In Which We All Co-Habitate Once More

That's right, Echo is finally back home!  

I decided to go ahead & bring him home this past weekend since we were supposed to get rain this week.  He was doing well in his enlarged pen & I didn't want him to backslide if I had to pen him back up just to keep him out of mud.  His own paddock here drains very well & doesn't get muddy.

So with the help of the always-fabulous Erica, we marched Gabe, Solo's substitute buddy, back home next door & returned with an (aced, just so I didn't get accidentally trampled in exuberance) Echo.

True to his good nature, he has transitioned back seamlessly to annoying us here instead of next door, ha.  It took him about 14 seconds to pounce on Solo's head for some Face Tag (during which Solo looked at me going, oh yeah, now I remember how annoying this kid is...).  After which, he returned to his normal pastime of meandering around his paddock & watching the world exist.

Echo in full meander

I'll wait a week before allowing him & Solo to be together again -- Echo has not been able to play with another horse for 4 months, so we didn't want to throw it all at him at once.  

I did sit on him once last week, just walking around for a few minutes.  It didn't feel great -- his feets are sore from not being on grass & his whole body felt tight.  But he seemed to enjoy getting out & doing something, even if he did get bored in about three minutes.  I at least know all the buttons I installed are still there.  And he behaved completely, which was the most important part.  He really tries so hard to be good.

No muscle, but shiny. I wore my vest just in case, but he was uber-chill

Moving forward, I will probably just stick to light work on the longe.  It's not really necessary for me to sit on him at this point & it will allow me to watch him.  I will just see what he tells me he's up for.  Right now, that is essentially walking.  But hey, it's walking AT HOME & it's walking WITH NO STALL CLEANING anywhere in the vicinity.  Vast improvements...

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The End Is Near!

 By which I mean...the end of cleaning that bloody stall!

To my relief & no small amount of surprise, Dr. Bob actually got to give us GOOD news on Tuesday:  Echo's fracture line is completely healed!!

 *pause for strange feeling...is that...dare we...hope?*

We are not completely done.  Echo still has some bruising in that area to heal & the lytic area around the toe is still filling in.  But now he is a "bruise horse" instead of a "fracture horse," which is somewhat less terrifying for "owner of horse."

The schedule is to let him out on a little larger paddock area (already done with success!) for the next two weeks.  If nothing untoward happens during that time, he can then come home & be in his paddock here for two more weeks & wean off the Equioxx, after which he can go back to regular turnout.

First grazing at liberty since July

I can also begin sitting on his sorry butt (well, technically, his sorry back) next week & tack walk him.  I'll bring along my friend, Ace, for the first attempt, of course -- I know he will try to be good, but he is holding in four months of PLAY-PLAY-PLAY, even a Very Good Boy can only contain so much.

Dr. Bob had us go ahead & transition out of his "fracture shoe" that farrier had devised, consisting of an extra sturdy draft horse pad, into a medium-soft EquiPak pad (forgot to take a pic of that), to provide a softer cushion for the bruising.  

Cut-down draft horse pad

I'm a long way from not holding my breath anymore, but it's a big step forward, so thanks for all the good vibes because they worked!!

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