Less than a month after I bought my first horse at age 12, she stepped on a nail and punctured the sole of her right front foot. Novice horse owners that my parents and I were, we took a pair of pliers and pulled the nail out. This turned out to be the worst thing we could do. Again, novices that we were – we had no 4-H horse project in Santa Clara County, California from which to learn – we thought everything was fine … until our horse went down with a high fever. The veterinarian discovered the terrible infection in her hoof. The nail hole had closed, but the injury festered from the inside, and my lovely, kind mare developed an abscess. We faced six weeks of twice-daily soaks in hot water laced with Epsom salts. After about 10 kicked-over buckets, we hated the soaks almost as much as my mare did.
Fast forward to the present … a stable client solves the kicked-over-bucket problem and accomplishes “green” recycling with used intravenous bags. A veterinarian, this client has easy access to used IV bags. Yes, they are still clean. The seal between the bag and the body prevents germs from going backwards into the bag. If this makes your spine crawl, your veterinarian could probably get you a fresh supply, or you could look online. Chopped off at the top, layered with epsom salts, and cotton at the bottom, filled with hot water, the bag is bandaged in place. (Note: If you cannot get an IV bag, why not try a heavy duty zippered storage bag?) No more kicked over buckets. No more lost medicine. No more angry horses. No more angry people. What a concept!
(Karin Livingston was a career 4-H leader specializing in horses, and is the author of the young-adult horse novel, Winning Bet.)
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Green idea solves hoof-soak blues
Less than a month after I bought my first horse at age 12, she stepped on a nail and punctured the sole of her right front foot. Novice horse owners that my parents and I were, we took a pair of pliers and pulled the nail out. This turned out to be the worst thing we could do. Again, novices that we were – we had no 4-H horse project in Santa Clara County, California from which to learn – we thought everything was fine … until our horse went down with a high fever. The veterinarian discovered the terrible infection in her hoof. The nail hole had closed, but the injury festered from the inside, and my lovely, kind mare developed an abscess. We faced six weeks of twice-daily soaks in hot water laced with Epsom salts. After about 10 kicked-over buckets, we hated the soaks almost as much as my mare did.
Fast forward to the present … a stable client solves the kicked-over-bucket problem and accomplishes “green” recycling with used intravenous bags. A veterinarian, this client has easy access to used IV bags. Yes, they are still clean. The seal between the bag and the body prevents germs from going backwards into the bag. If this makes your spine crawl, your veterinarian could probably get you a fresh supply, or you could look online. Chopped off at the top, layered with epsom salts, and cotton at the bottom, filled with hot water, the bag is bandaged in place. (Note: If you cannot get an IV bag, why not try a heavy duty zippered storage bag?) No more kicked over buckets. No more lost medicine. No more angry horses. No more angry people. What a concept!
