but Light was concerned about Cyndie making Mix walk around and interrupted her eating to come stick her head over the fence nearby to supervise.

That is a sign of Light presenting leadership behaviors, which pleases us. I’m really looking forward to Mix healing enough to have the three of the mares return to a comfortable routine. We have yet to have a chance to enjoy them as a herd of three in the time since Mia was adopted by our friend, Michelle.

Soon, we hope to pay a visit to see Mia and her gelding herd-mates in their new home location.

Meanwhile, our silent mantra is “Abscess be gone!”