Sasha's Dad put her old boot on this morning (force of habit) instead of her new custom boots. In a way I'm glad because I noticed a red area around her hock and wondered if it was from the upper portion of the new boot. I think all of us have experienced some irritation from new shoes at one time or another. I still doubted it as the wrap goes higher on her leg but one never knows. As we took a short walk, she knuckled quite a bit so I pulled my phone out to catch a quick video. I thought it would give a “visual” of knuckling to those who might not fully understand it. As you’ll see, her legs intertwine and she falls down. I stopped filming after that. Since Sasha chose to lay in the sun for a bit I decided to check on the red area by her hock. As I rotated her leg to see the back of it I was shocked to see a new small spot next to the existing red area that was abraded and bloody. I took several pictures with my phone and zoomed in. We went back to the house and I cleaned her hock and applied calendula cream. To be honest I was really upset the rest of the day ~ until about an hour ago. The pictures from my iPhone had transferred to the Mac and when I saw the zoomed in photos my mouth fell open! I knew exactly what caused the redness and open abrasion by her hock. When Sasha knuckles and her legs intertwine, she falls down and as she drops, she slides on her affected left rear leg. It bears the brunt of the fall/slide. I could easily see the green grass stains surrounding the entire rear hock. I’m disappointed because the abrasion on her foot was essentially healed and I had a target date of Thursday to take her to the river. That date is going to be pushed back until the new open abrasion on her hock heals. I’m glad to know the new custom boot didn’t cause the redness. Plus I have an idea of how I can better protect her leg because I expect that even with the custom boots she’ll take an occasional fall.
I’m looking at it as just a small bump in the road.
