Peg's Big Problem

Who, me?

On Saturday, I rode my good horse, Peg, down the gravel road to Mrs. Carol's house. She was out of town, and she had asked our family to let her chickens out during the day. My trusty steed and I felt equal to the task of liberating a few poultry, so we volunteered for the job.

After a leisurely stroll, we arrived at the chicken pen. Peg was surprised that I let the hens out, and he seemed a bit concerned, as well. He had never seen chickens on the loose, and I think he was afraid they might attack. Vicious chickens! Our mission completed, we headed for home to finish our ride.

The ride was lovely, and we both got our exercise. I hosed the sweat off of Peg and put him away in his stall for the day. He was looking forward to a long nap, and I wanted lunch.

When I went out to feed and turn out my horses for the evening, Peg had an obvious problem. He was limping badly on his right hind foot. This sort of thing has happened before, and he is always quite dramatic. He knows how to get sympathy by holding up the ouchy leg and staring at me with his big, blue eyes. Pitiful. There were no signs of swelling, inflammation, or injury, so I decided to wait it out.

On Sunday afternoon, the lameness was worse, and I knew that it was time to call the vet. In God's providence, our farrier called that evening to say he'd be coming on Monday to trim all the horses' feet. We determined that we should let him look at Peg before the vet was called.

When Mr. Eric, our farrier, arrived, he discovered the cause of Peg's lameness. Peg had a shard of glass stuck in the sole of his hoof, and it had caused an abscess to form. Mr. Eric drained the abscess and gave me instructions on how to treat it.

I have to soak Peg's hoof in a bucket of Epsom salts and water twice a day. In the meantime, Peg tries to knock the bucket over or step out of it, looking perfectly innocent the whole time. Then I must put iodine in the hole, during which Peg does his best to make me spill the iodine on myself. After that, I wrap the hoof in an elastic bandage to keep it clean. The bandage is supposed to stay on all day, but Peg is good at getting it off. The treatment process is really quite amusing.

Yesterday, Peg was hurting so badly that he would not use his sore leg. The poor horse was hopping along on three legs and holding the fourth leg up off the ground. He looked as bad as if his leg was broken. Thankfully, he is back to his usual perky self today. This morning he chased Jack out of the pasture, and I could barely see his limp. I hope and expect that Peg will heal quickly. It is always sad when one of my pets is not well.