Because You're SOOOO Not Sick of Hearing About My Horse...
Zydo was out of sorts this morning and upon further examination, it seems that the injections of penicillin we've been giving him have not agreed with his system. He has swelled at the site of injection to the point that this morning, he couldn't even reach down to eat his hay.
His temperature was up slightly and while my dad had already applied an ointment that worked for his horse for her swelling, the same would not work for Zydo.
Now, I don't know how many people here are swelling experts, but I've always been under the impression that for swelling you apply a cold compress for twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off. The area of swelling on a horse is typically larger than that on a human, and so applying an ice pack is a little impractical. Expecially considering that even if you could find a cold pack big enough, it would need its own freezer to keep it cold.
So I headed for the garden hose. Only, I was intercepted by my father and told that swelling needs an hour of hosing, NOT twenty minutes. Not forty minutes, not fifty seven minutes, but ONE FULL HOUR of hosing time, Dammit.
So I got the hose. And after twenty minutes, his swelling had gone down and he looked a little more Zydo-ish. But I persisted thinking that at minute thirty-five, my dad would come out and say 'Lookin' Good! To the stall he goes!'
Dad came out at minute forty-five, and I thought, sweet. I can be done here.
Oh, no. Not under his watch.
At any rate, the swelling went down and by minute fifty he was pacing back and forth to the grass growing around the barn. By minute fifty-nine he was stamping and kicking at the ground, looking perplexed. At minute sixty-two he was happily wandering through his pasture, munching on the grass.
I expect that tomorrow morning will bring much of the same and I can look forward to more hours of horse-hosing goodness.
His temperature was up slightly and while my dad had already applied an ointment that worked for his horse for her swelling, the same would not work for Zydo.
Now, I don't know how many people here are swelling experts, but I've always been under the impression that for swelling you apply a cold compress for twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off. The area of swelling on a horse is typically larger than that on a human, and so applying an ice pack is a little impractical. Expecially considering that even if you could find a cold pack big enough, it would need its own freezer to keep it cold.
So I headed for the garden hose. Only, I was intercepted by my father and told that swelling needs an hour of hosing, NOT twenty minutes. Not forty minutes, not fifty seven minutes, but ONE FULL HOUR of hosing time, Dammit.
So I got the hose. And after twenty minutes, his swelling had gone down and he looked a little more Zydo-ish. But I persisted thinking that at minute thirty-five, my dad would come out and say 'Lookin' Good! To the stall he goes!'
Dad came out at minute forty-five, and I thought, sweet. I can be done here.
Oh, no. Not under his watch.
At any rate, the swelling went down and by minute fifty he was pacing back and forth to the grass growing around the barn. By minute fifty-nine he was stamping and kicking at the ground, looking perplexed. At minute sixty-two he was happily wandering through his pasture, munching on the grass.
I expect that tomorrow morning will bring much of the same and I can look forward to more hours of horse-hosing goodness.
posted by Amanda at 23:52
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