If You Have to be Lame, You Picked the Right Week

I normally have a Monday night lesson, but we decided to give Cinder the day off after the show. Trainer A usually rides her Tuesdays and either Wednesday or Thursdays, and I have another lesson on Fridays. The weather forecast was calling for snow and very cold temps, so we figured we would play her work schedule by ear. 

I hate winter. Where I live we really didn't get that much snow that stuck, but it did get down to 10* with the windchill

Cin had a little bit of fill in one front leg after the show, so we decided to put some Voltaren on it (from a tube I've used on her before) and throw a set of standing wraps on her. That was apparently the wrong decision, as the combo of the Voltaren and the wraps gave Cinder a chemical burn. Whoops.

It ended up getting a little bit bigger than this pic shows

It looked ugly, and the whole inside of the leg was swollen, but it didn't seem to bother her that much, and she was never actually lame. I was able to leave work early on Tuesday, swing by the vet's office to grab some antibiotic cream with steroids, and go up and doctor Cin. We left the wraps off, and kept her in with hand walking for a few days, which she would have done anyways since the snow started Wednesday night. What better time for your horse to need to be on stall rest than when the barn is covered in 4 inches of snow and ice and the pastures are closed. 

She was very skeptical

 

Trainer A told me not to come up on Friday as the road to the barn was still pretty bad. I did make it up Saturday and with A's approval gave Cinder a free lunge in the indoor. She wasn't as wild as I was expecting her to be, and A said that she had been very well behaved for her hand walks. Cin looked totally sound and since most of the snow was melted off the pastures I said I was ok with her getting turned out again on Sunday. 

Trainer A was putting some horses on the eurociser, and since Cin has never been on it and I don't know how to use it, I asked if I could throw her on as well. We put her with two geldings, and her pasture buddy Jazzy. Cinder was very confused at first, but didn't freak out like I was expecting. I guess she really is growing up. Once we switched directions, and she was behind Jazzy, she kept trying to move the chains out of the way to get to Jazzy. I'm glad she was so good for her first time on the eurociser.