yesterday was an unsuccessful second attempt to photograph the tide pools (they were closed again). so since i have to pass the barn where the pony lives to get home from the tide pools, i figured that was a good time to stop in and give him an extra grain bucket. when i walked by his pen, he was standing my his feeder so his body was blocked but i could see his head and his legs. i noticed a fresh blood trail on his front leg leading up to a small nick on the front of his fetlock joint. i thought meh, no big deal, i'll just clean it off, put some spay on it and it will be fine. so i go back to my trunk to get my halter, and once i get inside my horse's pen to catch him, i can see his whole body and i see this:
giant amounts on swelling are never a good thing. i look under his belly and i can sorta see what looks like a scab hanging and some dried up discharge around it. i put on some gloves and feel around and i can feel a nice squishy lump. he's also really reacting when i touch around it, so i know it must be really sensitive. since i don't really feel like being uber unsafe and climbing under my horse's belly to see it better, i get my camera and snap a few pics to see what's going on and i find this:
lovely, isn't it? so now i'm a bit worried, because giant amounts of swelling and an open sore are a bit out of my comfort zone for treating by myself. so i call the vet, and of course this happens after they've already closed. so i page the doctor, and he gets out to the barn about an hour later. he does a quick look over the horse and says it's a fly bite abscess. there isn't much to do for a treatment wise, just put lots of fly control on and moderate exercise to help it drain out. pretty much just need to let it run its course. if it doesn't improve within two weeks, then i need to treat it with medications. until then, my horse just has to have an ugly belly. poor pony :( at least i can bute him to make it hurt less.
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