Walter clears vet check!

Thursday, Walter surprised me out in the pasture by responding to a slap on the rump (he was in my way) with a leap to the side, a few playful bucks and an explosion of energy - taking off in a dead run to the far corner. TK ran to meet him, they bucked at each other over the fence, and Walter spent the next 10 minutes careening around the field, sliding to a stop over and over in front of TK where he'd toss his head, pitch a few kicks and take off bucking and farting again, trying to get the lazy mare to play. Obviously, our boy was feeling better!

Yesterday we took him to the vet to look over his cut foot, his sore hip, the soles of his hooves, etc. Pretty much a general "how's the prognosis?" checkup.

Prognosis:

Walter's barbed-wire wounds: "Pretty much healed. The scar goes around, the wire trapped his whole foot? [raised eyebrows] You are lucky."
The sore hip: "Must've pulled a muscle. No sign of soreness now."
The stiff front shoulder: "No sign of lameness."
Hoof soles sloughing off: "Totally normal. Those hooves look great."

Now, a cautious note... since the vet examined Walter in the restraining stocks ("Is he a good mule?" as he let me be the one to pick up Walter's left hind) I'm a little puzzled as to how he could tell how my mule was moving. But never mind that -

Walter has been declared "good to go"!

I was advised to start conditioning in tiny steps... 20 minutes riding, if Walter is stocked up (swollen) the next day, give him a few more days off, try again. Then take it from there, adding time and weight each day. Pretty much common sense and what I had planned once I was assured he was pain-free and the wounds were healed.

I'll update the blog on Walter's progress. In the meantime, now it's get the maps back out, order yet another tent, a longer tether, wrestle with question of a pack animal, and in general get ready to hit the road later this month.

And send up thanks, thanks, eternal thanks for healing my little red mule.