B is for Bestie

Dude - king of the nicks and scrapes

Over the last couple months Dude has been getting so many nicks and scrapes in his stall. We solved one mystery - the mystery of the cuts on his hocks. He was getting those because there were nails popping out of the wall in the back of his stall, and he was apparently backing right into them.

But yesterday Reggie was cleaning his stall and noticed this scrape. It's pretty much a surface scrape, but still, it was a little messy. It's just so odd that he's getting all these - with no shoes. Michelle was on top of things and hosed him and cleaned it up with Betadine, which was very nice of her. I think her quick treatment help forestall too much swelling. By the time I got there in the afternoon, it was definitely swollen, but not too bad. I cold hosed him again and put a bunch of Sore No More on his leg around the wound, which I covered in triple antibiotic cream

He also has this one on his hock. Maybe it's from when he lies down at night. He had a scab there and it reopened this weekend. I've been treating the spot and it starts looking pretty good, and right about the time we seem to be over the hump, it reopens. Kind of frustrating.

The horses went out today so I think having that time outside walking around helped with the swelling from the scrape. I cold hosed him and also scrubbed all his legs with Betadine. This was our first warm weekend, so it was really nice out in the wash stall in the sun. And it's easier to see all the winter grime and crud on his lower legs in the sunlight. Looks like I'll be scrubbing him a couple more times before all of that is gone; his stockings are a little scurfy. Horsey spring cleaning.