She peed at the trailer and we had time so we decided to go ahead and ride the short 3 mile loop, thinking we'd be back at the trailer in 45 minutes or so. Things stared well, we walked through some uneven ground up a slight grade for 1/4-1/2 mile or so. Around the time that the ground evened out, I heard a 'pop' or sound that could possibly have been Ruby hitting a tree root or something else hard. She didn't hesitate or take a wrong step so I didn't think anything of it, though she was being slow again. When I asked for a trot, she just felt wrong...then I realized that she was head-bobbing. I asked the other girl to stop and hopped down to check her feet for stones, her legs for obvious injuries or heat, but saw nothing. She seemed sound again so we walked a bit while I found a low spot to park her in so I could re-mount. We walked a little more, she was slow but willing and I could not feel any lameness. She went down a hill very willingly but back up was much more slow. I asked for a trot again, head-bobbing. I hopped down again; it was time to walk her in. She was keeping up with me (I was walking at a much faster pace than she was willing to walk with me mounted), but showing no signs of lameness. It seemed so bizarre. I had the other person watching her too but she didn't see it either. I checked her girth (was she being pinched?), thought maybe it was her back (we'd trotted a lot during this ride), other rider was saying maybe she stepped on a rock wrong and was getting a stone bruise; we were basically just talking out all of the possibilities that we could think of...it was a very long walk, my personal walk of shame.
We had to cross a road to get back to the trailer - still walking sound and fluid, so weird!!! Tie her to the trailer and check again - obvious swelling on the inside of her right hind fetlock, damn. She was slightly sore upon palpitation of the swelling, but much more sore on the opposite side of the swelling. When we got home, I hosed it for a while. Tomorrow one of the barn's usual vets is coming out to see another horse so I'm going to have him examine Ruby and possibly schedule an ultrasound.
When I got home, I posted about my pony troubles on Facebook. My horse buddies have come to the conclusion that it looks like a wind puff. Apparently it's not usually a big deal but according to the research I've done, it could be a VERY BIG deal. So, prayers and healing vibes would be appreciated. In the meantime, I'll try not to stay up all night thinking about the possibilities and wondering if there's something I could have done to prevent this (or if I did something to cause it).
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