Horses are a hazard. There is nothing better than checking our herd, as long as nothing is amiss. I have been checking livestock all my life, and you can just tell when something isn’t right in the paddock. I went down on the bike one afternoon to bring the horses up to the yards and one of my favourite horses, Apollo was standing on his own.
Rather than galloping up the hill with the others, Polly was barely able to move, limping on three legs. I slowly got him up to the yards, and tried to check him out. It was certainly not right, but no obvious breaks or wounds. I hoped it was a foot abscess as he had had them before and they were crippling. Our vet arrived the next day and I watched anxiously as he pressure tested his hoof. I was willing him to flinch, a sure sign of an abscess, but no his foot was fine. Further investigation and an x-ray found a broken/cracked elbow. Sure it would heal but he would never work again unless he had surgery which would obviously cost a fortune.
After watching him hop around the paddock for a few days, I couldn’t stand it and I contacted the vet to book him in for surgery. What else is there to spend money on other than our animals.
I was quoted $5,000 for the operation to put a stainless steel plate on his elbow but realised there would be additional costs as well. Some I anticipated, others I didn’t.
The operation went well, and he had to stay at the clinic for a week post operatively. This was of course just the beginning as he then had weeks and weeks of rehabilitation and confinement to follow. More about that in the next post.
