Borderlands Horse Sanctuary: Bo Update

What a blur the past few days have been. I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy their Thanksgiving. We spent some family quality time Thursday and Friday with my parents. The horses were content with new bales of hay so I know they were just as happy as me.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last few days. It's hard to believe that it's the end of November when the temps are in the 50s. After a stressful week at the paying job, it was nice to sit back and enjoy family and watch my kids play. Because it was so nice, we decided to take Saturday to simply relax and play at the park. Little did I know that I would return to an injured horse.

I have no idea how he did it, but Bo sliced his leg open. I have a theory on how. He'd only become injured if someone pushed him or if he felt cornered and he needed to move. I'm guessing that's what happened. But wouldn't you know, it was 5pm on a Saturday night when I discovered his injury. I knew something was wrong when he wasn't standing at the gate whinnying for me. When I saw him, he just stood there. Red flags going off! That's' when I noticed the huge cut on his upper right front leg. Bo masks his pain well so I knew he was in a lot of pain.

I was able to get him into the barn and was on the phone right away to find out what to do. I was prepared to haul him to the vet but thank goodness for phones and text messages. After sending pictures and video, the vet concluded that the injury could not be stitched and it would have to be treated as an open wound. On the bright side of all of this, there are no flies to worry about.

I washed out the wound, applied some nitrofurizone, gave him a dose of banamine, and left him in the barn with enough hay to keep him occupied until morning. In the morning, I let him out to wander the yard and he seemed like even though it hurt, he wasn't in as much pain. I couldn't coax him into taking his antibiotic Saturday night but I knew I'd have to get sneaky Sunday night.

I rearranged corral panels and put him into a pen close to the big herd. I don't want him to have to get chased around with an injured leg. He's close enough that he can still see and touch anyone. He wasn't too thrilled with me but I'd let him wander the yard all morning and half the afternoon so I'm sure he thought he should have been out longer.

Bo is a fantastic patient, except for giving him anything orally. Luckily the antibiotic is a powder so I can sneak it into his grain. I think he knows I'm trying to help but I feel bad that in trying to get the cut to heal, that I'm causing pain. I could never be a vet. Vets have stomachs and nerves of steel.

So for the next few days, Bo is going to be in a pen by himself so that he has time enough to recover and I can keep a close eye on his cut. My only fear is that this cut would cause undue stress on his already failing heart.

I thought he was doing ok but I'm not sure. Depending on which angle I look, he looks ok (not good but ok). If I look at him in another angle, he looks tough. He hasn't told me he is ready so I guess I wait. So stressful. Timing is everything and I want to make sure I do right by him. The world has handed him an unfair lot and I want to try to fix that as much as I can. The only problem is, how do I know when to let go? He has not told me he is ready. Even though I see days where he struggles, he hasn't given me the nod to say it's time. So I struggle and I worry every day.

But for now, we'll continue on as we have. He'll be in that pen for awhile until we both deem it ok for him to return to the big herd. I expect it'll be a week minimum before I put him back with the big herd. Oh the joys of horse ownership and care. They always seem to surprise you when you least expect it.