Relative Something

Before the farrier showed up yesterday afternoon, I spent some time in the 60°(F) sunshine doing battle against invasive buckthorn along our southern border in some of the thicker tangles of growth in our woods.

I discovered something about my chemical-free attempts to control the buckthorn. I came upon one of the trees that I had girdled a couple of years ago. What I’ve usually come across is a batch of new shoots emerging off the main trunk. They are easy to trim off to starve the roots of any additional energy.

In this case, there were no new shoots. However, there was a rash of sprouts coming from the ground, spread over a wide area around the old, girdled trunk.

If that is going to be happening, I could be persuaded to apply an herbicide to freshly cut stumps to kill the roots, as most buckthorn eradication instructions advise.

What did the farrier find?

Our current farrier, Jamie, was aware of Mix’s situation before she even arrived. First, she took care of trimming and filing Swings and Light before turning her attention to Mix.

We were thrilled to see Jamie handle a reaction from Light in the middle of the process. When Light got upset about something, Jamie gave her some space, and Maddy walked Light in a loop to vent some energy. Order was restored, and Light was fine with letting Jamie finish.

Then it was time for Mix. With confidence, Jamie quickly verified the two places where the abscess had emerged, but she also deduced there was still likely more infection that wasn’t draining. Our treatment thus far has helped, but there is more that needs to be done.

We are starting with another poultice wrap in hopes of drawing more of the infection out. Cyndie and I just learned about a sugar/iodine combination that may be the next course of treatment.

Sounds like we will be keeping that hoof wrapped for a while. Jamie will be coming back in two weeks to check on the progress.

Mix is being a real trooper throughout it all, and we are very appreciative of the care she has received. We are rallying our mindset now to keep giving her extra attention until this is all behind her, no matter how long it takes.

Proper healing is one of those things you can’t rush. Time may end up being the best medicine.