Putting clothes on a cat

No, I am not actually putting clothes on a cat.  Actually, my perfect kitty died in 2013, and she didn't wear clothes.

Not my cat

But don't worry, I'll get there.

I got a text from my trainer yesterday afternoon that said "Not sure exactly what the little miss did to herself overnight, but to me, it looks as id she cast herself under the fence.  Walked in fine and normal.  Took her out to groom and both front legs are swollen.  Icing and wrapping her and giving her some bute, will keep you posted."  Just what I want to hear at work.

Violet has an issue with laying actually underneath fence boards.  Here she is napping with her old boyfriend, Basil.

She actually has her back legs under the fence.  When she stands up, she scrapes herself.  Usually no big deal.  I think we've only had her be ouchy on one leg once, although she continually has boo-boos.  The next text I get?  "Of course, she thinks the wraps are killing her, but told her she has no choice in the matter".  This is where the putting clothes on a cat thing comes in.  I would put a gif of a cat falling down after being put in clothes, but I'm just not that tech savvy.  Anyone who has ever done this knows, most cats simply lay down and refuse to move until the offending article is removed.  Violet is like that with her front legs.

Once upon a time, we stable wrapped her after shows because she would stay in at night.  She was fine.  She also lived in bell boots on the front when turned out because she had new shoes, and that's what you do with a horse with shoes, right?  Then one day, when riding, the bell boot must have rubbed her hair the wrong way.  Nope, no more bell boots.

The expensive, beautiful leather open front CWD jumping boots?  Mm-m.  She will walk in them.  As soon as you go to trot...lame.  And gets worse if you try to ride her through it.  Take the boots off?  Perfectly sound.  We've tried a couple of times over the years and it's always the same.  It makes trainer laugh.

Stable wraps?  She will tolerate the back ones just fine.  And she used top be fine with all four.  Then there was a day the groom pulled her out of her stall and she was crippled.  He called the trainer in a panic who laughed and told him to take off the wraps and put her back in her stall.  When she got there?  Perfectly sound.

One day in a lesson, the footing was a bit wet and sloppy.  She was fine, trotting along.  Then all of a sudden, she started to lurch around like a drunken sailor.  Trainer has me pull up, scrapes some mud out of her foot with her finger, and amazingly she's sound again.  Was there a rock, I ask?  Nope, just mud.  I have found the only pony in the world who goes lame if she gets dirt in her feet...

I asked one day if we should just force her to wear wraps or something until she gets over it, and trainer says no.  We should be happy she's that sensitive, because it means she doesn't like to hit the fences either.  So we tolerate the quirks and just don't wrap her.

Amazingly enough, she doesn't mind the Woof brushing boots or bell boots we wear on cross country.  She is peculiar, that one...