The death of me tis sure

Aye, that would be my Ladde!! My special boy who I love more than just about anything or anyone seems determined to drive me crazy!! For the last several days, I've been increasingly watchful of a suspicious intermittent puffiness in the right rear pastern. Some days there is nothing. No "offness" and no puffiness whatsoever. Some days though, there is a very small amount of swelling just below the fetlock joint, which when palpated causes a fairly substantial reaction in an otherwise quite stoic horse. Friday night, I applied slight pressure to check for soreness because the puffiness was there again. Ladde reacted quite violently by slamming his foot down. This startled me and I gasped aloud in surprise, which caused him to spin and face me. He lowered his head and placed his forehead on mine and stayed there for several moments as if to say "I'm sorry". He was very apologetic for his actions and took several deep, cleansing breaths while we stood there. He is always so careful around me and would never hurt me intentionally. On that, I would bet my life. I've raised this horse from birth and even spoke to him daily before he was born. From the day he was born, he has known my voice. I've never felt a more solid connection with another horse, with the exception of his mother, but it is somehow different with Ladde. Sometimes I think he knows what I'm thinking even before I'm aware of it. Sounds silly you say? Maybe, but it's true and I can't begin to explain it. So, I don't even try - I just accept it. Anyway, I digress. So, yesterday morning I open his stall door to let him outside for breakfast. Nothing amiss - he is perfectly fine. All is A-OK! Hot dog! Later in the day, hubby and I are in the barn and Ladde calls to me from outside. I walk out and say "hi" thinking he just wants some attention or more likely, a treat. But he is persistant in wanting my attention. So, I call him over to where I am and as he is heading over to me, I notice a definite lameness in his left front. Oh no, what has he done now? When he walks, he does not want to place his weight on his heel, resulting in a "knuckling over" appearance in the fetlock joint. Just great!! So, I bring him inside and sure enough, we have quite obvious swelling and heat on the inside of his canon bone between his knee and the fetlock. I iced and wrapped the leg, gave him some bute and confined him to his stall. Not a happy boy at all. So, my boss is coming out tonight after work and we will check him out with the ultrasound and with any luck, my well known "sweller" will have nothing more than a brewing abscess - but for some reason, I don't think that's the problem. What I think may have happened is he was running around in the muddy and slick pasture and zigged when he tried to zag and pulled or tore the ligament. But...I am still hopeful for an abscess. Keeping my fingers crossed and sending up my prayers for mercy for my goofy, overly large "delicate flower", otherwise known as Ladde. That horse worries me more than all the others combined, always has and probably always will.

Lord help me...I'm worse than an overly protective mother hen.

Hopefully, I'll have some good news to report tomorrow.

Until then, blessings from Cingspots