Babies and Self-Destruction

Watizzit about young horses and self-destruction? It seems that if they can get into trouble, they will find a way....and an unusual way at that.

"D" decided she wanted into the barn, even though Jill was already in the barn; which generally means that anyone coming in behind her is going to get blasted. Roy had closed the gate to the pasture in order to get Queen Jill in her stall without any bloodshed.

NOT.

"D" decided to jump the gate. "D" is 9 months old, approximately 12hh, and the gate is around 4'6" tall. In other words, the gate is bit higher than her back.
Well, she got her front legs over it. But her back legs got a bit tangled in it. Since we are both firefighters, he likened it to "locking a leg" in a ladder....which is to wrap your leg through and then back under a rung, which allows you to have both hands free to do whatever needs to be done. I was working, so Roy was on his own. Even HE is not really sure how he managed to pry the gate off the hinges and unwind the leg. But it all turned out ok in the end.....except for the gate....and her hocks.
By the time I got home her one hock was huge. The other was scraped as well, and swollen, but not so bad. It was really ugly.

You always worry in youngsters, since you are not really sure just how much damage they have done. It's just so easy to stretch a ligament or tendon and NOT have it return to normal. Or a lesion could start a real nasty scar-tissue process and you end up with not only an ugly site, but also a stiff joint.

Before we got Star, she had been in a tussle with something (probably wire) and cut her leg. Fortunately, she did not do damage to the joint (she still has awesome hock action), but she has a "fat leg"; the scar tissue that was created was massive. She cannot be shown in halter classes.

Only time will tell with "D". Her Canadian sister "K" also banged up her legs as a youngster, and come through with no scars or problems. But that situation was not as scary as "D"'s It is still too early to tell for "D". So far we have got the swelling down with Bute (yeah, Bute), and the scrapes are healing and should not "show"....no white hairs or anything. But the hock is still stiff, and the swelling just below the hock is still there. But, it doesn't seem to stop her.....she still will run out (or in) although she prefers not to use that leg consistently as her lead push-off leg.

I just don't know what it is about babies and self-destruction.