Having professionals that I trust who are willing to come out while I’m at work is not something I take for granted. I basically kiss the ground they walk on for being so flexible. It does get a bit frustrating though when I get a report that I’m not sure warrants panic or just mild interest. Let’s face it. Anything horse related will automatically cause panic until I’m told otherwise.
The chiro vet came out yesterday while I was working and I waited anxiously for an update on how it went. I had been noticing some extra sensitivity to his left SI area while grooming lately and worried he may be super tight or need some extra help back there. He was moving fine under saddle and didn’t seem resistant to anything, but it caught my attention. Really I’d been meaning to do this for an entire year ever since he was lame last summer but only recently found someone I trusted who didn’t require me to take off work. She is the same vet that does our equine dental work and the one who recommended we test Gemmie for cushings. I love this woman.
Dusty gave me a brief text update mid afternoon that “Eeyore was good. Report to come later tonight”. Did that mean good as in well behaved or good as in healthy? Who knows?
It was around 9 pm before the report came through and it made my stomach tighten into a ball as I envisioned a fiery death to all my future plans. Maybe a bit melodramatic but after spending all of last year fighting his right side lameness from his hoof, seeing on the report “mild head bob right front and hind” made my vision go dark around the edges.
She did note that his left shoe (not sure which but guessing the hind where I yanked the errant nail out of Monday night) was loose and needed a reset (farrier already planned on coming today so that is covered) and that he was sensitive to palpation to the left SI and had a mild effusion to the left stifle.
The only recommendation noted was to reset shoes and give Equioxx 57 mg once daily for 10 days.
Of course I read this and immediately thought “oh great. He is lame on that right front again. Another summer of no riding. And now apparently his left stifle has gone to shit which probably means no jumping in his future and what am I going to do with an 8 year old horse who can’t be jumped when I want to event but I love his big lug head and can’t see selling him but he can’t be a retired pasture puff at 8 years old and ahhhhhhh!!!!”
Normal horse ownership stuff.
I then proceeded to annoy the crap out of Dusty who obviously had no answers but had the misfortune of being near me so he got bombarded anyway. He did agree to bring the Equioxx home to start that today and then told me to just call her in the morning and talk to her about it. Which is all good and dandy except my mind had already gone off the deep end.
This morning at 8 am I called her and immediately blurted out “Is he lame? Does he need retired? Please tell me he isn’t lame!” Which was very professional of me, I know. I’m all cool and calm like that. She laughed because she is awesome and proceeded to tell me that while he isn’t lame, she does think there is something wrong and that it isn’t chiropractic. Well, damn.
Basically, she isn’t a fan of his left pelvis as a whole. The stifle effusion is related to the way he is traveling in the hip so she wasn’t too concerned about that. She also shrugged off the right sided head bob as also related to the left hip. Phew, I mean, it isn’t great to have an issue but if it was the same issue biting me in the butt yet again I might have pulled my hair out. At least this is something new. She noted that in gait he is bringing the left hind medially under him with forward progression more so than he does with the right hind. All again tied into the left hip.
She wants to do a 10 day trial of Equioxx to see if maybe it is just inflammation and soreness though she didn’t sound particularly optimistic it would help any. It is free though, so why not try it? She wants me to continue to ride him thinking more work and movement will be beneficial so my lesson for tonight is still on. Yay? I don’t know. Maybe Trainer AB will have some insight in his way of going. I’m off for my first vacation since 2012 all next week, so that will give him a week off to digest his meds and then the vet will be back out on July 8th for a recheck. If he isn’t any better, she will do a full on lameness/performance exam on him to try to see what is going on in that left hip to create this issue.
I guess best case is he gets better with the meds and life moves on. Next best case he needs a left side SI injection and becomes right as rain again. A little maintenance with a yearly SI injection doesn’t bother me though he is only 8 years old and I had hoped to not need anything like that until his early teens or so. Sigh. Worst case….I don’t know. I’m not letting myself go there until she takes me down that route. For now, he is getting new shoes this afternoon, I have a preemptive make up lesson tonight in place of next week, and he will get some meds and time off while I sit on a boat in the middle of the ocean with no cell service.
The Roaming Rider 
Stifles are so tricky because issues there can be related to fitness, arthritics, problems further down etc etc etc.
I know for May, she gets chemical support for her hind end because she has some changes back there. Mostly, those changes are normal, but they are also partially due to the fact that she really just isn’t built for her job. She is built to pull a cart… at a walk.. uphill… but we both like eventing, so she gets the support she needs.
However, I also know that nutrition and fitness really help us expand the intervals between necessary injections.
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Luckily she said his stifle is just fine – a little puffy from being used a bit wonky from the bigger issue up high in the pelvis but the stifle itself is one item I can cross off a list of potential issues. She said to ride him too which also gives me hope it is a weird muscle issue and not a structural flaw. We will see what meds, some riding and a bunch of time ff do for him
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Breathe! Who knows how he pulled the nail? Tricia was brilliant at getting into all kinds of nonsense. Once we worked on laterals and she pulled torso muscles and needed the bet equivalent of icyhot for a week with rest. He’s going through a ton of changes right now. Who knows what old injuries or changes in ways of going your making that will show up funny for a bit while they release whatever old nonsense they’re holding. He’s eight, he’s basically a 14 yr old human. He’s got millions of miles left on him. Does the chiro do massage work too? Sometimes a good rub down and release makes all the difference.
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But but but panicking and running down the rabbit hole of doom is so much easier than calmly breathing and thinking!! LOL!
She did chiro, acupuncture and massage for him. You do have a great point though and really lately all my rides have been focused on getting him to carry himself straight and upright so maybe he is just getting sore from actually using that big rear end of his in a normal manner. Why you have to be sensible????
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I was thinking the same thing as Jenni. After my ride yesterday my abs were killing me because I’m using them more. It seems to me that maybe Eeyore is feeling the same. Or he could have tweaked something being an idiot out in his field. I wouldn’t get the shovel quite yet…..
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Lol! Bc Tricia is a bit of a Murphy’s Law horse too and panicking comes sooooo easy! But then sometimes it’s really just a pulled muscle and she’s being a big wuss and emotional about it. But you’re making major balance changes lately-which you’re doing slow and easy and right, but still doing! We made some changes to Tricia’s balance in a lesson, and the next day her ankles looked like volleyballs. I absolutely lost my crap, and the trainer told me to breathe, and sure enough they were normal the next day and weren’t a problem again. When we make balance changes we open up lymph flow and sometimes stuff shifts. It’s weird, and finger-nail biting, and then its over. Your guy has a new saddle(s) and a new way of carrying himself. It might take a bit.
Your vet sounds amazing! I’d love to have a vet that did all three at the same time. My friend does horse massage and Tricia loves her, but then we have to schedule the vet for the rest. Sounds like an awesome set-up!
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I echo the advice to breathe and don’t stress so much! Some changes are normal and also keep in mind, that just something could be wrong in the future doesn’t mean it will be. Yes, he might have issues with his hind end in the future, but you’re not going to retire him now because the vet doesn’t like his hind end (yes, I’m over simplifying stuff). Is he actively off now? I’m struggling to figure this out.
Part of me says, if he’s comfortable doing the job you’re asking him to do, them let him be comfortable doing that job. If you get to the point that he’s NOT comfortable doing the job you want him to do, then reevaluate assuming he’s not lame now. You’re not out there jumping 3′ right now… But, all of this depends of what’s wrong with him now which, again, I can’t quite figure out based on your post.
Batt has a some soundness issues with his hind end that actually are worse when he has too much time off (I’ll see it when I start riding him again). So, keep that in mind. Glucosamine and msm help him so there’s that. Chemicals would probably help too if he were to stay in heavier work, but jumping isn’t in the cards due to brain problems (haha). Anyway, retirement isn’t always the necessary answer.
Finally, if you stopped breathing again? BREATHE!!!
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He sin’t off as in lame steps, but he is quite sore to the left hip just in front of the SI and behind the end of the saddle. I had her come out more for routine work than for a specific issue though I did point out to her that he is particularly sensitive to massage to this area. When he report came back wit “head bob going right” I freaked out since that was what I dealt with him all last summer.
I’m not retiring him…its just where my head went last nigh when I read her report. He is happy as can be and is getting his hooves done as we speak in prep for a lesson tonight.
The only thing I am concerned about after talking with the vet is that she doesn’t think the left pelvis issue is a chiro issue. She is worried there is something structurally going on which is why I am a bit worried.
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Hey, I’m all doom and gloom and determined my horses are going to die several times a month so we’re all good.
This help and don’t stress too much. Part of it might just be how he’s build that the vet is feeling and he could be fine. He could be sore just because you’re making him work and use himself and it’s HARD working properly! As those muscles develop it’ll get less hard and he’ll be less sore and life will be good.
Of course, my horse was dying on Tuesday and I was planning for life after Batt. Now I’m angry at him because he’s feeling fine thanks to medication and he’s costing me a fortune so I 100% understand brains and reactions and overly dramatic reactions. It’s me. Lol.
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I agree with what’s been said so far as well. Also, I think that with some maintenance, he can be a perfectly capable lower level steed! He’s clearly enjoying his life thus far!
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Oh he is enjoying himself these day for sure!
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Equioxx can be a miracle worker – hopefully he’ll feel a million times better when the inflammation is gone! And definitely keep riding, good fitness and conditioning is key 😉
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I hope so. He felt really good under saddle last night and we hadn’t started it yet so fingers crossed
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Fingers crossed the equioxx is enough. The stifle is such a giant shitty joint, the majority of horses see a lot of improvement with SI injections and they don’t always need to be done annually – especially if you do lots of more PT type flatwork to keep him even afterwards.
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