Breathe Deep & Don't Overreact

First and foremost, I'm so grateful to everyone at the barn who got to her so fast on Wednesday. Their quick action drastically reduced her risk of infection. Secondly, thank you to everyone who has sent me messages tell me Echo has been in her their thoughts, the support means a lot. I'm sure I'm not the only horse owner that jumps to the worst conclusion and outcome. I was a mess Wednesday and those who were there did a great job trying  to keeping me positive. 

Podiatrist from Rood and Riddle came out yesterday to take a look at MareFace. I got there a few minutes before him since I stopped along the way to get hay and some supplements. Her stall was trashed and she had managed to get the duct tape off her hoof but was quiet and putting slight weight on the leg, thanks to bute. 

Podiatrist gave her a double dose of sedative since after one she still was freaking out if you went near her leg. Despite this, him and his 2 interns kept calling her a princess which made me laugh! He unwrapped her leg most of the way and then did a nerve block so he could work freely with the leg and not cause more pain. Once the block kicked in, he pulled all the gauze off and his first comment was that it's not as bad as expected. The diagram below - the one on left is what we thought it was, the one on right is actual. If it had been the one on left her suspensory would of been involved and more hoof tissue would of been exposed. We still have to worry about growth, scar tissue and infection but that is half the things that could of gone on if the cut/tear had been deeper or at a different angle. 

I quickly asked to see it, because my inner desire to be a vet comes out. It was... bloody, and gross but so interesting. Pretty sure his intern was peeved he had to keep holding Echo when I wanted to see something but I can't help myself. Anyways, the podiatrist proceeds to tell me he thinks we can bypass the hoof cast and go with a bar shoe and lots of padding. 

He trimmed the rest of her hoof since she's scheduled for a routine trim Monday, so her hoof was in best condition to put a shoe on. Packed the gap in hoof and under bar shoe with gauze and wrapped it up. He put a standing wrap on her leg since she had been blocked he didn't want her pulling something stupid. 

We're proceeding with a vet check up tomorrow from my normal vet.  I have to change her bandage every other day so she will take a look at it when it's time to be changed. She's expected to not need bute by the end of the weekend. If it's dry outside 100% she can go out for short amounts of time in her field. After 2 weeks I don't have to wrap her hoof as extensively, it won't be as crucial to keep the hoof dry. She can also be hand walked in the indoor if she's moving comfortably. The best news is when I said something about it being 10ish months of healing he stopped me and said it's more like 3-4 months because of it being by the heal and that equaling more blood flow. Plus once we see what the scar tissue does, he sees no reason that in time she can return to normal work.

Pictures:

The Tear

Removed Piece of Hoof - I won't lie. Last night Colleen and I found this piece laying around in the dirt, cleaned the blood off and had fun touching parts of the hoof and feeling the lamina. 

Standing Pre Leg Wrap

Finally her standing on it after being all wrapped up. Gauze filling in the shoe and injured area, vet wrap, more wrap, duct tape and then a leg wrap since she was nerve blocked during the procedure: