Cellulitis delivers a setback

Bestie and Mia

On Saturday I got a message from the barn that Bestie seemed a little sore in one leg. When I listened to the message I could hear Bestie whinnying in outrage that she had been kept in the barn while her friends went out. 

I thought it would be better for her to go out and graze rather than stew in the barn until I could get there, so Kristy went ahead and turned Bestie out. I got to the barn around 3:30 in the afternoon, and peeked out at her while I picked out her stall, and she was grazing happily. Not so bad, I thought.

Ha. When I walked up to her in the field I could see that her left hind leg was quite swollen, right up the leg and a few inches over her hock. She was really favoring it when walking. I couldn't think of anything that had happened recently that might have caused the injury. She'd had a little scab on her coronary band that had flicked off a week ago, and I'd never actually seen any blood. Or could be an abscess, maybe. But my first worry was cellulitis, so I called the vet on weekend duty, who came promptly and confirmed my fear, with the possibility of an abscess as the cause.

Bestie got injections of anti-inflammatory dexamethasone, bactericidal antibiotic enrofloxacin, anti-edema Lasix, and antibiotic Excede. Wow. The plan going forward included a packet of enrofloxacin for 10 days, accompanied by 2 grams of bute for the first three nights ... both in her evening grain. 

The vet said that she could continue to be turned out as long as she seemed comfortable walking. On Sunday she went out. her leg was still swollen, but she was walking pretty well. I walked her around the barn, hosed and doused her leg with Sore No More, and turned her back out. Because of my hour long drive to the barn, I am typically there mid afternoon; any later runs me into horrible traffic, no matter the day. (It's been an adjustment, not being able to pop over to the barn easily, but that's another story.) I left wraps and asked Laurie if she could wrap Bestie when she came in for the evening. 

This morning. Laurie texted me that Bestie had looked good when she came in Sunday evening, but the leg had swollen back up overnight. When I got there today, the swelling actually looked better to me. I guess walking around the field during the day helps work off the swelling, and perhaps the beginning of her bute/enrofloxacin protocol the evening before was contributing. I soaked her hoof in epsom salts and betadine, and cold hosed her leg and rubbed it down with Sore No More. I had purchased a bucket of Sore No More poultice, and asked Laurie to put that on this evening. (Buying the SNM poultice was my first intro to Tri County Feeds, a pretty fun store that I'll need to pay a return visit to soon.)

So that's where we're at. Poor Bestie. At least she is perky and continuing to eat and drink well. If the leg still looks pretty swollen tomorrow I'll check in with the vet again as that would be worrisome. Bestie has never had cellulitis before. Dude had it once or twice, and I don't remember it hanging on too long with him. Fingers crossed Bestie's able to shake it quickly. Her leg was so swollen Saturday evening I'm sure it felt terrible to her.

I've been reading up on cellulitis, but it's one of those conditions that seems to come on with no clear origin. Injury and poor housekeeping were cited as two of the potential causes, and those factors certainly aren't the case here. As with most horse ailments, it seems that things can go south pretty quickly. It's been a relief to see her continue to be happy and alert since Saturday.

I thought this article in Equus magazine was about the most straightforward presentation on cellulitis of the reading I did.

Back in the saddle

It's been a process, getting back in the saddle. While our new neighborhood isn't particularly busy, from Bestie's perspective there is still a lot to look at and take in. Typically, there are cars going by on the road, people walking their dogs, lawns being mowed, and other horses doing their thing on adjoining properties. There may be turkeys passing through. Or cows mooing. As soon as I get Bestie away from the barn, she's a rubbernecker.

The first attempt at some sort of routine: one week after arriving, we spent about 20 minutes walking around a neighbor's outdoor ring. 

About a week after that, I walked her around the front field and then lunged her in a couple of flat spots. She was pretty good; only one break into a gallop. How she can lunge while craning her neck this way and that to take in the sights, I don't know.

Three days after the field lunge, I walked her back to the ring and lunged her there. She was perfect, much more at ease than during the first visit. The horses across the road came to their fenceline to watch the lunge session, which was pretty funny. Most of the session was at the walk and trot, with one circle each way at the canter.

The next day, I got on Bestie. Laurie had set up a nice little "playground" in the front pasture. Bestie and I threaded our way through the barrel line several times, went over the ground poles, and stepped over the cavalettis. She relaxed as the ride went on. It did take three attempts to get on her from the mounting block. She kept walking off right as I would step up on the block. Sigh. Patience required with that.

I planned to ride over the  past weekend, but it was incredibly windy on the day I went out to the barn. The ring sits below the neighbor's barn, so I thought it might not be too blustery there. No such luck - it was windy enough to blow jumps over in the ring, and sand in my eyes as we walked over to check out the ring situation. So I bagged it.

Yesterday we did the course in the front field again. I rode for about 25 minutes, and as with the ring, she was much more relaxed than she was during our first time out. She called out to her friends in the field and the neighbors once we got up to the course, and a chorus of whinnies answered. I rode her back to the barn when we were done. It was a gorgeous day - sunny and 70 degrees. 

I'm glad that when I head out to get her from the field, she either comes to me or waits for me to approach her. She's always happy to get turned back out for another few hours once we're done; this longer turnout is agreeing with her. 

If the weather holds, I'm hoping to ride in the ring this weekend and get back to some of the routine we were working on at Maple Valley. It's a juggling act to get good barn time, with the challenges of an hour's drive to the barn, traffic en route that can extend the drive, and any inclement weather. But all in all, we're in a good place.

Thoughts on trailering

Along the way from Vermont to Virginia, we stopped several times, which allowed Bestie to rest her legs and take a break from the constant bracing.

Over the years that we've owned Dude and Bestie and the kids were showing, my experience with trailering generally involved travel to destinations no more than a couple of hours away from home. And we never owned a trailer, so the experience also was limited to paying for someone else's services, watching the girls get the horses prepared with wraps, and then following the trailer to our destination. The prospect of trailering Bestie from Vermont to Virginia for our move was a bit daunting. A few thoughts, now that she's settled in Virginia...

If I had to do it over again, I would start the process by talking to my horsey friends to see if they have any trailering recommendations. When I got around to this (I started with web searches = mistake), one friend passed along her parents' chosen hauler for their Standardbred race horses, and another shared the contact information of the private hauler whom she has trusted with her horses over the years and many miles. It's definitely reassuring to have the opportunity to choose from haulers for whom you have personal recommendations. I would think that vets, farriers, and local tack shops would also have folks who might sing the praises of specific haulers if asked.

When I started web searching to identify a transporter, I quickly got a bit overwhelmed. Searching turned up a few companies that focus on the east coast route I needed. After looking at their websites, I turned to other sources to read more about the hauling companies; sources like the Better Business Bureau and Google review pages, and the companies' own social media pages, if they had them. Compiling all of that gave me a sense of each company, but that's all it was - a sense. 

I felt that I would need to make a decision based on my gut feeling on which option was best, given the available information. And there's nothing like mentioning you're reading up on haulers to encourage everyone to start sharing their hellish hauling stories - not exactly what I wanted to hear! Kind of nerve wracking.

In the end, the kind owner of Bestie's new barn trailered her to Virginia. 

My set of to do's prior to Departure Day...

1. Setting up a vet appointment. At the appointment, within a month of departure, Bestie received the shots she would need to transition and a health certificate. My vet also gave me two tubes of GastroGuard, and prescribed dosage as follows: 1/2 tube the day before departure, 1/2 tube the day of departure, and 1/4 tube for four days after arrival at our destination. She also gave me a tube of Ace in case Bestie got worked up on departure day (we didn't need it). She suggested bringing enough hay to offer two weeks of transition time from VT's timothy to VA's orchard grass, and to have the destination barn's nearest vet's contact information in case care was needed upon arrival (it wasn't). The appointment was a good opportunity for me to ask questions (Shipping boots or standing wraps? Standing wraps, for support on the 13 hour journey) and to be reassured (Dr. Emily's reality check for me - "Remember horses travel all over the world. In the scheme of things, Bestie's travels are nothing to worry about. Stay calm and all will be fine.")

2. Loading practice. Bestie hadn't been trailered in almost 7 years, so our new barn owner suggested practicing. We practiced once while I was still in Vermont, and then our Vermont barn owner practiced with Bestie in the week between closing on our VT house and trailering Bestie, when I was in Virginia. It all worked out great - after a little bit of "hmmn, not sure about this," she loaded fine on Departure Day. It helps that Miss Food Motivated could see the full hay net. :)

3. Filling containers with water from our VT barn's well to encourage Bestie to stay hydrated en route - familiarity. I also brought along a few small apple juice boxes to add to the water for enticement (not needed).

4. Packing all health information and my first aid kit to be accessible during travel.

5. Going through all of our horse stuff to get rid of anything we wouldn't need in our new digs. Even with a pretty extensive clean-out, a lot of full plastic totes still ended up in the trailer.

6. Making sure Bestie's routine prior to departure didn't change up too much. 

En route...

We stopped every few hours to give Bestie a chance to rest and to check on the hay and water situation. She went through a few hay bags full of hay, which was great as it kept her occupied on the long ride. She didn't drink much; luckily it wasn't super warm on travel day. 

Upon arrival...

I walked her around for several minutes so she could stretch her legs. Her stall had been bedded extra deeply to give her more cushioning in case she was a bit stiff and sore. She did drain a good portion of her water bucket once in her new stall. She had bute in her first grain meal at the new barn to also ease stiffness. 

The first week...

I came to the barn daily the first four days and groomed her and walked her. I also rubbed her legs each day with Sore No More. Turn out started right away, first as half days to ease her into the generous amount of grass in the pasture, and then to a couple overnight turnouts at the end of her first week. Basically she had a relaxed first week to settle in. One week after arrival, I handwalked her to the neighbor's outdoor sand ring with the intent of lunging her, but just walked her around for 20 minutes as she seemed a bit too "up" in the new surroundings to safely lunge.

Travel from Vermont to Virginia was a long trip for 20 year old Bestie, but she traveled and settled in well. Whew! Huge peace of mind.

So there's been a change...

We're not in Vermont any more.

We listed our house for sale in March. We had been contemplating our future, considering that Kris had been "commuting" between Vermont and Virginia for over three years. To stay in Vermont? Or to move back to Virginia? It seemed pretty clear that his job wouldn't bring him back to Vermont, so the decision was made to move to Virginia. Full circle - Virginia > Vermont > Virginia ... even a return to the condo we lived in when we were first married!

An offer was made on the house in mid July, with closing scheduled for early September. In the intervening weeks, we packed up, got rid of some stuff, did a few summer fun things, scheduled movers, and did all the other things that come with a move. That was all easy; time consuming but easy. My main concern was Bestie.

On the recommendation of a friend, I checked out a barn in northern Virginia that I ended up really liking. Unfortunately, it was undergoing major renovations and the manager couldn't commit to taking on new boarders until early September ... too late to fit into our plans. Kris suggested calling a high school friend of his, Laurie, who has horses at her home in the DC area. She had actually moved from Charlottesville, which is where we planned to look for a house, so could fill me in on area barns that might work for Bestie.

Amazingly, when I explained our situation, she offered her empty stall to Bestie. And even more amazingly, she offered to trailer Bestie down to Virginia. Laurie was planning a mid September visit to her parents in Connecticut and could "swing over" to Vermont. As I write this, after all these weeks, I am still blown away by Laurie's generosity.

To make a long story short, I left Vermont to drive to Virginia after closing on September 6. Bestie stayed in Vermont until the weekend of September 17 and 18, when I flew back and Laurie drove up via CT so that we could meet at Maple Valley and travel back to Virginia. Between September 6 and September 17, trainer Paula rode Bestie a few times, and the kind folks at Maple Valley worked to make sure she would load with no problem on D(eparture) Day, September 18. So many awesome people helped make this work!

The ride down was uneventful. Bestie was comfy in Laurie's big rig, and we stopped a few times so she could rest her legs and so we could water her and refill her hay net. Luckily it was not too warm because she didn't drink very much. 13 hours later we arrived at her new home. More thoughts on prepping for our trailer trip.

It's a cute little four stall barn off to the side of Laurie's home. Bestie is in the second stall from the right. The tack room is in the middle. The pastures are in back. Super laid back atmosphere, and she seemed to take to it right away.

Bestie looking contemplatively out her front door. The little bit of hay hanging out the side of her mouth makes me laugh. The first few days, she was on day shift turnout while the other three horses were on evening turnout. She love/love/loves her front half door and back window.

The horses' back windows look out to the  two pastures. Even when I bring her in to groom her, she gets a bite of hay to munch and then promptly goes to the back window to make sure she isn't missing any excitement in the pastures.

It's been absolutely awesome at Laurie's; I'm so relieved and happy that Bestie settled in well. She's turned out with another mare, and these two alpha girls seems to be getting along. Today, after I rode, I turned Bestie back out and she whinnied and cantered over to where Mia was grazing. Later there were a few squeals, but when I checked on them, they were grazing the fenceline together. I think there's mutual respect. :)

I'm so incredibly grateful to everyone who helped to get us moved and settled, especially to Laurie for her generosity.