dancing horses

dancing horses

Thursday, November 1, 2012

There is Peace in Answers

This was said to me by a friend this week. I love how wise she is.

I've started and stopped this post a few times. So here we go.

This post is not about Steele- it's about Irish. There's background on him on this post: http://journeywithadancinghorse.blogspot.ca/2012/08/in-which-you-meet-irish.html

A few weeks ago my farrier was here and he noticed that Irish had a sore on the front of each fetlock. I've noticed those off and on and they were driving me crazy because I couldn't figure out how he was hurting himself. The farrier- who's a horseman I highly respect said "the only time I've seen these is when a horse has a hind end problem. Instead of using their hind legs to get up from a roll or laying down they use their front and get up like a cow does. This causes the sores.

As soon as he said that the penny dropped. For the past year our training has stalled. He's not been off or lame but getting him to use his hind end was getting harder and harder. And he wasn't developing muscle over his back or hindend. I'm a dedicated rider- I ride often and work towards goals. When I receive instruction I try to follow it to the best of my ability. I couldn't figure out why weren't gaining ground. Then other things came to creep in- leg yields were suddenly hard, his walk, which always had a lateral tenency was lateral almost all the time- especially going downhill whether I was riding or he was in his field. It was becoming harder to get him off his forehand. Of course, hind sight being 20/20 all of this makes sense but it crept up so slowly and gradually that I just got used to it as it progressed. There were other symptoms that I won't bore you with. Once Paul made his statement it all came together.

So I called my vet and described my symptoms. He came out and did an exam. He was thinking it was hocks- that Irish was developing arthritis.

However, it's not his hocks. It's neurological in origin. Irish is having trouble coordinating his hind end. If you pull on his tail you could- if you kept going- pull him over. The cause is still unkown- it could be an injury, arthritis or a tumour. It can't be EPM- we don't have possums here. Right now he's being treated with anti inflammatory drugs- Prevocox (sp?)

The good news is that I continue to ride him- he's not dangerous (although I'll be careful). Thank heavens I have my own place- that means I can keep him with me and comfortable. He's not sore and he's not unhappy. I doubt that he'll miss showing. :)

Horses- they break your heart and heal it all in one go.


7 comments:

  1. It must have been so frustrating and confusing, putting the riding / training time in but losing ground. At least now you have an answer. I like your last sentence.

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  2. I am sorry to hear this. I hope that you find a combination of treatments that helps him, but at least you can still ride him. He is lucky to have you looking out for him.

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  3. Sorry to hear about Irish's troubles, I've grown quite fond of the old man reading your posts! But I'm glad he's somewhere where he's comfortable and surrounded by critters he likes.

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  4. I was nodding my head in agreement on the part about these things creeping up so slowly that you don't notice the progression. It was like that with Flash and looking back we can see it now. Flash is also taking previcox. It seems to be a recent "find" by equine vets. I hope it helps Irish.

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  5. Aww poor Irish! It sucks when things creep up so slowly you don't ever really notice them until hindsight kicks in. :( That happens a lot to me it seems, such as my thyroid condition, weight gain, certain car problems, Storm's eyes and her Ehrlichia (tick disease), Chrome rubbing his mane out and his sweet itch. So annoying! I hope you find out the cause soon and that the medicine helps him. I'm glad he's still happy and not in pain. :)

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  6. Has the vet ruled out Wobblers? That's the only other neurological disease I can think of. I think it causes falling down though and he doesn't fall, so not sure.

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  7. thanks guys. We don't think that it's wobblers. I may never know what it is but right now I'm just taking one day at a time.

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