Here are some wound pictures from today!
This is the left leg. As you can see, it is much cleaner now, and a lot of the crusty scabs on the surface are gone. I have a feeling that big green strip in the middle will slough off soon. (It is green because of the ointment I am applying). That part feels like a very big scab. The pink parts were moister yesterday after I got the top layer of goo off. Today they look a lot more dried up. How do you like all of my technical terminology? I don't need to impress anyone with big words, right? Just let me know if you object! :)
Look how the skin around it is puckering...
The right leg is in much better shape. It has a lot smoother surface, and you can see all of the new skin trying to grow in from the sides. I can tell that flexibility is always going to be an issue in these legs. He is very reluctant to bend when I lift up his feet. Instead he lifts the leg up to the side like a dog hiking his leg. It seems to work for both of us, so I just pick the feet out at this angle. It is actually easier because he can hold it pretty high! (Is this ok, Gail, or am I letting him get away with a bad habit??) He does it very softly as if to say, "I am trying to lift my leg up for you, but it just doesn't bend that way. Is this ok instead?"
Today we worked on squeeze game in the best way I could find: I moved Alicia's horse Mac out of the neighboring lot and opened up the gate to the round-pen (with the halter on Doc, of course). I walked out first and tried to simply lead him through, but it wasn't so easy for him. The gate has a top and bottom bar, so he has to step over one thing and under another, as well as go through a small opening. It didn't take long to be able to send him through that opening. Coming back in was a little more difficult. We had been enjoying a stroll in a little bit bigger area than where he is living, so we had fun discovering new things together. He never once pulled on the halter. However, when it came time to go back into the round-pen, the gate opening had become a lot more scary. Despite his nervousness, he never once got rude or tried to pull away from me. I let him move away when he wanted to, but I never let him turn his backside to me. Any time he would try, I just had to do a tiny tap on the rump to turn him back around. What a good boy!
He is going to get a couple of days' rest from me because of my work and lesson schedule. They say you should work for 5 days, then take 2 off, so maybe this time off is a good thing. I will write again when I have something to tell you!
Until next time,
Jackie
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