What the actual h***, Spring?!

This morning I headed out to the barn bright and early (thanks, mare, for setting my internal alarm clock to 4:45 AM) to take care of Spring's leg before starting my day. She greeted me with a nicker, and looked brighter than she has in days. She was even putting weight on her hind leg! I pulled the wraps off and they were nasty - whatever lymph and infectiony gunk is draining from that leg had soaked through (I swear the wraps weighed about 5 lbs), so I ran them to the washing machine to start before coming back to her stall. 

WARNING: GROSS LEG PICTURES TO FOLLOW

When I came back, I noticed a weird lump on the inside of the RH that hadn't been there before. I didn't particularly *want* to take a closer look at it because why, why, why mare must you have a new problem every day?! But I did, and it was..alarming to see. Sometime in the night, whatever infection has been brewing apparently decided to make a break for freedom. An ooze of yellow and red was erupting from a 2" opening. 

REALLY IF YOU DONT WANT TO SEE THIS, STOP HERE.

I grabbed some gloves because ew, and started feeling the leg. The area around the hole felt mushy where before the leg had been firm, and the yellowish ooze was trying to come out in chunks with any pressure. I snapped a picture to text to my vet and then called the clinic's emergency number. The on-call vet advised me to cold hose the leg and then re wrap it while I waited for my normal vet to come out at 8 (it was close enough by then that it didn't seem worth it to have someone come out as an emergency, and the vet agreed). 

Spring seemed completely unconcerned as we waited for the vet - she was walking better than she has in days, and her temperature was finally down to 98.6. The vet, however, was concerned. After she arrived and started to clean up the wound, she noticed that the hole went deep. She thought she could feel Spring's tendons, meaning that the tendon sheath had likely been compromised. I went to call the assistant trainer to see if she could get us to the vet clinic in her trailer, then wrapped the leg back up while we waited. 

Because of Spring's extreme dislike of trailers, the vet advised to give her a heavy dose of IV sedation (i.e. give her the dose I had been giving IM but IV). Trainer K administered the shot and Spring was stumbling drunk in a matter of minutes. Assistant Trainer E had the trailer ready to go, and the three of us guided my inebriated mare outside. And guys. She still wouldn't get on the trailer. Because she's Spring. It took Trainer K at her head, E physically moving her feet, and me behind her with a whip to convince her to get on. Thankfully it only took about 5-10 minutes, and she hauled to the clinic without an issue and backed off like a pro. 

Thankfully once the vet was able to go in and debride/flush the wound out more she was able to determine that it most likely missed the tendon sheath. Spring will stay there tonight and get another treatment tomorrow, and if everything still looks good she should be able to come home in the afternoon. 

I stopped back by later on to visit her/feed her cookies/tell her that she's a giant asshole and she seemed to be quite unimpressed with her $$$ hotel stay. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow morning I'll hear from the vet with actual good news!