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Left Eye update, Poor Poor Ginger

3K views 12 replies 12 participants last post by  Speed Racer 
#1 ·
Well, just when things looked up for Left Eye, my granddaughters barrel horse was hurt Monday morning. Left Eye is doing good, still some scabbing of the wound, but the leg is slowly healing over now.
But, poor Ginger. Ever since the dog attack on Left Eye, Ginger has been her protector, when anything with 4 legs comes into the pasture, she chases it. Sunday night, both my daughter and grandson heard growling outside the house(the neighbor dogs are gone now), so she went outside with a pellet gun figuring another dog was around. She didn't see or hear anything, but heard the horses blowing and running, so figured whatever was there had left. (they live in a canyon within a small housing tract, but borders on the desert). When she went out the next morning, Left Eye was happy to see her, but Ginger was standing there.
She went over to her and her right front leg was all bloody and bleeding. Her husband was just getting home from work, they loaded up Ginger and headed to the vet. When they got it cleaned up a bit, you could tell the inside where the leg joins with the chest there was a huge chunk of muscle hanging and it was basically degloved about 1/2 way around the leg. She stayed until the mare was stitched up, then left her there to head back to the house to see what in the heck had happened. While walking around the house they came across some mountain lion tracks, called the fish and game and followed the tracks up the hillside where 50-110 feet of fencing was down and one metal fence post was bent over. We were talking on the phone during this time, and I said, I bet she tried to jump the fence and impaled herself on the fence post, which accounts for the huge hole. It was a cat and the tracks showed it running up the hill till the fence line, then lots of blood and the cat tracks kept going up the hill while the horses went down the hill. I am going to assume maybe it was an old cat that ran instead of fighting?
Anyway, my daughter called me, said she was loading up the horses and bringing them to Wyoming, where they will stay with me until the fencing gets fixed and the cat gets caught or at least doesn't come back.
Got here at 2 am and the incision looked okay, although I was't happy with the suturing job at all, he left a large hole, loose stitches, etc.
The next day, less than 24 hrs after the stitches were put in, the whole thing came apart. I loaded her into the trailer, took her to my vet, we sedated her and tried to figure out what to do. I thought it had torn loose, instead, ALL the suture has broken and just dropped the lower section of skin, leaving the suture and knots in the top. We pulled them all out, my vet starting closing the wound with two closure layer(the first vet, when I talked to him on the phone admited to only closing the skin layer and using disolvable suture) and used tension stitches on some of it.
I will assume we will lose more stitches, but she is at the vet hospital now and will come back home to Left Eye tomorrow after work. She is not happy in the stall, won't eat or drink much and I don't want her to get sick from not eating. I can give her iv antibiotics and stuff once she is home. So, now I am babysitting two barrel horses, one healing up and one just starting to heal. I called the vet in question and asked him why he did not do a two layer closure, why didn't he use Prolene, etc. He said he was sorry, and thankfully the vet clinic has refunded most of the money to my daughter. He is the same vet who stitiched Left Eye, and I couldn't figure out why those stitches started falling out within a few days.
So here are some photos of Ginger's leg. Lots of swelling and also air bubbles all the way up to her shoulder and neck under the skin from air leakage. Ami is just so devastated and my granddaughter is so upset that her horse is injured. I told my daughter the odds of both of their horses getting hurt is incredable, of course she takes care of them, vaccinates, shoes, worms, etc and they get hurt in bizarre ways, and it seems the person down the road can keep a horse in a field with old cars, barb wire fences, metal sheets of roofing, etc and the horse never gets hurt.
Go figure. So, now my granddaughter is counting on her grandma to make her horse better. Sigh, one more stress.
 

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#4 ·
It's awful! It's been such an unlucky year for your daughter and poor horses! :(
 
#8 ·
I can't help but think poor Ami!!!! One horse gets better and the another goes down. I'm so glad you were willing to take them in. Hope you and Ami got to spend a little time together in the deal. I'm glad the horses are in good hands and I'm wishing you all the best.
 
#9 ·
Oh man... I am so sorry. I would be out on my porch with a rifle waiting for pussy cat to come back.
 
#11 ·
Yes we spent about two days together when she brought the horses here. Plus the grandkids. Of course my grandson was more than happy to rub in the fact at 14 he is already taller than me. Brat. :)

Oh heck, most moms/grandma's would do the same as me, I am sure.
Now, just keeping my fingers crossed that this will go well and they can return home before long.
Ginger gets to come home today after work, Left Eye is just lost without her.
 
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