I thought my worst fears were being realized when we got a call early this morning.
"You need to come to the barn as soon as you can. Your horse is badly tangled in her blanket and we can't get near her."
G answered the phone so just said "We're leaving now" and didn't ask any questions. I'm panicking and imagining the worst for the 10 minutes it took to go to the barn.
We pulled in and I quickly went to check the situation. Ginny had managed to get a back leg hooked through the front belly strap on her blanket, between the part where the strap doubles when you adjust it. So, on the good side, her foot wasn't cinched up at her belly, but on the down side her fetlock was completely wrapped in a nylon strap and she couldn't quite put her foot on the ground. As a result of the strap tightening, the rest of the blanket was cinched up tight around her. I asked for everyone to just leave us alone since Ginny was pretty worried by the well meaning people hanging around. She thankfully was happy to see me and stood while I walked up and put her halter on. She stood quietly while I figured out what to do.With a bit of maneuvering I was able to free her leg, which was only a little scraped up and swollen - I'm lucky the rough edge of the strap didn't cut into her leg. I brought her out and hosed the leg for a bit. Unfortunately I think she must have done it earlier in the night, since she was pretty dehydrated/tucked up looking. She went right away for water and breakfast, though, so I think she'll be fine. She'll be stiff and sore for a few days, but it appears she was smart about the situation and for the most part stood quietly and waited to be freed.When she first came she used to be funny about letting me touch her feet, so I actually taught her to pick them up and stand still using a rope first. I'm thankful I did that now, I think that may have helped!
I just wish there was a way to get her more trusting of people - she's been getting better, but I guess she was feeling vulnerable with only 3 useful legs and was trying to move away as soon as anyone opened the gate to her paddock:( Luckily barn owner is smart and didn't push it, she just called me and tried to keep things quiet on that side of the barn until I arrived. It makes me sad that Ginny didn't trust anyone else enough to help her :( I've got to come up with a way of fixing that.
As far as to how she got a foot stuck in there? Best idea I can come up with is she sometimes scratches the front of her belly/shoulders with her back foot, like a dog. Since she's shedding and itchy, it makes sense. For now, she can just be naked - it's warmer now and I don't think I'll sleep at night otherwise :)
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