A little BBP update

[BBP]

Just for anyone interested, I’ve had a few more diagnostics run on little BBP, as I wasn’t happy that a bit of chronic PSD could be responsible for his issues getting up. I also didn’t believe it was the RER.

We xrayed hind feet and found a flat plantar angle in both hinds, so definitely improvements needed. They did a full spine X-ray of all facet joints and no sign of significant arthritis or impingement in neck or back. Spinal processes are beautifully distanced throughout with no sign of impingement. Then did ultrasound of his back and have found he has chronic changes/desmitis of supraspinous and intraspinous ligaments in mid thoracic region. Then did a rectal ultrasound and saw remodelling of both sacral wings. So evidence of ligament strain.

I think that gives a much better explanation of why he was having such problems and had to gear himself up to get up as it hurt so much.

He is getting up normally still, and moving a lot better, and is full of beans and naughtyness. The sparkle is back in his eyes.

It won’t be easy. Rehab will be a delicate balance of enough work to develop his core and musculature to support the back and sacroiliac, whilst bearing in mind the suspensory injury. The first require work and the latter requires rest. If I get the balance wrong it could be a big problem. And the hypermobility behind increases the suspensory risk and affects how easy it may be to develop the heel. He probably will never be a ridden horse again, unless miracles happen, but if he can get up easily, play with his friends and be bright and cheerful as he should be, then I’m happy. Luckily he’s great fun to work with on the ground and loves to learn new things and play, so hopefully we will become masters of finding ways to work and play without riding.

The two photos show his typical stride prior to osteo/massage/etc etc etc (Bottom) and after (top). We have a long way to go but he is certainly more comfortable in his body already.



Now I just bury my head in the sand whilst I wait for the bill!

 

[Lots of Gift Bags]

That's been a long and painful journey for you both, glad you have answers at last. I'm sorry he won't be ridden again ?

 

[BBP]

That's been a long and painful journey for you both, glad you have answers at last. I'm sorry he won't be ridden again ?

It’s a weird feeling. But to be honest I kept feeling something wasn’t 100% right back when he was ridden, so it had taken the shine off riding as I was always wondering if he was ok, if i was doing the right thing. I can’t afford another horse so that might be it for me as a rider, other than the odd ride on my sisters horses. Hopefully BBP can join me on a lead rope for the odd hack out.

 

[Lots of Gift Bags]

Have you seen the book "52 corrective exercises"? Might help with ground work ideas to make him as comfortable as possible. You never know, you may get him strong enough to work again.

 

[rextherobber]

He's one of my favourite HHO horse, glad to hear he has his sparkle back! You followed your hunch and found some answers, he's lucky to have you - he looks so much better in the "after" picture.

 

[Michen]

All I can say is if I was ever to full loan out one of my horses and you were looking- you’d be my first choice as someone I’d entrust them with (not that you’d want either of the little twits!).

BBP hit the jackpot with you as his owner.

 

[BBP]

All I can say is if I was ever to full loan out one of my horses and you were looking- you’d be my first choice as someone I’d entrust them with (not that you’d want either of the little twits!).

BBP hit the jackpot with you as his owner.

That’s such a nice thing to say, thank you so much, cheered me right up.?

 

[BBP]

He's one of my favourite HHO horse, glad to hear he has his sparkle back! You followed your hunch and found some answers, he's lucky to have you - he looks so much better in the "after" picture.

He will be happy to hear he has a fan or two left! He would tell you all about how close he was to the needle and how he had to pull some epic recovery moves to get me to quit crying!

 

[BBP]

Have you seen the book "52 corrective exercises"? Might help with ground work ideas to make him as comfortable as possible. You never know, you may get him strong enough to work again.

It’s in my bookcase! Along with the Posture and Performance book I think they will be my new bibles. We will keep doing some trick training thrown in too as he loves it when we are just silly together.

 

[Valadictory]

All I can say is if I was ever to full loan out one of my horses and you were looking- you’d be my first choice as someone I’d entrust them with (not that you’d want either of the little twits!).

BBP hit the jackpot with you as his owner.

Exactly what Michen has said. Your love, dedication and commitment to him is extraordinary, he is so lucky to have you.

 

[Red-1]

I am so happy for both of you. With my horse, I too was caught in the core strength need V suspensory dilemma.

I actually think, that if you continue in the vein that you don't expect him to make a ridden horse, that in time he will do. It will be your lack fo pressure that wills the success. I know form my own ligament strains, they take much longer to heal than breaks. Like years instead of months.

A happy ending all round. Nothing beats the feeling that you have done the best for a horse.

 

[J&S]

"I actually think, that if you continue in the vein that you don't expect him to make a ridden horse, that in time he will do. It will be your lack fo pressure that wills the success "

That sentence epitomises what has happened to my mare. We retired her at 18 with various issues but now, at 23, we have been quietly hacking round the lanes as happy as a sandboy. So there very well might be light at the end of the tunnel! Have fun in the mean time with your ground work.

 

[BBP]

I am so happy for both of you. With my horse, I too was caught in the core strength need V suspensory dilemma.

I actually think, that if you continue in the vein that you don't expect him to make a ridden horse, that in time he will do. It will be your lack fo pressure that wills the success. I know form my own ligament strains, they take much longer to heal than breaks. Like years instead of months.

A happy ending all round. Nothing beats the feeling that you have done the best for a horse.

That’s sort of the vets approach, never say never but see how it goes. It partly depends I guess on if these are injuries from falls (I think so as it started after a big field fall) that can heal over time or if there is a hypermobility/ESPA/DSLD element that is making the ligaments more susceptible to strain. You’re certainly right on timeframes, my groin ligament strain i picked up playing hockey took years before it stopped bothering me.

 

[BBP]

He was making me laugh the other day, I was messing around at the far end of the arena, raking in holes the bunnies have made, and he would come trotting up to me with this big sparkly trot, eats sharply pricked, stop near me and stare at me. I’d say ‘what?!!’ And he would rear up, spin and take off, stop at the other end and then come bouncing back. He thought it was a great game.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

What a character! He's so lucky to have you. Good on you for pursuing everything.

 

[Trouper]

This is such a lovely caring story to read - not quite what you might have wanted to be doing with him but he clearly loves and trusts you. Who knows what might happen down the line but sometimes the journey is more enriching than the destination.
Please keep us posted on his progress.

 

[oldie48]

Please don't think of giving up riding, there are people (like me) with nice horses who for all sorts of reasons need a sharer but want someone competent and knowledgeable. My sharer is in a similar position to you and she says riding Rose is keeping her sane and she's really solved a big problem for me. Good luck with BBP he sounds a lovely horse with a sense of humour!

 

[Michen]

I am so happy for both of you. With my horse, I too was caught in the core strength need V suspensory dilemma.

I actually think, that if you continue in the vein that you don't expect him to make a ridden horse, that in time he will do. It will be your lack fo pressure that wills the success. I know form my own ligament strains, they take much longer to heal than breaks. Like years instead of months.

A happy ending all round. Nothing beats the feeling that you have done the best for a horse.

This makes so much sense. And is one of the reasons I'm doubling the recommended time for Bog with his ligament injury before bringing him back to full work.

When I think of various things I've done to myself in terms of ligament strains, it might "seem" healed but it can still cause a twinge for such a long time afterwards, I think time and a gentle bit of work as they do need to be under some "pressure" is a really sensible idea. For you that's all the ground work and for me that's hacking Bog out as much as I can on various different surfaces, mostly at a walk, for over a year. BBP I bet it will be similar for you, and I really hope that in a year or even two years time you'll reap the rewards of your approach.

We are always in such a rush to get our horses "back", which is ironic when we carefully rehab them, pay a small fortune to look after them, and then inevitably don't give them the time they need to heal. Even yesterday I was asked why I wasn't cracking on with Boggle.

BBP is so very lucky!

 

[GoldenWillow]

I'm glad you have some answers and that he's already feeling better.

Like the others I echo that he's very happy to have you as an owner and that if you were close to me I'd be very happy to have you ride mine as I'm struggling with my health.

 

[BBP]

I'm glad you have some answers and that he's already feeling better.

Like the others I echo that he's very happy to have you as an owner and that if you were close to me I'd be very happy to have you ride mine as I'm struggling with my health.

That’s very kind. There is of course the argument that if I was a better owner/rider we wouldn’t have got into this mess in the first place. I might have noticed more of the little things before they became big things. But it isn’t til they are big things that other people take you seriously. Even at the vets on Tuesday after trot ups they were saying he looks pretty good, can’t see a problem. I asked them to scan/X-ray/ultrasound anyway so I wouldn’t have to go back a third time.

I think I might be a one horse girl. My sister has two utterly lovely horses that she would gladly let me ride, but they just aren’t *my* horse. To have gone from getting decked by him daily to being able to ride around a big open field with no bridle, we developed something special between us. He’s just the brightest, most interesting ‘person‘ I know.

 

[chaps89]

BBP is a lucky pony. It's very clear from your posts just how much you both adore each other, and I wish you both the best of luck with his rehab.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

All I can say is if I was ever to full loan out one of my horses and you were looking- you’d be my first choice as someone I’d entrust them with (not that you’d want either of the little twits!).

BBP hit the jackpot with you as his owner.

That's such a lovely thing to say I think I would be crying if someone said that to me.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

It’s a weird feeling. But to be honest I kept feeling something wasn’t 100% right back when he was ridden, so it had taken the shine off riding as I was always wondering if he was ok, if i was doing the right thing. I can’t afford another horse so that might be it for me as a rider, other than the odd ride on my sisters horses. Hopefully BBP can join me on a lead rope for the odd hack out.

I am sure someone near you has a horse you can ride and help out with and you just never know he may come right he looks so much better in the recent pictures,I think some vets give you the doom and gloom I know it's happened to me there not always right

 

[ycbm]

You aren't even insured now, are you? He is one lucky, lucky horse to have you in his corner.
.

 

[BBP]

You aren't even insured now, are you? He is one lucky, lucky horse to have you in his corner.
.

Nope! I’m not sure there is a corner of him that is insurable now!

 

[BBP]

That's such a lovely thing to say I think I would be crying if someone said that to me.

It may have brought a little tear.?

 

[BBP]

Just in case anyone wonders why he is always broken...this is him this evening. Just full of himself! No winding up from me. He decided fat Dartmoor is a steer and he must be a cow pony and cut him from the herd.

 

[chaps89]

I love the photos of his acrobatics, but sometimes they make me wince and he's not even mine/my vet bill ?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

View attachment 57174View attachment 57175View attachment 57176

Just in case anyone wonders why he is always broken...this is him this evening. Just full of himself! No winding up from me. He decided fat Dartmoor is a steer and he must be a cow pony and cut him from the herd.

His such a character isn't he bless him I just love him

 

[BBP]

I love the photos of his acrobatics, but sometimes they make me wince and he's not even mine/my vet bill ?

He’s utterly hopeless. I could lock him in a small space for the rest of his life but to be honest rightly or wrongly I’m at the stage of accepting who he is and trying not to watch!