Vin has been off work for a little while.
He’d grazed his leg out in the field last Tuesday; it was nothing, he’d just removed a little fur to reveal the pink flesh underneath while having a real old hoolie around his field.
I’d looked at it and treated it appropriately and we’d got on with life.
Unfortunately 24 hours later I had a call from the yard to say that the graze had become infected and his leg had become swollen.
And indeed, that evening, his near fore did look as though it had been temporarily borrowed from a small elephant.
Doctor Bren diagnosed three days of rest, daily hosing and an evening spray with a drying anti-infection compound.
I also decided to give him a gentle intro to work, when it restarted, and that we would be confined to gentle walk/halt exercises for a few days.
A couple of hours later I was talking to one of the other liveries at the yard about injuries in general. I mentioned that I was surprised at the way Vin’s leg had reacted to what was, after all, a very minor injury.
She told me that the local soil seems to be high in unfriendly bacteria. Apparently there are a number of horses at the yard who seem prone to mud fever, and those who pick up insignificant cuts usually become infected and have to spend a few days afterwards on box rest.
This is very similar to the soil down on The Mendips in Somerset, where I lived and kept horses for a number of years.
The obvious mitigation is to have Vin turned out with brushing boots in an attempt to cover the parts of his legs he’s most likely to knock when he’s carting around like the two-year-old he thinks he is, but I’m reluctant to go that far. Wearing brushing boots all day seven days a week isn’t good for their legs. Well, it’s not good for a Thoroughbred because their skin is thinner than heavier breeds.
So we’re going with no leg boots, although over-reach boots will be worn. And I’ll be watching the situation very carefully.
As expected Vin has made a full recovery from his graze, but owing to too many time pressures I’ve hardly had time to work with him this week.
I could do with a week off.
B.
p.s. Soundtrack: Love Needs A Heart by Jackson Browne. How brilliant that track is.