For the love of a pony

I woke up Wednesday morning to my pony Billy's leg swollen 1 1/2 times it's original size.  As you know we've been working feverishly to prepare for our first combined driving event.  My heart sank, we have 1 1/2 weeks until the big day...what did I do, what did he do...what happened?  I called the vet immediately while I began hosing Billy's leg with cold water.  The picture above is of our progress - day 3.  I was so upset initially, taking a picture of Billy's swollen leg was the last thing on my mind.  

Long story short, I had done nothing wrong.  It would appear that my pony, who has lived in this very stall all his life and who, I might add has never been lame a day in his life, got cast in his stall.  Although, I was over his stall with a fine tooth comb and did not notice the tell tale signs of a struggle, that's our best guest.  Below is a post I shared yesterday on a fb group page I am blessed to be a part of.  A group of artists, aspiring writers and extremely talented people.  I thought I would share Billy's saga on my blog as well.

Day 3 - of hosing Billy's leg. We are making progress! The swelling has come down almost completely. He still has swelling at the bulb of his heel and continues to favor this leg a bit, but seems much more comfortable. My hosing of his leg, linament and wraps overnight are doing the trick. If I had a dollar for all the times I have completed this scenario throughout my life, I'd be rich. The smell of linament in the morning brings back a flood of fond memories with beloved horses and ponies I have shared my life with over all these many years. I might add, while giving Billy a bath on Wednesday, I had 3 sets of pleading pony eyes watching the proceeding. Yesterday, as the day dawned hot and bright, once again, the memory of those pleading eyes hit me just as harshly as the rising humidity and I decided to give the other 3 ponies a complete bath...allowing them to dry while grazing...the total spa package. I have very happy ponies along with one really tired, albeit, content human! Today is a good day at Wind Dance pony farm...

Billy continues to progress, in fact, he went on a bit of a walk about last evening...um...a very strong trot escape to be exact.  This is a whole other story...what an adventure living with Billy pony!  I can say for certain, the boy is back to his ornery self.  Although, we have made the decision to skip the marathon, we hope to  make it for the combined tests next weekend!  Back to work Billy!