I was with Xena for about 90 minutes tonight, and unfortunately her left front foot is still lame, but thankfully it’s no worse than last night. She had a bit of difficulty walking up the short incline from the paddock gate, and at one point she actually stopped and held up her sore foot.
We were in her stall a few minutes later, where I picked all four feet with no sensitivity on her lame foot. I spent about 10 minutes, examining her left front leg by slowly palpitating her entire leg and foot with my thumb. All the while I kept a close eye on her facial expression, hoping that she would wince or react at some point. Nothing. No reaction whatsoever. She actually began to doze off a bit, so that I had to speak to her to regain her attention.
Her foot and frog look exactly like her right front foot; the same texture and appearance. Susan (our barn owner) and I are at a loss as to why she’s lame. Perhaps it’s something with her shoulder. We’ll wait and see how she is on Thursday.
Xena and I spent the remainder of the evening in her stall, just grooming and talking — and no, she didn’t keep up her end of the conversation.
Update: Lame – Day 4, Seems Better
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