Worlds most stressful day. A tale of Harry the hyperchondriac

[charlimouse]

Well today was always slightly doomed to failure given that I had only had 1.5 hours sleep last night . So the plan was to be at Uni for morning lectures, then spend the afternoon finishing my half completed assignment that is due in tomorrow. All was going well, until I was just about to go get lunch and I got a phone call from Mum to tell me to get home ASAP as Harry was down in the field unable to get up, and vet was on their way. Que a mad panic, not only about my horse, but also the assignment I haven't completed. Luckily I managed to locate my course tutor as I legged it to my car, who straight away said I could have a week extension on the assignment and to drive home carefully (thank god for horsey lecturers ). So off I set, for the drive home, which is somewhat complicated by the floods, and due to sods law I got stuck behind every tractor, lorry and learner driver in Yorkshire .

Eventually got home, to find that harry had been coaxed in to the yard using feed, but he was on 3 legs. He was laid down in the stable looking very sorry for himself, refusing to eat, shaking . We all thought that was it for poor Harry, and his suspensory had given up entirely (he is retired due to suspensory disease). Eventually the vet turned up who had been delayed due to the floods, we got Harry to his feet. Vet looked at the foot, found a raised digital pulse and after all that worry found Harry had .................. an abscess . Don't get me wrong I am so relieved that is all it is, but we did decide he is the world's biggest hyperchondric - even the vet agreed . Once located, punctured and polticed Harry was looking much better, if a little sheepish. He didn't like the shot of penicillin in his ar$e, and of course bled for England .

So Harry is now happily munching his hay, and i'm sure will enjoy the next few days of boxrest. He is already weightbaring on that foot, so feeling much better. I however feel like I have aged by 50 years, and still have this bloody assignment to finish, which I want to get done tomorrow as I am away this weekend and don't want it hanging over me. Anybody elses horse take the biscuit for playing the dying swan over the smallest of ailments ??

 

[cundlegreen]

I had a youngster show signs of colic. Couldn't understand why as he was living out with no changes to routine. He was throwing himself on the ground in the school. When the vet came we found him upside down with all four legs straight up in the air (think of Animal House, for those of you old enough to remember the film). Certainly gave us both a start! It turned out he'd got a touch of flatulent colic (wind). One shot of relaxant, and he was as right as rain. What a wuss!! Funnily enough, both his full brother and sister had exactly the same thing when out in the same field. Each time I gave them Arnica, and within two hours they acted as if nothing had happened.

 

[MegaBeast]

OMG! Can only imagine what was going through your head as you drove to the yard. Wishing Harry a speedy recovery.

Remember a few years back going in to my mare's stable to feed her in the morning and when I went to move her back she was on three legs. My heart stood still... dopey mare had managed to twist her shoe and one of the side clips was digging into the sole. As soon as we got the shoe off she was sound as a pound inspite of the hole in her foot!

I think horses like to tease us sometimes just to laugh at our reactions.

 

[Countrychic]

My oldISH was the Biggest drama queen. I'm sure he had munchausens! I got the vet out because he was standing on 3 legs trembling, if you asked him to move he would hop. Vet came out and said it was probably a tendon, cue floods of tears, retirement plans. Turned out he had knocked his fetlock and after a couple of days on bute was 110%.
when he had an abcess we thought he'd broken his leg, vet (wise to him now) checked for a pulse straight away and found a fairly minor abcess.
He was a big fairy but strangely when he fractured his splint bone (yes very accident prone) he never took a lame step.

 

[Jesstickle]

My big bay gelding did this last week. He's been out on loan a month or so, got a message saying he's very lame but farrier has just been so must be a nail prick. Farrier said he might walk it off but let him know how it goes but I went to see him, wouldn't even put the back of the foot on the floor. Couldn't get shoe off that night (no kit) lovely RI turns up to take it off next morning for me as so sore I felt it couldn't wait. Totally sound

What a queen I know he's a queen and wasn't massively shocked he was just objecting to being clenched up a bit tight but he scared poor loaner half to death.

At least it was nothing unfixable but what a worry!

 

[Gamebird]

You wouldn't believe how many 'broken legs' I get called to which turn out to be foot abscesses. I think Harry was just trying to buy you a bit of extra time .

 

[Lolo]

My old horse, if you pointed at a leg and discussed it for long enough would start limping on it... He was the biggest queen around though, yet astonishingly stoical at the same time. Little things could cause meltdowns, and yet serious problems only began to show months after they'd started.

Reg's legs swell up and then deflate at will, with no heat or lameness. It's always a random leg, and it'll just balloon and then deflate overnight. I think he does it to keep Al on her toes...

 

[kerilli]

crikey, poor you, heart attack time. i have seen horses acting as if their leg was broken, over an abscess. must be very painful, but still...!
My take-the-biscuit drama-queen was my first horse. During a dressage test (RC fortunately) she brushed behind and stopped dead, holding leg high in the air and refusing to take another step. Bemused, I glanced at the judge, then dismounted and checked it. Not a mark on it, not even a graze or a bit of mud, nothing. After I'd thoroughly checked it she decided her 'dead leg' actually did work again and deigned to put weight on it before concluding that perhaps it wasn't broken after all. I looked at the judge, who did nothing... so I got back on, judge still did nothing, so I carried on with test (miraculously sound horse) expecting big E at any moment for dismounting etc during test (I still don't know the protocol for this!) I still have no idea how to this day, but we won. Judge obviously impressed by my instant veterinary skills...!
hope Harry's abscess clears up very fast and you get your assignment done. in fact, go away and do it!

 

[Jesstickle]

k- my little mare hit a fence (show jumps so fell down) in the summer and proceeded to limp dramatically for at least 6 strides before I could stop her (she was jumping loose) got hold of her, looked, nothing. No scratch, no bump, no nothing so trotted her on again. Totally sound and didn't even blow up or anything which with her is a miracle. Made me laugh as the summer before she had surgery on her hock and that didn't cause her a lame step. They certainly have a sense of humour At least I wasn't in public thankfully!

 

[Firewell]

Oh my word! I thought i'd had a bit of a rubbish day but yours takes the biscuit! Glad Harry is Ok, silly sod.
My late mare was a right princess about things. This one time she had a tiny cut on her leg, I mean *tiny*. I thought i'd put a bit of purple spray on it just in case. She had HYSTERICS. Wouldn't let me anywhere near it. You would think she had broken her leg the fuss she made about having it touched. Blimin cow bag. As a matter of principle I was determined to get the spray on it. Nearly 2 hours it took of me fighting with her in the stable, purple spray EVERYWHERE and I mean everywhere except on the cut! Oh she was happy for me to spray it but could I get near that one bloody leg. No. She was grey and she looked like a purple piebald at the end, it was all over my clothes, all over the white walls. It was a purple spray massacre.
In the end I managed to get the tiniest most minute bit of purple spray on the very edge of the cut. I had to take it, that had to do. It was a tough battle but I was the victor .

She always hated having anything sore touched, she even had to be sedated once to have some mud fever hibiscrubbed that's how bad she was. She was my princess though and I still loved the old cow .

 

[Taffyhorse]

Yes - I used to share a TB several years ago who was prone to abcesses, the first time it happened, I arrived at the yard to find him on 3 legs, swinging the fourth and wearing the most tragically 'wounded' expression you've ever seen. After nearly having a heart attack myself in horror we then realised what it was.

He always was a complete wuss - as was my Sec D that I had after him. Both would be convinced they were dying over the most minor of ailments.

The TB's ancient, female shetland companion however was the most stoic animal I've ever seen and you really had to check her carefully as she was pretty good at masking symptoms.

Maybe it was a girl thing...

 

[Jojoeena]

Obviously ... they are all re-incarnated footballers lol .... Fall over, broken leg ... magic sponge... oh, all fine again !

 

[Jenni_]

The TB I used to share, despite being a well built, 17.3hh Goliath, had to be the most accident prone horse ever! Used to pull his shoes off himself for fun (still took him out competing! naughty) caught legs in fences, came in scratched, cut and bleeding from SOMEWHERE nearly every day.

Best one was the time I caught him the monring of a show and his fieldmate had obviously decided to give him a lovebite, but he'd gotten rather carried away and there was a chunk of skin and tissue hanging from his neck... washed it out (whilst getting the I'M DYING look) and patted it back into place with some surgical glue round the outside... and still went to the competition. Probably quite cruel

His owner was a vet student and had the motto 'unless its broken or pumping blood, clean it, bandage it, and get on with it!'

Poor soul, bet you had quite the heart attack

 

[alainax]

Awww poor harry just wanted to be fussed Glad he will be ok

My kitten is like this ( shes far too immature to be called a real cat, even at 2 years old )

She goes into a blind panic when has to be taken to the vets, screams blue murder all the way there and looks like shes about to rip her teeth and claws out trying to get out of her box! On the vet table she shakes and buries her face so far into me she has practically dissapeared...

Vet checked her heart rate, breathing.... she was not stressed in the slightest! He said she was being a drama queen and it was all an act she then seemed to give up the act as she had been caught out

 

[leflynn]

Poor Harry

Mine is the opposite and sometimes I wish he were more of a drama queen.... He bounced round on a fractured leg/on a suspensory injury, thank god he swells up or it would be impossible to tell!

 

[Willeeckers]

My old boy was a bit of a sick note! His best moment was to go downhill fast having had a few off colour days thanks to a virus on the day I had to hand in an assignment that I hadn't actually started yet Que frantic typing on my laptop sat in my car waiting for the vet and a very helpful house mate who took laptop home printed off assignment and handed it in for me!!!

 

[now_loves_mares]

You wouldn't believe how many 'broken legs' I get called to which turn out to be foot abscesses. I think Harry was just trying to buy you a bit of extra time .

Yes I've often heard abscess lameness described as "broken leg lame". However every time I've had a horse broken leg lame, it's actually had a broken leg (ie twice). I'm still waiting for a flipping abscess!

Charliemouse not quite the same but when the vet came last time to do vaccs and teeth, he decided to give her a tiny bit of sedative. Almost immediately her head was on the ground. My vet said "bit of a lightweight isn't she, that's the dose I normally give a shetland". She's a 15hh TB. I was suitably embarrassed .

 

[FlipFlop5]

Poor pony! hope your heart is beating normally now..
Have an ISH who is v.smilar, had a few absesses in the past. The cheeky bugger always seems to put on a extra limp when he sees us coming, watching him trotting round the field almost sound then on deaths door when he hears me coming.
Dramaqueen!

 

[MillbrookSong]

Ahh poor you, but glad hes going to be ok!! Silly overreacting pony!

Beamish once refused to move at the top of the gallops and was crippled, thinking the worst i thought he had done his pelvis in, hobbled him back to the yard once vet had looked at him and he was nearly sound!! Took bloods to find out he had tied up so little they could barely tell!!

 

[whisky1989]

In my case it wasn't my horse that was the drama queen it was other people on the yard! my mare showed all the signs of having an abscess so kept soaking her foot and let her hobble round the field til it came to surface and I could poultice it, as I've found abscesses seem to burst quicker if the horse is moving rather than on box rest
Well everyone had written my poor girl off she apparently had everything from tendinitis to navicular and was ready for retirement and I'd have to sell her as a companion as she wasn't fit to be ridden!
Day later the abscess burst and she was sound as a pound!
I knew all along it was an abscess but other people don't half make you panic!

 

[Gamebird]

I think those of you who are describing their horss as 'wusses' are being a little unfair! The hoof wall is a solid structure and when an abscess forms there is no where for the swelling/fluid/gas to swell into - if it were on the outside of a leg it would probably stand out quite proud and there would be a lot of swelling. This provideds a huge build-up of pressure in the foot with nowhere for it to escape to which must be excruciating! The same effect comes to play with brain tumours etc. or anywhere with a solid wall round it.

 

[ferdy]

My mare is overly dramatic too. Came in from field fine, took off her rug to groom her and she started kicking out violently (is normally very gentle) and leaping in the air. Kept kicking at stomach so thought colic, typically on Sunday evening so would have been emergency call out. Took half an hour to get near her with violent kicking/leaping and in the end found the cause of her problems. She had a tick on her back, removed it and her world was back to normal again. Would have been so embarressed, as well as expensive to get the vet out to remove a tick!!!!