Can horses live in bubble wrap?!

Seriously though… the first person who invents a horsey bubble wrap is going to be a kajillionaire. No joke.

 

Rio’s spider bite wound has been a bit slower to heal then I would like, but it had (notice the past tense) been looking pretty good. I had even gotten to the point where I was only covering it with a lightweight sock with some compression (to keep the flies off) and it had barely been getting swollen at all, which is big deal considering this leg has been wrapped non-stopped since late May. Things were on the up and up, and I had my eyes set on an A show in Tyler, TX mid September.

 

Well… MM texted me a picture of Rio’s leg on Tuesday. It was a bloody mess. Apparently he has somehow managed to re-open part of the wound. #SoRude of him. After cleaning it up though, it didn’t look too bad though so no vet visit was necessary. I could have gone out that evening, but MM had doctored it and wrapped it, and I was feeling kind of blue about the situation, so knowing there was nothing I could do, I stayed home. I did come out Wednesday to check it out. It was a bit swollen under the stable wrap but not bad. I was a bit concerned though, it seemed deeper then I would have like. Still not awful or anything, I was mostly just frustrated that it was re-opened after looking so good. I wanted to see if he was lame under saddle, so I tacked him up and walked him a bit. He seemed totally fine so I trotted some, again fine, minus being dorky because he had a stable wrap on. Did not seem in any pain so I was happy about that.

 

 

Hey remember that time I rode my horse with a broken leg? I do!!!! Worst. Mom. Ever.

 

 

 

Back to the story. I was so frustrated after riding. Like, feeling like I had the worst luck ever. With the wound having re-opened he would probably need a week or 2 off at minimum. I was also frustrated his his initial issue (left hind medial distal wound) from a procedure he had LAST SEPTEMBER, was still refusing to heal completely. It had opened up again about 2 weeks before, but was pretty superficial so didn’t require time off.

 

How he came in from turnout. Ugh.

 

I was texting Amazing Vet, and we decided it might be good to take him over to Weems & Stephens, an equine hospital about 45 mins away with a great reputation. I happened to have Thursday off of work, so I called first thing to see if they could squeeze us in. Thankfully, they had an opening with one of the surgeons at 2:30. I arrived at the appointment loaded with a ton of Rio’s vet history and laid it all out for him. Basically, we were having two separate issues, the recently re-opened right hind spider bite wound, and the left hind non-healing wound from a procedure last September. After telling him the whole story of both wounds, we xrayed both legs. It was immediately apparently that his right hind split bone was broken (very new break) and would require surgery to remove to broken off inferior portion.

 

Ew.

 

 

Surgeon suggested cleaning up the wounds on both legs and suturing them shut. I was a bit taken aback when he said he would do the surgery the next day (Friday, aka today) and was all like “Byeeee you can leave now, we will find him a stall.” WHAT?! Leave my baby?!? That must be how parents feel leaving their kids places. I waved bye to my love and headed home with an empty trailer.

 

Mr. Surgeon told me that Rio’s surgery would be started around 1 o’clock today and that he would call me when he was awake from anesthesia. True to his word, he called at 3:30 to say that everything went well and I can pick him up tomorrow morning. Yayyyy! He told me to expect 6 weeks of rehab time, which I assume to mean more like 8-9 wks. Bye bye fall shows. Nice knowing you! Let me just cancel those hotel reservations I made, LOL. Sorry, I don’t mean to joke or sound bitter. I am actually in a really good place emotionally about this. Am I bummed? Of course. Mostly I’m upset for Rio. Upset that he is going to have to endure stall rest AGAIN, with daily poking, prodding, and medications. He is so young and vibrant, and he doesn’t understand why we lock him up. I also do not think he is in pain, which is obviously good, but also like makes stall rest really hard. I foresee daily likit treats for the spoiled pon!

 

Rio was really into all the attention. And really making the big guy in the green shirt work hard to hold him still.

 

The hardest part of this will be the healing process. Both areas are on the inside of the hind legs, which makes them prone to being knocked up and re-opened. There is a risk of the sutures not holding, greater of of infection due to the area being hard to keep clean, etc. So,  even though the surgery went well, we are not out of the woods yet. All the good vibes possible would be greatly appreciated as we enter rehab (our 4th rehab sesh in a year, UGH). Seriously, I’ve got mad wrapping skillz these days! I also feel good know that we have an amazing team at home (Amazing Vet, Trainer, and MM). Rio basically has 4 mommies who all really care about him. What a lucky dude.

 

YOU GUYS ROCK! Thanks so much for all the kind words I have already received. Keep the good vibes coming!

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12 comments

  1. Ughhhh Rio nooooooo :'(

    What a mess, I’m so sorry. Glad none of it seems very serious in and of itself. But death my a million paper cuts is still…. Crappy. Bleh. Hopefully he will exceed all expectations for healing like he did with the spider bite!

    1. “death by a million paper cuts” LOL LOL. That is exactly right… like it’s one “little” thing after another, but each time it’s minimum 6 weeks off. I KNOW I should just be happy it’s not more serious, but it’s frustrating all the same! Thanks for the support and good thoughts 🙂

  2. Damn, poor Rio! I am glad to hear the surgery went well. Horses seem to know about all of our show plans and then they decide to kind of do their own thing …

    1. I swear he knows! I was also planning to do an A show in Waco in June when his spider bite happened… HE KNOWS!!

  3. Oh noooo, Rio!!! I’m so sorry! Hopefully he heals up as quickly as possible and you guys can get back to normal life! I’m glad that the surgery went well!

  4. Holy cow i miss a couple days of blog post and you go and do this!! YIKES glad it went well and yes i would have freaked out if they said oh yeah we will do it tomorrow. UM I need time to prepare!

    He is so cute with all the people around him. I hope he heals very fast!! Bless him and now i Know i need to keep an eye on your blog. Stuff moves fast here 😉

    1. hahaah right! Like Sunday we have a jump lesson, Tuesday he comes in with a bloody, swollen leg but we still think it’s minor, then Wednesday I decide to try and get an appointment, get one, and book surgery the next day. Definitely a whirlwind week. I’m glad he’s home now and all the mend- definitely also hoping his recovery goes smoothly, and that he doesn’t get too jealous while I ride these other ponies LOL!

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