Back from hiatus

Came back from North Carolina today- we left in the oh-so-civilized pre-dawn hours and got home at two. I booked it out to the barn to greet the poneh.

She was being obnoxious when I got her out of the field, so I put her in the round pen for a few minutes and longed her, just to see what I had to work with. She looked perfectly sound and was exuberant enough to throw some snorts and happy bucks.

And then I took her out to hose her.

And her hock was huge.

And I just about had a panic attack while I dialed the barn manager.

Her right hind leg, from gaskin to midway down her cannon, was ballooned up, and at the large hock joint, she had a scrape.

I have learned not to ignore small injuries. (Oh thanks, Berky ;)) My paranoid mommy senses were in overdrive, thinking "SEPTIC SEPTIC SEPTIC AAAAAAAGHHHH!" Karen didn't pick up, so I called the vet and left a message with the answering service, grabbed a bandage and a thin gel ice pack, and wrapped her up. Took temperatures, poked, prodded, and hosed until the vet called back.

Texted Dr. Merrick photos, and, of course, she said she probably just smacked it. (Sure enough, the swelling moved around her leg. Just the fluids settling from gravity.) Give her bute, ice it, and then wrap it with SSD, and she'd be fine.

Two hours later, it was half its previous size.

Gotta love false alarms.