Last night, as we soaked Aaruba's wounded heel, I was sure we'd need to withdraw from Sunday's LD. Here's how his 24-hour-old injury looked:
This morning, I showed this photo to an experienced endurance rider. She listened to my description: No lameness (though Aaruba didn't seem to have quite his usual bounce last night -- possibly just stiffness or irritation at the ceaseless wind). No swelling. A tiny bit of heat last night, but none this morning. No oozing. A bit of blood when I pressed on the wound. No exceptional tenderness in the area, and no resistance to handling.Her opinion was that Aaruba would be fine, and that the pre-ride vet evaluation wouldn't be an obsticle as long as the wound wasn't swollen, oozing, or causing lameness. She recommended using Flexus to keep a wrap on the wound even in water.
Perhaps we'll go if:
1) There's still no lameness, swelling, or oozing tomorrow morning,
2) Aaruba seems to be acting like his usual self, and
3) It looks like his hoof boots aren't going to interfere with the wrapped wound.
What to do? What to do?
2 comments:
Your plan is sound. Try not to re-think it again and again til you get to the next evaluation point. Easy to say, hard to do.
Have you ever tried Eclipse Wound Healing cream? I use it more on me than the horses -- really assists wound healing. My most frequent use: healing winter finger cracks!
Congrats on your rides!
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