The Results of our Vet Visit

I opted to take Hoss to the vet's office rather than have him come to us. There's not a great deal of flat ground to lunge on around here, and the dogs get a little crazy when a horse is running in circles, making a lameness exam even more challenging. I also sold my round pen recently to some neighbors, as I wasn't using it nearly enough to justify it taking up the middle of my driveway.

The fun part of this was we needed Mary to come along, too. I figured Uh-oh would get right on the trailer if her mom did, but boy was I ever wrong! Mary followed my husband and his tantalizing pieces of apple right on to the trailer, but Uh-oh would have nothing to do with it. She didn't need any veterinary attention, but I thought it would be easier on both of them if they both came along. I decided we really didn't need to take her, so we left without her.

Hoss was happy enough to hop in the trailer. In fact, for the first time since he went in the corral, he walked out the open gate before I put his halter on. He headed for the pasture, but my husband was coming out with a bagful of carrots. Hoss immediately knew what was in the bag, and stopped to mug him, allowing me to catch up and put his halter on. He still got a couple of carrots out of the deal.

The lameness exam started, naturally enough, with trotting Hoss straight and in circles. He was still clearly lame. The vet performed a flexion test, which involves flexing the leg for thirty seconds, and immediately trotting the horse out. Hoss was no worse after the flexion test.

The next step was to block out his heels. Once the block was effective, we lunged him again, but there was no improvement. So the vet blocked the front of his foot. When this block took effect, there was clear improvement. Now we knew the problem is in the front two thirds of his foot, and below about an inch above his hairline.

Still having no clear answer as to what is going on, we took Hoss in to the barn and took x-rays. We didn't even sedate him. He stood like a champ, except for checking himself out in his reflection off the door to one side. Once all the shots were taken, the vet and I pored over them on the laptop. I love the digital age. We had immediate images, and could manipulate them for contrast and zoom on the laptop. After going over all of them, we determined they're clean – in fact, except for a very little bit of change in the outside aspect of his coffin bone, which is insignificant and easily the result of being so toed in – and it's not a bony injury.

In the end, the diagnosis is "soft tissue injury somewhere in the front two thirds of the foot." Our course of action from here is pretty simple. Hoss will be on anti-inflammatory drugs for the next three weeks, and stay in his corral for six. After the six weeks of layup, we'll take him back out and see how he's doing.

This is going to be a long six weeks. If I thought the six week recovery period from my surgery was tough, this is going to be much tougher. Hoss is not going to be a happy camper stuck in that corral for six weeks. I figure I'm going to have to get him out from time to time and do stuff with him. Certainly he'll need to be bathed fairly regularly. I'll probably come up with some stupid little trick to teach him, just to keep his mind working.

Now, on to Mary.

Mary and Uh-oh on one of their first morning walks

Unfortunately, her cancer was far more advanced than we had suspected. It had quite badly damaged her "lady parts" and the vet was sure it was metastatic. It certainly got bloody and nasty regularly. There was nothing to be done for her, not even to make her comfortable for a few more months. The vet felt she had perhaps three months before the cancer took her. Three months of dealing with a sore and bloody bottom and the flies attracted by the condition. There was really no good choice other than to euthanize her.

Mary shares breakfast with Hoss

We haven't had Mary long, just about a year or so, but in that time she certainly endeared herself to us. For a time, I experimented with milking her, which has given me a bit of the dairy goat itch. The last year of her life has been pleasant and carefree. She has gone on walks and rides with me and the dogs. When we've eaten outside, we have shared our food with her from time to time. She really liked corn chips.

I will miss Mary, but I am completely at peace with the decision to euthanize her. I couldn't live with her suffering just to be around.

Uh-oh will have to get used to being an only goat

When we got home with Hoss, Uh-oh ran over and looked all over for her mum. It might have been easier on her if she had been along and seen her mother's body, but that didn't happen, so she'll have to get accustomed to the idea that her mom is gone. She doesn't seem to be suffering too terribly badly. I suspect she had some of that animal sixth sense that her mom was sick. I think she'll adjust just fine, and she has plenty of company around here.