Golden Days - Adventures With Indy

Friday, June 28th
Golden Days

Glad THIS Week Is Over!

I can’t say we didn’t get a lot done this week, but, all things considered, I’m still glad it’s OVER. First, the guy that cuts and bales our hay showed up on Saturday and cut our hay field - which was good. But, I like to walk the field after the first cutting is on the ground to check for any holes that some critter or another might have dug over the winter and to look over the hay.

We have been dealing with the worst hot spell we’ve had since I’ve been living in Indiana - some ten years now. The heat and humidity have been AWFUL, and Saturday afternoon was no exception. I knew I was spending too much time in the hot sun walking the field, but I wanted to get it done. Well, I DID get it done, but it go me done too. I spent most of Sunday sleeping and trying to recuperate.

The heat was good for one thing though - it got our hay dry enough to rake on Monday morning and bale on Monday afternoon. So then, all Mike and I had to do was get it into the barn. Snap, right? We got it - gasp! - done though. Our hay is IN safe and sound! We still have quite a bit of the hay we bought last year when we didn’t get a second cutting of our own, so with that and our new hay, Indy and Ami are all set to pig out on hay all they want.

Our respite was short lived though because Dr. Conley wanted to get Indy’s corrective surgery done ASAP before the infection got any worse. He came out Wednesday morning and got the job done. He just gave Indy a sedative, and when Indy got woozy, he gave him the anesthesia. Indy went to his knees, then flat down on his side - out like a light. Since the weather was very iffy, he just laid Indy down in his stall. We used hay bales to prop him on his back and put a towel under his head and over his eyes.

It only took Dr. C a few moments after making the incision to pull the infected part of the cord out and cut it off above the infection. He took off a good six inches and said the cord had been left so long that he could have safely taken off even more if it had been necessary. He showed us the infected part that he’d removed. It looked like a big mushroom, with the cord being the stalk and the head the infected tip with its lumps of scar tissue. It was VERY strange looking, to say the very least! Dr. C examined it closely, showing us where the infection ended - well above where he’d made his cut. He felt Indy should heal up nicely and have no further problems.

Dr. C chose his words rather carefully, but he had to say that he was very surprised that the cord had been left SO long. He says he sees this condition only about once or twice a year, usually among the Amish who do their own castrations. All’s well that ends well I guess, but I certainly wish Indy had not had to undergo this TWICE.

Poor Ami was standing in her own stall, watching, the entire time. I could tell she was very worried. I know she remembered - as I did - when DJ was down in almost the very same place, and he never got up. When Indy came to and got up, she was nickering at him like crazy. It was a sight she and I were both very relieved to see.

Indy was moving quite well today, not stiff or anything like that. I’m sure it was sore, but his appetite is normal, and he was trotting and cantering around. He also allowed me to wipe fly spray all over the area right up to the sides of the incision. Now, is that TRUST or what?!

He got extra treats for being such a sweet boy :o)
suzym on 06.28.02 @ 08:04 PM CST [link] [No Comments]

Friday, June 21st
Golden Days

Going To The Dentist - Horsy Style

Well, actually the dentist came to them - in the form of my wonderful Dr. Conley. Ami wasn’t due for her annual dental checkup until fall, but Indy was dropping SO much food I didn’t want to wait that long to have his mouth checked out. And, I CERTAINLY didn’t want put a bit in his mouth.

My intuition was right. Dr. Conley looked in there and found a rather large hook on a premolar and points “all over the place,” as he put it. No wonder he was dropping food! Doc got all that corrected in short order. I could tell by the way Indy kept running his tongue around his mouth after he ‘woke up” that he could certainly tell that his teeth felt different. He was still getting used to them this morning at breakfast, but he was already hardly dropping any food at all.

Ami didn’t need much, but Doc said she could use a little touch up in the very back. The first time he looked at her - gee, must be six or seven years ago now - he found some large hooks in the back. So, we’ve had that under good control by having her checked annually.

I had also wanted Dr. Conley to come out sooner than later because I have been concerned about Indy’s castration incision. He was gelded on April 9th, but was still having some drainage right at the front of the incision. It wasn’t sore or anything, and he certainly wasn’t touchy about it. Quite the opposite in fact. It seems to itch, and he is ecstatic when I clean it for him. I just seemed to me that it wouldn’t be normal for the wound to still have drainage. Again, I was right.

After examining the area, Dr. Conley said he had what was known as a “serous cord.” It’s not a common complication of castration, but Doc says he sees a couple a year. It seems that the cord on one side hung down far enough through the incision that it managed to get infected, although the incision itself healed up around it.

What he will need to do is put Indy completely under and repeat the castration on that side. He will make an incision, and cut the cord again above the area of infection. He said this wasn’t a life-threatening situation or anything like that, but it did need to be taken care of. He said he could do it right here, so we will schedule it with him - hopefully for next week. It has to be a day without rain, because he will just lay Indy down on the grass.

I want to get this done ASAP - obviously! - but for several reasons, not the least of which is that I just want it over with. I’ve had too much stress lately to be able to cope with much more. I want it over, and Indy up and prancing around. Besides, it’s bothering him. It itches, and the drainage draws flies. I wipe it off every day - sometimes more than once - and up Swat around the area, but it’s still bugging him quite a bit.

Speaking of a day without rain… I just don’t know WHEN we’re going to be able to get our hay in. Fortunately, we still have a lot of the hay we bought last year when we didn’t get a second cutting, and Indy and Ami are more than happy to eat their hay “on the hoof” as it were. But I’m afraid to allow Ami 24/7 access to the grass, and even Indy’s eating quite a bit of hay because the bugs drive him back into the barn. I feel bad about complaining though. At least we have grass - that’s a LOT more than many of my friends out West. And, we will be able to get hay one way or another. I don’t know WHAT they’re going to do in the Plains States. Horrible situation - not even counting the fires.

I guess we had better count our blessings for they are many.

suzym on 06.21.02 @ 08:59 AM CST [link] [No Comments]

Monday, June 10th
Golden Days

A New Triple Crown Contender?

Okay, so War Emblem stumbled coming out of the starting gate, and that was that for the Triple Crown this time around. But maybe - just maybe - I have another Contender coming on here…

Saturday afternoon while Mike was running the spreader, I let Indy and Ami out into the big pasture again. They were happily munching away, and I was just watching - something I NEVER tire of :o) I lost sight of Indy but didn’t think anything of it. I figured he’d just gone around the corner or down the hill a bit. The grass is SO tall that if either of them goes down the hill at all, they disappear in it. Mike keeps a strip mowed all the way around the perimeter so we can at least get around that much. I can hardly walk around in this tall stuff. And YES, it’s time to make hay, and NO, we can’t do it because it won’t stop raining!

Anyway, I was relaxing, still watching Ami chomp when suddenly I saw Indy loping along the cross fence. I couldn’t believe he was waaaaay down there, but there he was - he rounded the northeast corner and came thundering up the east side and across the paddock fence line toward Ami and me. He nodded at me as he passed me, and kept going. He disappeared around the hill for a few minutes, and then I saw him galloping along the cross fence again. Once more, he nodded at me as he flew past for yet another lap. Remember now, he’s lapping a TEN ACRE pasture for the THIRD time - on a hot day! He wasn’t running like he was spooked or anything. He was just doing a LOVELY hand-gallop like a healthy young horse having himself a total blast. Ami was staring at him like he was NUTS. She did take a few strides with him on the second lap, but said, Not me, Baby.

Finally, after completing the third lap, Indy finally stopped to graze up near the front fence line, and then came back to where Ami and I were, just outside the paddock. He was puffing a little, but recovered very quickly. Boy, is he in great shape or what??

Someday, I’m gonna be riding that gallop, and man - it’s gonna be WONDERFUL :o)
suzym on 06.10.02 @ 09:32 AM CST [link] [No Comments]

Thursday, June 6th
Golden Days

A Day Of Firsts

Yesterday was a fun day indeed! Indy got his first trim from my farrier, Matt Gillis. It went very well, and Matt pronounced Indy’s feet as excellent. He said that unless I ride at some place that’s very rocky, Indy should never need shoes. That’s great by me, for SURE. Indy was a little nervous at first, naturally, but Matt only had to actually growl at him once - and Indy got such a hurt look on his face he had us all in stitches. Then, when Indy pressed his face against me like, “Mom, that man hurt my feelings. Protect me,” Matt was laughing so hard he had to stop and wipe his eyes. When you consider that Matt is a VERY humorous, easy going guy with a pretty unintimidating growl, it was even funnier :o)

Even Ami stood pretty well - guess she didn’t want to be outdone by a kid - and Matt was thrilled by the condition of her feet. We’ve been fighting this battle with her feet for almost a year now. Maybe we’ve finally won. Still don’t know what set off such deterioration - she didn’t have a laminitis attack. Even Matt said he didn’t have a clue either, but the spongy spot in front of her frog in her right front is gone. Matt said her soles on all fours were perfectly hard and healthy. He’s coming back in three weeks to check her, and see if he needs to trim her toes again by then, just to be sure he keeps the strain off her white lines in front. I knew she had seemed sound confined to her small paddock, but I didn’t want to take chances until I had Matt’s expert opinion.

Matt said he thought she was ready to go back out and play with Indy. That was the go-ahead I was waiting for. When I came back out in the afternoon, I opened the gates to the full pasture. Indy had NEVER been turned out in the full pasture, and it had been almost a year for Ami. The grass out there is belly deep and there’s ten acres of it. Well!!

Oh, for a video camera! I don’t’ think I could have caught their performance with a still camera, even if it had been a decent day for pictures - which it wasn’t. Very overcast with light rain off and on. Also cool - which no doubt added to the fun for a couple of horses I know LOL!

Did they run and play! Indy’s white mane and tail were flying! Ami’s black mane and tail were flying too. Ami always did love to tear around, and she certainly had a soul mate in Indy. He was very adventurous too. He went way down to the cross fence and around the perimeter even without her. Sometimes they were running together, and sometimes they passed each other and crisscrossed. They were stretching those legs and flagging those tails! Even non-horseman Mike loves a show like that, and he was there watching every minute.

Of course, they didn’t run forever - not in grass like that. They finally settled down to munch. Indy came up to me several times as if he were checking to make sure what he was doing was okay - exactly like DJ used to do. He’s so much like DJ it’s spooky. SO sweet.

I didn’t dare let Ami chow down on that stuff too long, and even Indy needs to be introduced to all that gradually. So, after about an hour, I rounded them up for dinner. Mike was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get them in, but, at dinner time, they both just came on up. Of course, Indy had to explore Ami’s stall, but then they both went to their respective feed tubs and waited. No sweat, and they get along SO wonderfully.

What a day!
suzym on 06.06.02 @ 09:17 AM CST [link] [1 Comment]

June 2002
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