What happened to Sera's legs...

'Member when I posted about my Ride-A-Test clinic and Sera's hind legs were bandaged? Well, thankfully she is perfectly sound and healing up nicely.

What happened?

Well, we have a back yard with a gravel pathway, goat pen, hammock, bird feeders, picnic tables, and other miscellany you find in a back yard. Horses don't come into the backyard area.

Somehow Sera opened her gate and went exploring one morning... (There is now a lock on the gate to prevent other explorations.)

It was 5am. Furry Husband and I were getting ready to take the dogs on an early morning walk. We let our 3 dogs out to run around, pee, bark, check things out while we got dressed. I was sitting in the living room putting on my shoes thinking - hmmm - it is awfully quiet out there....

I peered out the windows but couldn't see anything in the dark.

Usually once the dogs go out, the goats begin making noise cuz they know they will be fed/milked pretty soon and the dogs usually let out a bark here and there... and it was dead quiet.

Too quiet.

There have been mountain lion sightings in our neighborhood and two years ago a horse was attacked by a lion (horse o.k.). Last year our goat vet called about a goat that had been eaten by a lion in our area (goat not o.k.).

We know they are around and it's my secret fear a lion will show up at our place. We'll go outside and find a lion digging in to a goat - I have a mental image of a picture I saw in a National Geographic magazine when I was young: cheetah eating a Thompson gazelle's belly while the gazelle was still alive, head up and crying. I have this fear we'll go out and find the same scenario - only substitute one of our does for the gazelle and a mountain lion for the cheetah.

My selfish thought is that the woman with pygmy goats 6/10 of a mile from us will be the lion's first stop. Seems pygmys would be easier prey than horses or big goats... not that I EVER want Gina's cute pygmys to be a snack. It's just I'd rather one of her's is taken vs. one of my animals and I know it's mean and small an selfish of me. Tho' somehow I'm pretty sure she'd feel the same way about our place -- that WE were the first stop vs. her's if a hungry lion came around!

Anyway - when I figure I'd better go out to see what is going on out there - if anything - I step out, take 3 steps to the corner of our house. Sera goes galloping past me. WHAT THE?!

She continues around the house and I hear her hit our fence. Forget our morning walk, I think my heart rate skittered right up to 185...

She was probably spooky anyway being in a new area she isn't familiar with and sending 3 dogs out after her, 2 of which are a cattle dog and a border collie. They want to herd and probably tried to herd Sera which sent her right up to and over the edge...

We have a 7 strand, high tensile, electric fence. We lost a horse on our fence in 2003. It was devastating to us. 30 days after we put Louie down because of his injuries, I found Sera. She was exactly what we needed to pour all our love, energy and broken hearts into.

I call her Sera for short but her name is Seraphim because while I'm not religious, she was truly heaven sent. It is amazing we found her so soon after Louie's death. She was sound, inexpensive, athletic, passed her pre-purchase and fit the bill for what I wanted a horse for - Dressage. I never thought I'd have a green, off the track Thoroughbred or a mare. Sera has been wonderful. I have learned a ton on her and from her. I love her very, very much.

The sound of a horse hitting the fence is the worst sound I know.

I ran back in the house to yell at Furry Husband that Sera was in our yard and she just hit the fence. I ran back out with Furry Husband close behind.

Sera was in our front pasture. She was still up and she was running. My panicked mind thought - that is a good sign, that is a good sign, that is a good sign - over and over. I grabbed a halter and went to the pasture to catch her. When I did, I looked her over and it seemed that she was o.k. except for her hind legs. I walked her into her pen and Furry Husband held her while I looked closer.

The fronts of both cannon bones on her hind legs were sliced but no joints were involved and there were no tendon injuries or other punctures, slices or cuts. She must've hit the fence full force cuz she did have line marks across her chest and forearms.

She was shaking and scared and you could tell her back legs hurt like a muther... she kept lifting them and holding them up... first one and then the other.

I called our vet and made plans to bring Sera over in 30-45 minutes. Give everyone a chance to calm down since there was no serious injury I could see. Sera was also acting a bit colicky and we weren't sure if it was because she really WAS colicking from eating something wierd in our back yard or if she was acting odd because she was so freaked out and scared.

Furry Husband and I threw a blanket on her because she was shaking so much and watched her. She really did seem to be o.k. and working out of the shock/fear and colic like behavior.

We trailered her over to our vet where she was evaluated - she never did colic thank God! She was put into stocks, drugged, her legs cleaned, stitched, stapled back together and bandaged. She was on "stall" rest to prevent any stress on the skin so it would adhere better and begin healing.

With any injuries on the lower legs, you have to watch for proud flesh and I did at every bandage change. Her right leg began to develop a bit of granulation that looked like it might develop into proud flesh so we started putting some panalog ointment on. That did the trick and her legs have continued healing with no further signs of proud flesh.

However, her white leg developed a skin fungus or bacteria from being bandaged so long. She can't wear a bandage any longer so the skin funk can dry up and go away. I soak and scrub that leg with some betadine scrub now and again to loosen the scabs from the skin fungus/bacteria and I think the skin funk is going away. I can't do it daily because it is really drying to the skin.

I need to do it again soon but it isn't fun for anyone. By now, Sera is so sick of me dicking with her leg that she is not very compliant. She hasn't taken any pot shots at me which is good but she doesn't make it at all easy either. And I have to be aware that she COULD take aim any time.

When I have to clean her leg, she is pissed, I am frustrated but it HAS to be done. I can't give up - if I give up when she's being a complete ass, she will know all she has to do is act up for me to leave her damn leg alone. Poor Furry Husband watches and worries that I'm going to get my fool head kicked in like a melon...

The cuts are almost healed - they are much smaller, scabbed over and she is probably really glad she doesn't have to wear those damn bandages anymore. I am really glad she is o.k. and is back to being my big, beloved, red-headed mare.