Wet weather and Poorly Ponies

The last few days have been stressful to say the least! On Thursday morning, the Ginger pony was very unwell. He stood in the field shelter with his head hanging, his breathing rapid and his abdomen looking very tight and "tucked up". Sure signs of colic, so I put him into a clean stable and examined him, finding that his pulse had increased and his temperature was way above normal.

 I phoned the vet, and while she was on her way, Ginger`s field friend managed to find a way to get some attention too. The Chocolate pony became distressed and rushed around the field, so I decided to bring him into the next stable to calm him down and to give Ginger some company. As I put on his headcollar, I saw that he had a fresh 4cm cut on his eyelid. How and where he did this I have no idea. We are careful about fences and nails and we got rid of every bit of barbed wire when we moved in here. It may have been done on a twig.....

So, the kind young vet who arrived found that she had two jobs to do. Ginger was, by this time, lying down and in shock. We got him up and a full examination and treatment were given, including a bottle of the most expensive antibiotic I have come across! However, it was suspected that Ginger had a serious gastro-intestinal infection so we had no choice. The recent wet, humid weather will have caused all kinds of pathogens to multiply in the soil and water.

While Ginger began his recovery, the Chocolate pony was examined and sedated, before the vet did an excellent job of cleaning , exploring and suturing the eyelid wound. One of the vet nurses had also arrived to bring equipment and she was a great help. Thankfully, there seemed to be no damage to the eye itself.

Both Boys had two days in their stables. It poured with rain on Friday and Saturday. Ginger did not begin to feel better until Saturday, but hopefully he is now on the road to recovery. He normally lives for his food so it was awful to see him so ill and with no appetite at all. I took their photos yesterday, when they were out in the field after another night inside.

The Chocolate pony came over so I tried to take a photo of his stitches.......

....a bit blurred, but here they are. The vet will have to come back and remove them in a week or so.
Putting in the daily eye ointment is fun, but some clicker training with treats has helped to make it a better experience for both of us!

Yesterday, when the rain finally stopped, I wandered around the garden to find rosebuds rotting on their stems.........

...but this Harry Wheatcroft rose looked lovely. The colours remind me of old fashioned Cornish ice cream and strawberry juice.

Lettuces , courgettes and weeds have enjoyed the rain.

The dogs were glad to sniff their way around the wet garden and feel some precious sun on their backs.

Old Dog demands his Forest walk in all weathers, but his friend ( who can be aggressive with other dogs) is happy enough to explore the garden several times a day. Both of them are elderly and don`t need the miles of walking that they used to love.

Out on our walk, every path and lane was wet with puddles.

On the edge of a saturated Forest green, selfheal was in flower and a buried acorn had sprouted into a seedling oak.