2 unsound ponies now .....

Ambers Echo

Ambers Echo

Still wittering on
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13 October 2017
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Ginny is 10 weeks into a 12 week walking rehab after 3 months no work and should be upping the work in 2 weeks. But I am not convinced she is right. She is sound but seems guarded. She has been out of work since May.

And Max is now lame too.... intermittent hind limb lameness. Vet has seen him lame (July) sound (August) lame (week before last Friday), sound (Monday) lame (Friday just gone.) Always left hind. Xrays tomorrow.

Katie has been so patient, looking after Ginny since May and never complaining but i know she desperately misses riding and and I so, so hope Ginny is ok and can come back into work. But If she does need a few more months off I might need to start thinking of loaning a pony over winter for Katie. But I'll potentially have 2 invalids to care (and pay) for so not sure I can manage it really. Even assuming I could find a sound and sane pony to loan.

Pointless whinging post really! Just send some vibes please for good news on Max and Ginny!
 
If they aren't sound over the winter - and I hope they are - can't Katie just have a winter with no riding? No point in struggling to make ends meet, she's old enough to realise that.
 
Nari said:
If they aren't sound over the winter - and I hope they are - can't Katie just have a winter with no riding? No point in struggling to make ends meet, she's old enough to realise that.
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Yes she could have a winter with no riding (which would would mean pretty much a year with no riding). She knows that having a pony is a long term commitment and you take the rough with the smooth. It would not enter her head to expect another pony while Ginny is off. But she is only young and is watching me and Izzy having a fabulous time on Amber and Jenny and I feel really badly for her. Izzy does share Jenny but it's not the same really as having one to call your own, to develop a bond with. I won't bankrupt myself but it;s something I am beginning to consider.
 
Is she not riding Ginny every day doing the walking rehab? it may not be riding in the way should wants to but is a great way to spend time with the pony hacking out for as long as possible when light allows, working on simple things such as transitions, softness and getting them marching along in front of the leg, it will pay dividends if and when they can do more, at this time of year I would be putting the time in on the ones I had and only consider another if I had to next spring.

It is tough and not helped by having twins but I would make the best of what you have and encourage her to enjoy doing what she can with Ginny in the hope she comes right.
 
Walking rehab is only 10-15 minutes a day. And sadly Ginny is so aggressive/defensive that she can't spend general chilling/grooming time with her either. It's all very low-key handling with a focus on safety.

I agree walk-work can be incredibly useful. I still do loads of that kind of work with Amber and it's a good idea to gove Katie a focus in the short ridden time they have.
 
Any possibility of a share pony on your yard? Anyone need a horse exercising? I know its not the same as having her own, but could be good experience.

Another member of the 2 lame horse brigade here. I think the people in the house by our bridlepath just think I take my horses for walks like oversized dogs :rolleyes:
 
SEL said:
Any possibility of a share pony on your yard? Anyone need a horse exercising? I know its not the same as having her own, but could be good experience.

Another member of the 2 lame horse brigade here. I think the people in the house by our bridlepath just think I take my horses for walks like oversized dogs :rolleyes:
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Sadly not at the moment. I have asked!

I feel awful having 2 lame ponies - as if somehow I have done something wrong. But I know it''s just bad luck. Hope yours recover well x
 
No response to any of the blocks. Nothing showing up on Xray. Vet now recommending scintigraphy. He is 3/10th lame on left hind. I am wondering about just turning away for winter and seeing how he is in Spring? Any thoughts? Cost isn't a factor as he is insured but I went through all the Leahurst palaver with Ginny and the outcome was rest anyway. How often do they actually find a clear, treatable issue and even when they do how often would Dr Green sort it out anyway given enough time? I really don't know what to do.
 
No they haven't but they did block them with no improvement. He is sore over his back but vet thinks that is secondary to the hind limb soreness.
 
Nothing so far. The vet said he just does not want to start treating anything till he has better information to guide his decisions. Also that treatment itself could muddle the workup results. So he wants to wait a week or 2 to let Max recover from the nerve blocks then send him to Leahurst for Scintigraphy. Ginny did have hot spots over her back but they were able to tell that these were secondary to her lameness.

I could try physio and field rest first or instead??
 
If none of the blocks made him sound and there is nothing to suggest an area of concern then I would look at the back, get a really good physio to assess him fully, as it could be the primary issue especially as the lameness has not been constant, from memory the first sign was when he was being sold which could suggest a change of rider/ work could have caused a back problem to be more acute, then go and come back, it would be best to rule it out before going for further tests which may still be inconclusive.
 
I'd ask for a visit from the chiro vet, if he was mine. She can take on board all the history so far and assess him for herself. Or contact her, with his history, and see if she recommends the scintiagraphy first, seeing as the insurance is paying.

She used to work at Leahurst, she was a high powered vet in her own right before she went down the chiropractor route. You can travel to her if she doesn't come out your way.

Dr Angela Holland, Equine Veterinary Wellness Clinic.
 
The way I look at it if they're insured is may as well get the investigations done.
If the outcome is rest you've lost nothing and at least you know what you're dealing with.
Whereas turn away first, by the time you've bought the horse back into work you might be out of time to pick up the investigations again under the insurance if the problem does rear it's head again.

If the horse isn't insured then I do think field rest first isn't a bad idea as you may have to pay out either way but that may be prevented if the field rest does its job.

There is of course the factor that field rest could make it worse depending on what the problem is, which is hard to decide when investigations aren't yet complete.

That's just my approach anyway. I can quite understand why with 2 broken ponies and teenage girls you might want to turn him away!
 
Pulled Ginny;s full time-line together for the vet so I double checked dates - and she was actually in work till July not May. Not that it makes any difference but I don't want to mislead.

Max's vet is strongly recommending scintigraphy and that feels sensible so I have agreed to a referral.

Tiddlypom, I have looked at that Chiro's website and she looks very impressive. I will contact her next week I think after talking to my own vet first.
 
Totally feel your pain, We have three out of four currently on the sick list - one permanently, one with a limited future and one that will hopefully come right. The fourth is retired but fortunately not for health reasons. It's heartbreaking not to mention expensive and it makes me realise I took for granted all the years we were lucky to have sound healthy horses. I hope you get some answers re Max soon and Ginny's rehab is successful.
 
Thinking of Ginny and her behaviour, somehow the subject of Leahurst came up today during a visit here by an equine professional. He has been told first hand by a vet that she never recommends sending a horse there, as they can all too often come back mentally fooked up. For eg , when vet students are to be taught how to put on a twitch, maybe 15 students will take turns to put one on during the same session, one at a time, on the same horse :oops:. There's not many horses who wouldn't get peed off if that happened to them.

I do just wonder how many of Ginny's issues are down to her stay there. I've certainly heard independently of other horses coming back from a stay there in a very stressed state. It's why I thought maybe a total break and 24/7 turnout with mimimal handling was worth a try.
 
Tiddlypom said:
Thinking of Ginny and her behaviour, somehow the subject of Leahurst came up today during a visit here by an equine professional. He has been told first hand by a vet that she never recommends sending a horse there, as they can all too often come back mentally fooked up. For eg , when vet students are to be taught how to put on a twitch, maybe 15 students will take turns to put one on during the same session, one at a time, on the same horse :oops:. There's not many horses who wouldn't get peed off if that happened to them.

I do just wonder how many of Ginny's issues are down to her stay there. I've certainly heard independently of other horses coming back from a stay there in a very stressed state. It's why I thought maybe a total break and 24/7 turnout with mimimal handling was worth a try.
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On the other side of the coin, my mare was there for four weeks in one go and seemed delighted by the whole experience!
 
Ambers Echo said:
Pulled Ginny;s full time-line together for the vet so I double checked dates - and she was actually in work till July not May. Not that it makes any difference but I don't want to mislead.

Max's vet is strongly recommending scintigraphy and that feels sensible so I have agreed to a referral.

Tiddlypom, I have looked at that Chiro's website and she looks very impressive. I will contact her next week I think after talking to my own vet first.
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I would recommend Angela Holland to anyone, she is incredible. She was my vet at Leahurst years ago and earlier this year she worked wonders with Polly and due to her we were finally able to work out what the problem was.
 
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