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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Izzy's Leg: One Year Later

1/10/2016

 
On this day last year, I brought Izzy home from the trainer who was supposed to give him a green bean "refresher" course. Instead, he came home with a gigantic gash in his hind leg. That's an old story that you can read by clicking here (you'll have to go through a lot of previous posts to start from the beginning).
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The day I bought him - November 29, 2015
When I unwrapped the wound that very first time, I was more horrified than I have ever been in my life. I had never actually seen a wound that deep on a horse before. For a brief moment, I wondered if he could even live through it. I seriously wondered if he would have to be put down. It truly looked as though half of his leg had been ripped away from his body, and this was four days after the initial injury.

In case you're relatively new to my blog, here's the photo from the day I first saw it (prepare yourself as it is quite graphic).
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Believe it or not, he was never lame on it.
I have a wonderful vet. He's quite knowledgeable when it comes to sport horses, and he recognizes that in order to perform at the highest levels, they often require very specialized care. He is also an excellent field vet with decades of experience. He knows that cutting edge isn't always better, and that tried and true, get in up to your elbows treatments are often what is called for.

For Izzy, he laid out an initial ten-week treatment plan that called for old fashioned pressure bandages and frequent debridement of the wound to remove the over-granulated tissue, otherwise known as proud flesh. To hear it now, ten-weeks would have been a gift, but last January, ten weeks sounded like a death sentence. How was I ever going to make it through ten weeks? BWAHAHAHAHA - insert maniacal laugh here.

It took ten weeks all right, and then a few more. In all, I wrote at least twenty-five posts detailing Izzy's recovery process. And now, here we are - exactly 365 days later. To be honest I've kind of forgotten about the wound lately. The last time I blogged about it was right after Christmas. Over the past few weeks, I've just brushed it off and checked for any splitting or filling.

On Friday afternoon, we had a little bit of late afternoon sunlight, so I snapped a few pictures hoping to get one that shows that the wound has finally, finally knit all the way closed and is now hardened with scar tissue.
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This picture is from January 8 - 367 days after the initial injury.
Most of my friends say that I did an incredible job helping this wound to heal. I don't know if that's true or not. I didn't do anything special or particularly time consuming other than wrap every other day for a very long time ... months and months. And even when it seemed as though it had healed, but then it burst open, I wrapped it again every other day. And when it finally looked like it had really healed for reals, but then it cracked open again, I wrapped it every other day for several more months. 

If that's an incredible job, well okay, then I did an incredible job. I don't look at it that way though. All I saw was a horse that needed his leg wrapped - a lot, and so I did.

Want to see it again? Here's the before and after with about 150 bandage jobs in between. Maybe more.
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January 10, 2015
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January 8, 2016
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Pressure Bandage
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Modified Bandage
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Mini Bandage
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Liquid Bandage
A Mexican friend of mine has the perfect Spanish idiom ... ésta arroz se coció. The English translation is "this rice is cooked." I think something gets a little lost in the translation. Let's try this one - stick a fork in it 'cause it's DONE!
Paola link
1/10/2016 03:14:03 pm

I never thought that it would this long to heal. I'm happy that he has now recovered.

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/10/2016 05:01:06 pm

Me, neither, Paola, me neither!

Austen link
1/11/2016 05:21:40 am

Daaamn that leg looks good! I'm always amazed at how long it takes leg wounds to close up for good. When Pig ripped a hole in his coronet band, it took over a year for it to close up and still doesn't grow hair on the spot. Corona ointment helped the scab to stay soft without reopening, once the wound was fully closed up.

Do you think the hair will grow back black or white?

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/11/2016 12:15:57 pm

One of my barn owners was actually surprised to hear it's been a year already. Perspective, right?! Izzy has a scar on his face that has remained dark, so if any hair grows back, I am thinking it will be black. I hope so anyway. :0)

Carly
1/11/2016 06:53:43 am

It's pretty amazing what the body is capable of doing! It may have taken an entire year (yeesh!), but at least it's completely done now and you've got a fun, sound horse to play with!

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/11/2016 12:17:09 pm

And truthfully, I don't worry about soundness on that leg at all - he was never lame on it. It's nice to be "done" with it though, that's for sure. :0)

emma link
1/11/2016 11:03:31 am

what an ordeal - it was the wound that kept on giving! hopefully that's the last of it forever and ever!

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/11/2016 12:17:35 pm

Amen to that!!!!

Teresa link
1/11/2016 12:01:05 pm

What a journey that was! Izzy was very fortunate to have you and yes, you did do a lot. At times you must have been ready to give up but you didn't.
And Izzy learned a lot of ground manners in the mean time.

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/11/2016 12:20:07 pm

He did learn some manners, that is for sure. The only time I felt like giving up was in the last few months. The damn thing simply wouldn't close up. For a month or so, I just did nothing. There was nothing left to do. That's about the time that it erupted and oozed for a bit. The vet felt that there was some debris in there that finally worked itself out. Once that stage passed, it finished healing relatively quickly.


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    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
    I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
    ​Welcome to my dressage journey.
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    Photo by Lori Ovanessian

    About Speedy G

    ​Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
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    July 2020 (PC AJSK Photography)

    About Izzy

    Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
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Site Designed and Managed by: Karen Sweaney

Among other things, Karen is a Wife, Friend, Reader, Writer, Rider, Traveler, and Dog Lover
Contact her at bakersfielddressage@gmail.com
  • Home
  • About
  • My Horses
    • Horses
    • Imperioso
    • G Ima Starr FA
    • Sunshine
    • Nakota and Gideon
    • Corky
    • Sassy
    • Montoya DSA
    • Mickey Dee
    • Sydney
  • Show Results
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
  • Dressage Organizations
    • Dressage Organizations
    • Memberships
    • 2019 Dressage Tests
  • Local
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