Finger food
Jan. 6th, 2009 08:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
murakoziOne of the mares at the barn, Confetti, is a nippy thing. For whatever reason, she's always been kind of a pain to saddle and bridle. While she'll make faces and sometimes nip at the air when being bridled, it's saddling that really brings out the bad side of her. Otherwise, she's a fairly friendly horse. She's had her back checked as well as the fit of her saddle and as far as anyone has ever been able to determine, it's not a discomfort thing. Personally, I think it's just a defensive behavior that's built up from some people being rough and jerky when tightening her girth and such.
After nearly 13 years of trying, Confetti finally connected with a bite while I was saddling her on Sunday.
On the plus side, it's not as bad as she's tagged some people in past years. It's also not a serious bite. It's just uncomfortable. On the down side, it's still mildly uncomfortable to type. Good thing I'm male and, as such, have practice with one handed typing....
I'd just finished putting her saddle on in preparation for the first trail ride. Since there was a little time before the ride, still, I didn't even bother tightening the girth fully. I went around to her off side both to check the girth and billets over there and to make sure the fleece cover for her girth wasn't bunched up or anything. As I straightened up from checking the fleece, her head came around and she clamped down hard on my right hand. I'm still not sure how things got lined up just as they did, but basically, my hand ended up in her mouth fla with the fingers pointed down toward her throat. Her front teeth came down on the middle knuckles of my middle and ring fingers and just above the knuckle of my index finger.
Of course, that earned her a few hard slaps on the neck and some angry grunting from me. Being on her right side, I automatically did the swatting with my right hand, which naturally made it hurt even more. I went and rinsed it off and had a better look. She had managed to break the skin a little bit on my middle finger, but it was barely bleeding. I went to the office and rinsed that again with some peroxide. Other than that it was just hurting.
Ideally, I'd have kept it cold to keep down any swelling. Actually, being in the low/mid 40's, the weather was kind of taking care of that. I didn't, however, want my fingers to stiffen up, since there was still work to be done. I snagged one of the pocket/hand warmer thingies from the desk in the front office and held onto that off and on until it was time to go home. It was sore enough to make even using a mouse a lil uncomfortable on Sunday night, but it's been improving. There's no swelling now and just some fairly minor bruises on two knuckles. I'm sure it'll be fine in another day or two.
I cant' really be angry with Confetti. Granted, the bitey thing is a bad vice, but I know about it and try to be aware of any nippy attempts when tacking her up. This is just the first time she's actually connected with a nip.
I did refer to her as 'Chompy' for the rest of the day. Durned mare.
After nearly 13 years of trying, Confetti finally connected with a bite while I was saddling her on Sunday.
On the plus side, it's not as bad as she's tagged some people in past years. It's also not a serious bite. It's just uncomfortable. On the down side, it's still mildly uncomfortable to type. Good thing I'm male and, as such, have practice with one handed typing....
I'd just finished putting her saddle on in preparation for the first trail ride. Since there was a little time before the ride, still, I didn't even bother tightening the girth fully. I went around to her off side both to check the girth and billets over there and to make sure the fleece cover for her girth wasn't bunched up or anything. As I straightened up from checking the fleece, her head came around and she clamped down hard on my right hand. I'm still not sure how things got lined up just as they did, but basically, my hand ended up in her mouth fla with the fingers pointed down toward her throat. Her front teeth came down on the middle knuckles of my middle and ring fingers and just above the knuckle of my index finger.
Of course, that earned her a few hard slaps on the neck and some angry grunting from me. Being on her right side, I automatically did the swatting with my right hand, which naturally made it hurt even more. I went and rinsed it off and had a better look. She had managed to break the skin a little bit on my middle finger, but it was barely bleeding. I went to the office and rinsed that again with some peroxide. Other than that it was just hurting.
Ideally, I'd have kept it cold to keep down any swelling. Actually, being in the low/mid 40's, the weather was kind of taking care of that. I didn't, however, want my fingers to stiffen up, since there was still work to be done. I snagged one of the pocket/hand warmer thingies from the desk in the front office and held onto that off and on until it was time to go home. It was sore enough to make even using a mouse a lil uncomfortable on Sunday night, but it's been improving. There's no swelling now and just some fairly minor bruises on two knuckles. I'm sure it'll be fine in another day or two.
I cant' really be angry with Confetti. Granted, the bitey thing is a bad vice, but I know about it and try to be aware of any nippy attempts when tacking her up. This is just the first time she's actually connected with a nip.
I did refer to her as 'Chompy' for the rest of the day. Durned mare.