One Week Later...

It has been a whole week since we brought the horses home.  I was nervous about leaving them in the pasture together while we were at work, so in the early part of the week I kept Nox and Diesel in their paddocks during the day, and let them out into the pasture after we returned home from work.  They enjoyed their time in the pasture in the evenings and were getting along very well. No fights, but every once in a while Diesel would pin his ears at Nox and make him move away.  Most of the time Nox complied, but I saw a few times where he would hesitate and resist a little, before reluctantly moving. 

I wake up early so I can finish barn chores before getting ready for work.  I love walking into the barn and seeing Nox and Diesel waiting in their stalls for me to show up.  They respond to my "Good Morning, Boys" with a nicker and nod their heads when they see me filling their feed buckets.  By Wednesday we had all settled into a good routine and Nox and Diesel were acting like great buddies.

I decided I would let them stay in the pasture together all day Wednesday, but I closed off their paddocks so they couldn't corner each other and possibly get hurt.  It was a cool day with clouds and breezes.  I raced home after work, half expecting to find a disaster when I got home, but they were both grazing happily.  I was elated!  So I left them out again on Thursday and once again, everything was fine.  Can you tell that I'm building up to the story twist? 

Friday morning, yesterday, I finished barn chores and let the horses out into the pasture.  I watched them for a few minutes, happy that they had been home a whole week and things were going so well.  I went inside to take a shower.  Best Husband Ever was up, drinking coffee and watching the morning news. While in the shower, I heard a few horse squeals.  Soon after, BHE knocked on the bathroom door and said Nox had a good sized cut on his neck.  I quickly dried off, put my barn clothes back on, and went out the pasture where Nox and Diesel were grazing as if nothing was wrong.  As I got closer to Nox, he turned to face me and my heart sank.  He had a gash as long and nearly as wide as my hand on his neck, and a big bite mark on his flank.  It looked like Diesel came after him and Nox turned into the fence as he tried to get away, catching himself on the fence post or the rail and ripping his skin open.  I haltered him and led him into the barn, and started applying gauze and betadine to the wound.  It was large and scary looking, but it wasn't terribly deep.  It was bleeding, but not gushing or spurting.  It was 6:30 am.  Well, I thought, it was about time our veterinarian knew where we lived now anyway.

The gash.

I called Dr. Anderson, our local large animal veterinarian who is fantastic, and she answered on the second ring.  A horse vet never sleeps in.  I explained the injury and sent her a photo.  She said she'd be right out to stitch the wound shut.  I emailed work to let them know I'd be late and waited for the vet to arrive.  Diesel was in his stall, neighing for Nox like he missed his buddy.  I couldn't be mad at Diesel, but I was mad at myself.  Maybe I had rushed things too quickly.  Maybe I should have kept them apart longer.  Maybe I'm a terrible horse owner and I have no idea what I'm doing.  I sent the bloody picture to Penny along with a text about what happened, and she reassured me that this was normal, unfortunately, and gashes and bites were going to happen.  Nox will have to learn to move quicker and avoid the fence.  Most of her horses that are in herd paddocks have all kinds of scars from fights and accidents.  I felt a little better.

Dr. Anderson arrived and set to work stitching the would closed.  She applied a local anesthetic so he wouldn't feel the stitch needle, and Nox stood very still, half dozing while I stroked his face.  She sprayed the area with a silver antiseptic, gave me a week's worth of antibiotics to feed him twice a day, and advised me to leave him in the paddock for the rest of the day, and then to let him back out with Diesel the next day.  She also told me that this was part of being in the herd, and agreed that Nox may be a little socially clueless but that he hopefully learned a good lesson this time.

All better!

This morning I let Nox and Diesel out into the pasture, and they behaved nicely.  They are still out there, grazing calmly and even standing near each other, although I do notice that Nox keeps a respectful distance from Diesel and he moves as soon as Diesel moves near him.  Hopefully they have worked things out and we won't have any more accidents!

Beautiful Saturday morning.