Well, I had everything planned out...different patterns, different excersizes for Sonny, etc...and the darn boy turned up lame. He had a small cut on the side of his hock, which looked like something he did either Tuesday or Wednesday for it had stopped bleeding, but there was dry blood on it. It was extremely sensitive to touch so I cleaned it up as quickly and as gentle as I could, then put him out in the pasture.

At first when I was doing hte circling game, I dind't see anything....so I hopped on him and started to walk him around. I knew the minute we started walking something was not right. He was wayyyy too much on the forehand, all his weight seemed to be on there....his back end seemed wayyyy too uphigh so I knew something was up.

My poor boy
This is the first time that he's been lame since I've owned him

It may be that he just banged it up against something and it made him sore. I would give him a couple days but if you notice any change for the worse: swelling, total lameness, infection, etc, then call your vet. I'm sure that he will be fine though.

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yeah...I think he got bit by a donkey and it's still kinda ouchy. The BO said she'd check on him tomorrow morning early before she leaves for FL and I'll be up tomorrow night to see how he's doing

Awww, so sorry to hear about Sonny! I hope he feels better soon

*Here are some treats for Sonny*

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thanks Jubilee!! I'm going up to check on him in a little while so I'll let everyone know how he's doing

Sonny update:
Well, he's still favoring the leg. I was not able to do the Circling Game to see if he was still lame because three of his four legs were stoked up (swollen) and he was kinda ouchy on his feet.
I have him some bute to help with the swelling and the pain and hopefully that will take care of it.
I talked to the BO and he thinks that the stocking up and possibly the lameness (I don't think it's being caused by the cut on his leg anymore...unless he fell) could be caused by the hard ground. It was extremely muddy then it froze almsot over night. So it's all jaggedy and hard, so it defiantely might be the reason he's so ouchy and stocked up.

The last time he got stocked up, the vet said it was because of the second cutting...something about it sometimes makes the horse retain water and some horses retain it in their joints. Well the BO did say that he threw in some second cutting, but it wasn't anytime recently...he thinks it was Monday.

So I asked the one lady who is always up (and the Assistant BO) to look at him tomorrow morning (since I work) and if it's still the same, to give him another tablet of bute...and she said if it gets worse, she'll call me. If it does get worse, I'll be calling the vet....
If the lameness and stocking isn't gone by Monday, I'll be getting the vet out.
So grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Poor Sonny! I really hope he's looking/feeling better by tomorrow

We're dealing with some nasty muddy ground/turned frozen too. I can't justify riding in the outdoor arena because of the footing.

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all I have is the outdoor....so I have no choice.
Next time I"m up riding at night, I'll see if the BO would be awesome and drag the arena that will help it so much.

Wow. What concerns me is the swelling in his other legs. Is he favoring that leg so much that he won't put any pressure on it? I think if it was me, I would go ahead and call the vet just to make sure that he hasn't foundered or anything.

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well he's had the swelling before and it went away the next day no problems. I don't believe foundering causes swelling at all.
Oh he'll put pressure on it fine, but not as much as normal. Like for the stall, it's a step down to enter it and a step up to leave it.
Well when he leaves, he normally leads (though I haven't paid too much attention to which foot before) with his right back foot then pushes himself off with the right....so all the weight from the back is on that foot...well the last three times, he's used the left foot. Now I can't be sure of his "normal" because like I said...it's not something I really pay attention to.

Founder and Laminitis in Horses
From that article...Sonny has no symptoms. He walks normally, but takes careful steps. His breathing is fine, and his eyes aren't glazed. Wait...only syptom he has is the heat in his pastern, but that's normal even for a random infection.

I cleaned his hooves out today, but wasn't looking for anything there. I'll clean them out next time I'm up (tomorrow night or Sunday morning) and give a close inspecting to see if maybe he stepped on something.