The foals have been in my life for 11 days. 11 days. ELEVEN! It is crazy when I think about it. One one hand they still seems so new and novel and on the other, I am so much in love that I feel like I have had them forever! A few things have popped up already.
When they first arrived they had snottty noses and runny eyes. I have pretty much attributed this to the new environment, new hay, stress of moving, etc. As they have gone out in the paddock more and more they seem to have cleared up. Every now and then Bonfire will still have a snotty nose, but it is getting far less frequent.
Bonfire's eye
For a few days I was beginning to worry about Bonfire as he was the snottiest both in his eyes and his nose. A few day later his eyes got bright red. I flushed them out and they next day they were far less inflamed. All I can think is he got some shavings or hay in his eye. I think that really it has all been allergies. I was to get them out in the pasture more, but we have rope fences and they don't exactly respect the fence. The electricity isn't working correctly, so I am waiting on our maintenance team to come check it out.
Not a great picture, but you get the idea
I am working on fencing in a new section of pasture which has amazing grass to turn them out in during the day when I am here. If they are out as a group I haven't noticed them testing the fence. The biggest issue is when I begin to bring them in. The last horse out never likes to be the only one out, so that is when the fence testing begins. I still don't trust them to be out by themselves if I am not here. I know that is silly, I mean if they test the fence, get out, and gallop away there isn't a whole lot I can do, but I feel better being here anyway. Mom things...
Dakota also had some abrasions on her nose that worried me for a few days. I think she was just extremely sunburned from living 24/7 outside with her pink nose and it began healing/scabbing.
Dakota's nose after eating.
After wiping the nose clean
Bumps and nodules on the side of her nose also
The bumps were on both the pink part and black parts of her nose, so I am not positive that it was sunburn. I kept it as clean as I could, put sunscreen on her when she went out to the pasture and TriCare on her when she was in her stall. It seems to have cleared up nicely.
Yesterday one of my volunteers was feeding and said that Dakota bit her ear. I was really concerned as even in only 11 days, I know that is not like her. When I fed yesterday evening she was acting really strange. Very stand offish and a little grumpy. I chalked it up to being scared from the biting incident as I am sure the volunteer screamed or flailed about or something. Today when I showed up; however, her front left leg was extremely swollen.
Compare front left leg (right side of photo) to front right leg (left side of photo)
Compare front left leg (right side of photo) to front right leg (left side of photo)
So, I think the biting incident and the standoffishness was probably Dakota trying to tell me that she didn't feel very good. I called the vet who advised SMZ (Sulfamethoxazole) antibiotics in some whole fat plain vogurt (for the probios and taste) until she could get by to take a look tomorrow. I will update you as I know more of what is going on with the leg. I hope that it is nothing serious! Shane is really worried about his baby. I wouldn't be as worried except that the swelling has extended up through the knee and down through the fetlock.
So, not a whole lot to report on the foal front other than gooshy eyes, snotty noses, and swollen legs. This better not be a sign of things to come!!!!!!
I will leave you with the following feel good images, because who doesn't love a barn cat helping with chores!
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