Oh dammit...

I got a call on my last day in Florida from my BO. Guinness was 3-legged lame, and not weight-bearing on his left hind.

Uh, crap.

I have to say. I get the "hey your horse is hurt" call a whole lot of times. However, getting that call when I'm out of town? That's probably the most stomach-dropping version of the call.

Luckily, this was a Saturday and I was able to call on my husband (who was actually home for the weekend) to go up and do a preliminary exam. Thank god he's almost-a-doctor and feels confident doing physical exams, even when the "patient" has four legs and hooves!

I talked him through the main points, and we decided the issue was 99% likely to be an abscess in the heel, and .05% likely to be a broken bone.

Whew.

Poor pony. Such pain. So hurty. Much ow.

I have to say. The photos and video (video!) of my horse being examined were really soothing for me to get. Even though the video is tough to watch, it's obvious that the issue isn't really serious. How thoughtful was it to send me those?!

After seeing everything and giving care instructions, I was able to get back to work in Florida and put my mind at rest for my time there and my travels back home. Thank goodness!

As a follow up: Pig has been on a low level of bute for the last few days, and I haven't felt too guilty about not being able to make it out to the barn to see him. According to the trainer at the farm, Pig was walking almost normally last night. Fingers crossed the abscess is on its way out! I'm finally going to be able to check on him myself, as soon as I finish this monster proposal for grad school...