It takes a village to care to for a horse.

My village lately has been a village of one. Paula.

Here she is with her beautiful boys…Impressario and Legend…

Aren’t they stunning? The photo is courtesy of Bert, my dangerously talented photographer husband.

I was at the barn this morning, in the dark. I can’t use my flashlight too much around Now Voyager because he’s convinced it’s alive and scary. Funny old horse.

So NV and I were playing in the arena in the dark.

I was trying to make out just how much he was limping.

He was wondering why I’d taken off his warm blanket in the 40 degree pre-dawn and was asking him to trot around at such a strange time of day.

See, it’s good for a horse to keep moving, even if they’re sore. Well, as long as you’re not dealing with a torn ligament or tendon. The circulation in their legs is not ideal in the best of circumstances. And they need circulation to heal.

I try to find the balance between enough movement to facilitate healing and enough rest to facilitate healing.

He moved about the same as Tuesday – ouchy enough.

I’d brought my thermos of boiled water with which to dissolve the epsom salts. Once I lowered the temperature to not-scalding, Now Voyager put his hoof in the bucket.

I swear he sighed. It was a weary sound full of resignation. Such a trooper.

After soaking comes wrapping. But to do this you really need vet wrap.

Vet Wrap is a support wrap without the need for pins, clips or additional bandages. It stays in place by sticking to itself and it is sheer brilliance for wrapping horse parts.

I was saddened to find that my supply had run clean out. And can you imagine the local feed store doesn’t open until – oh I don’t know – 7am or so? Not early enough for me!

It’s critical to keep Now Voyager’s hoof soft and soaking in a poultice to help draw out the abscess. Hence the need for the wrap.

I was seriously bummed. Distraught, actually.

And then I left a note for Paula on the white board.

“Hi Paula, this is Now Voyager. My mom is a goofball and ran out vet wrap so my foot is not going to heal. Help please.”

Paula called me at work and left me the most wonderful message.

“Don’t worry, I packed and wrapped NV’s foot and he’s all good.”

THANK YOU PAULA! From the very bottom of my heart. You truly are a guardian angel.