Unlovely thrush

Mixed news on the riding front.

Good news first: Teacherwoman is home and recovering well. She says she still gets some bad headaches and can't remember much of the accident, but she's improving steadily and hopes to be back in DC in a few weeks. Hurrah!

Bad news: Last night as I was cleaning out Doc's feet before tacking him up, the pick broke right through the hoof bed, exposing an area that's been badly damaged by thrush. He didn't seem to be in any discomfort, but if he were to lose a shoe--which he has done in the past, because he oversteps--it would be almost impossible to pare the nail down to a healthy area of the hoof bed. Thrush is a pernicious infection among stalled horses; standing in sawdust or hay that they've widdled in creates an ideal breeding ground for the equine equivalent of trench foot. In itself thrush isn't fatal, but left untreated it can cause a horse to go lame. No foot, no horse.

I got one of the barn staff to show me how to make up an Epsom salts bath, which Doc tolerated for a while before carefully stepping on the edge of the pan and sending the water sloshing everywhere. He put up with a second bath for another 10 minutes, then made it clear he was about to pull the same stunt, so I snapped a lead rope on him and took him out for a long grazing session. (Many trainers recommend spending nonriding time with horses as a matter of course, because you want the horse to associate you with good times as well as with work.) After Doc had denuded patches of the lawn to his own satisfaction, I put some dessicant solution in the damaged area of the hoof and left him to his feed bucket. The kids in the riding camp this week should get a chance to work on their mad vet skillz by repeating the treatment on him.

I just hope they've got a lot of apples and some spare pairs of boots.