A positive post for those with 'broken' horses - pic overload

Perissa

Perissa

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I can't update my original thread posted in 2007 and updated in 2008 so I've copied it here if you'd like to read it so you know what I am talking about.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2512947/page/0/fpart/1/vc/1

I have finally uploaded some pics taken in August.

This is why I persevered..... pics taken after only three weeks schooling (baring inmind the above)!

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Getting a polo for being such a good boy
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And yes I cried like a baby
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My goodness, I really don't know what to say, what a story. The time and money you've put into getting him sound and back into work and I can see why, you obviously adore him, he's a gorgeous boy and very lucky to have you.

Here's hoping you have many years of happy riding together
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Thanks brilliant! He is beautiful!!! Lovely pics, especially the 4th one where you are laughing! You are MORE than ready for some good luck. xxxxxxx
 
Beautiful pics & what an amazing story. Congratulations to you both & very best wishes for the future. You deserve it after all that.
 
Well done to you both - my horse had a nasty tendon injury 2 yrs ago and was told he had a 40% chance of even being field sound. However he has been 100% sound for the last year and this summer we have even started competing again - last weekend he flew round a 3ft sj course and has been out cubbing since Aug, so the moral is 'Time, Time and more Time'!
Wishing you much luck and happy times together .....
 
What a lovely ending, to such a terriable story! what a special boy you have, i wish you both lots of happiness and fun for the future!
 
He is gorgeous, no wonder you love him, the amount of money you have spent is frightening, I would have given up, well done for your strength and determination
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I'll be honest V - I didn't think he would ever come right but he is an absolute credit to you. Well done for sticking with him and not giving up. Now I want to see you on board and bringing home the ribbons!! Yay for Dennis!
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Thank you all for your lovely comments. I must admit that I have been to hell and back on our journey but if you knew Dennis, like I know him then you'd know why I did it.

Hedgewitch -
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, you know the lengths I have gone to in order to do just that. I'm having my knees done in a couple of weeks, will be off work for a couple of months. I just want to lose another couple of stone and I'll be on board. He's still itching by the way
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Good luck with your op and yes I know what you are saying. Please don't lose too much more weight V - you are looking good as it is - seriously!
Dennis is very lucky to have you as a mum. I'm sure the outcome would have been different if you hadn't had him
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Yes I did wonder about his itching... I guess you won't get to the bottom (ha!) of that, he may grow out of it though!
 
he is stunning, absolutely beautiful.
Well done for persevering, I'm sure many would have given up long ago.

All the best for a long and healthy future together
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He is lovely, thank you for posting this, it is always good to hear positive stories - gives us hope that our broken horses may one day come right.
 
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It might sound sentimental but if people knew him they would know why I've done what I've done. He really does have the most incredible temperament. For instance, even after the vet stuck Dennis with enormous needles straight into his joint without the need for sedation, he still greeted him as a friend. I still get taken aback by the sort of person who calls horses, or any animals for that matter, 'it'. They are living breathing beings with emotions (not human ones!) and instincts. They know who their own special human is and quite frankly I feel sorry for the people who don't experience that bond, horses to them have a price - well NOT this one!!
 
I wrote this article for an International Glossy Arabian Magazine - it was published last year. Its long so don't feel you have to read it!

For the love of a horse
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After searching the UK high and low I found the perfect horse in Llandysul Wales at Louise Maryon’s Ffos Farm Arabian Stud.

Ecuador is by Orashaan (Maysoun x Orasha) X Ferelith (MA Alisha X Fianza). Dennis, as he is known at home was a 15.1hh, two year old grey gelding, the year was 2002 and after meeting Dennis I knew within a couple of minutes that he was coming home with me. His super friendly and cheeky temperament endeared me to him immediately. He was and is everything that Louise described to me.

He won at the Wales and West ‘C’ Show with Louise as a yearling gelding, I showed him with success at various ‘C’ and county shows in the following years. He was even shown once in hand by Darren Crow, who stepped in when my regular handler was not available!

As he was so well grown at four years old and already 15.3hh, he was backed by Lucinda (Cindy) Sims, a very well known and highly respected AHS panel judge. She spotted his potential immediately and described him as a future HOYS winner. After backing he was then turned away for the winter. As a five year old Cindy rode him to 5th place in his first ridden class at the Wessex Spring show after only 4 weeks schooling.

Cindy commented that he was one of the easiest and most trainable horses she had ever known. A testament to his fantastic temperament. He is a people pleaser and will try his hardest to do what you ask him to do.

In April 2005 I attended a lunging and long lining demonstration with Dennis and the trainer Robert Pickles FBHS, an international trainer in the disciplines of dressage, showjumping and eventing. Robert was so taken with Dennis he became our trainer. Once again he commented on how trainable Dennis was. He described him as talented with expressive paces. I’m pleased to say that Dennis changed Robert’s perception of the Arabian breed.

We continued our successes showing in hand, even gaining a 3rd place in spite of being shown by myself (a major handicap!) at the British National Championship Show in 2005 in the Home Produced Class.

In December 2005 disaster struck, Dennis’s field companion kicked him at point blank range in the shoulder. A couple of months box rest followed and he slowly started to be ridden again. However it became apparent that things were not quite right; Dennis would shorten his stride on the right side when asked for any kind of contact or collection, yet only when wearing a saddle. The vet suspected that he may have broken a rib, more box rest followed and then brought back into work again. The symptoms remained the same with the real mystery being that he was not lame but would shorten his stride on the right when asked to work in an outline. Numerous x-rays revealed nothing so the vet suggested a bone scan. This revealed a ‘hot spot’ within the glenoid cavity of his right shoulder joint. There was nothing else for it but surgery to see what was going on inside.

What follows is an abbreviation of a long and complicated recovery process.

By now it was June 2006. I am extremely fortunate in that my vet practice is one of the leading equine veterinary hospitals in the UK - The Liphook Equine Hospital. My vet Mr David Lloyd, assisted by another two vets, performed the surgery and discovered a subchondral cyst like lesion caused by trauma to the bone within the joint whereby the bone itself had turned to the consistency of crumbly cheese which had to be debrided. With the lesion removed it was now up to Mother Nature.

Dennis was extremely unwell following surgery, which was long and more complicated then originally thought. Later in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) when his catheter was removed Dennis started spurting blood profusely which soaked most of his face (he put his head down), neck, shoulder and entire leg in bright red blood. It took 5-6 hours for Dennis to stop shaking once the bleeding had been stopped, then he was allowed some hay which made him shake alarmingly. It was feared he was coming down with colic as he got very warm and clammy with severe trembling. As Dennis’ main love in life is FOOD I felt that his reaction was entirely due to the fact that he'd had no food for such a long time, and suddenly being able to eat again had made him come over like this. He had a handful of hay which was gone in 5 minutes and half an hour later a little more, and so it continued so that he didn't stuff himself and give himself colic!

Dennis was due to come out of ICU the next day, but developed severe diarrhoea, he made a good job of redecorating the walls. His bloods were taken and regular faecal samples and he was put onto Barrier Nursing. No-one was allowed to touch him apart from the Nurses and myself – and I was given strict instructions not to touch any of the other horses.

To top this off he threw a full on brat attack! He couldn't see what was going on as he was kept behind bars, and being a busy hospital meant that horses were trotted up and down outside his stable. The medication meant he could feel no pain so that was it - all the toys chucked out of the pram. I could tell they thought he was being a typical silly Arabian and I really wanted to say ‘it’s got nothing to do with him being an Arabian, he's just being a brat because he can’t see what was going on!’

He was sedated to stop him damaging himself. He slept it off by snoring- literally.
Hours later David, the vet was doing the rounds just as Dennis decided to blow bubbles in his water bucket, something he does to amuse himself, David thought it was hilarious. A little later Dennis had perked up enough to notice that he had a creamy white thing instead of a tail following him around the stable. He stopped to look at it and discovered that his tail was gone and replaced by something else which he could bite (his tail was bandaged because of the diarrhoea). He walked round and round in circles just like a puppy does chasing its tail. I laughed so much my cheeks hurt.

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A week later thankfully his swabs came back negative and the main worry of salmonella poisoning had passed, so he was allowed home to yet more box rest.
I am fortunate in that I live and work close to the yard which made frequent visiting possible. As Dennis’s life revolves around food I visited him at least 5 times a day. I also kept my Shetland Ponies loose in the yard to keep him company.

In July 2006 his joint was medicated with an injection of HYLARTIL™ VET (sodium hyaluronate) which helps horses' joints heal faster. It lubricates joint tissues, reduces friction, alleviates pain and improves joint action. As it is quite expensive it is usually used on performance horses but nothing was too good for Dennis. He also started to have regular sessions with the Equine Physio Jenny Hadland.

At this time, I had printed in The ******* Magazine, my thanks to everyone who sent their good wishes to Dennis for a speedy recovery. I had been quite overwhelmed with all the messages of support we received, especially through the Arabian Lines Forum – Dennis had become a minor celebrity!

In September 2006 Dennis had masses of x-rays and the vet couldn’t quite believe that the cavity, left behind after debriding the lesion, had completely filled in with new bone. No sign of arthritic changes AT ALL. The joint was again medicated with an injection of Hylartil. The cartilage was still healing so the bad news was two more months of box rest. I became somewhat of an expert in keeping him amused whilst on long term box rest!

In November 2006 he was declared sound by David and Jenny but was still on box rest. Under instructions, I started to take him for walks in hand as well as various stretching exercises and massage. I also treated him with ultrasound and made a worthwhile investment in a muscle stimulator machine. He wore magnetic boots and I should mention that I regularly fed him herbs alongside regular joint supplements.

The next few months we took two steps forward and two steps back, quite literally unlevel, sound, unlevel, sound, unlevel, sound. When sound, he has shown us brilliance hence my perseverance and never giving up hope of riding him again. Throughout all of this his incredible temperament shone through and he never lost his zest for life, another reason for my perseverance and keeping faith.

Then in March 2007 David enthusiastically told me about a brand new gene therapy treatment called IRAP which had until then only been used in human medicine.

A major bonus of the treatment is that it is not a drug as it is made with the bodies own gene's so will not contravene any competition regulations meaning that competition horses can still compete after having the treatment!

As far as I am aware Dennis was the first horse in the country to receive this treatment in his shoulder. The treatment is said to revolutionise the treat of arthritis and although showing no signs of arthritis he had major joint surgery which inevitably damaged the cartilage. This treatment actually stimulates the body to produce new cartilage and the results in other horses have been phenomenal when used in lower limb lameness.

In June 2007, a year after surgery, Dennis was declared sound and work on the long lines began. I can’t begin to describe how we bonded from miles and miles of walking in hand. Something he enjoyed immensely. However I knew things still weren’t quite right with Dennis gait. His movement was restricted, not unsurprisingly, through his right shoulder although the Physio found he had full range of movement and certainly was in no pain. I resigned myself to the fact that Dennis would not be the performance horse that Cindy, Robert and I believed and dreamed he would be. I doubted that he would ever be ridden again.

Jenny suggested a rehabilitation yard called Equine Mechanics, so following an assessment he was booked in to stay for 6 weeks. The results were truly outstanding and unbelievable. Jill Stone had him working correctly within 10 days. She taught him how to move again and use himself properly. He loved every minute of being in work again and after 6 weeks she rode him for the first time - you cannot imagine my delight when he took to it like he had never been away, let alone spent the last 18 months on box rest. I was so delighted that he ended up staying at the rehabilitation yard for three months. After which I regularly took him back for assessments.

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With winter approaching we decided that Dennis would not be ridden over the winter but would continue to tick over by working on the long lines. His muscles would strengthen naturally from being turned out in the field and then return to ridden work in the Spring.

The rollercoaster of heartache and tears of the last 18 months were at last behind us and we had a future to look forward to – or did we?

Fate dealt us a very cruel blow when routine x-rays in October 2007 showed the subchondral cyst had returned. My beloved boy was on borrowed time, his joint was medicated again which may prevent it fully forming or just delay it – we just didn’t know. I could not afford to have him operated on again. I was devastated and having spent £35,000 up to that point I had to stop myself remortgaging the house again. I was finally forced to accept that I could not afford to keep up with all his physio, rehabilitation and vet fees. It isn’t about money - it’s about what was best for my friend.

I had no choice but to let him be a pasture pet and see what Mother Nature came up with. We didn't know if he would be Ok for another 6 months or 6 years but one thing for sure was that I would do everything I possibly could. He had spent so much time in the stable that I thought it best to turn him out for the summer and let him be a horse.

Does the story end there …………. NO!

For the last two years Dennis had x-rays taken of his shoulder every 6 months. We may have withdrawn treatment but I still wanted to know what was going on in there so sure enough in April 2008 he was x-rayed again.

April 2008
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October 2007

As you can see the cyst is still there but with new and dense bone surrounding it. The best part was that he was sound so the vet told me that whatever I was doing was the right thing and that I should continue doing it. I told him that I hadn’t done anything; Dennis was turned out 24/7 so he told me to continue doing that then!

Everyone was telling me how well Dennis looked that I started to contemplate showing him again. I asked a friend who happens to be an AHS panel judge to look at him and give me her opinion. She told me to show him! So in for a penny, in for a pound I duly entered him at the British National Championships. Having a confidence crises I had Jenny, the Physio, check him over again a few days beforehand and asked yet another judge to look at him the day before his class. All agreed that although not in show condition he looked well so why not!! My main worry was that people would be unkind about him without knowing his story and knowing what a truly incredible horse he is.
I was a nervous wreck the day of his class. As he was living out he was not clipped, trimmed, primped or preened and was literally straight out of the field. I wouldn’t mind betting none of the others were as au-naturel. A bath and some gloss on his face and he was ready.

He made me so proud; he trotted all the way around the huge ring completely sound, with a pleased look on his face. Whilst all around him were whirled and twirled he looked at them as if to say ‘What are you doing’, I loved him even more then ever before at the very moment.

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He held his own in what was a very strong class of 18 entries forward and although unplaced he was sound unlike some of the others!!

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Dennis has given me so much to hope for and already fulfilled many dreams and ambitions. We may not fulfil our full potential but I really don't mind. Then again Mother Nature is a funny thing and he still has youth on his side. He is my dream horse and has allowed me to dare to dream. For example, I never dreamt that I would have a horse placed at the British National Championships let alone winning a bronze medal the UK International at Towerlands. He's been 1st in good company and he's been last in good company but do you know the best bit, he's my friend and I love him no matter what.
 
What a journey you have been on this last 4 years

A cold reminder of how life can change in one instant

Well done, I wish you all the best x
 
I've been following the traumatic story of Dennis on another forum - so pleased to see he's back under saddle and looking the picture of health. Congratulations!
 
I am overwhelmed reading both these threads...I had no idea.
We had the pleasure of meeting the gorgeous boy quite a few years ago now.
Thank goodness you were able to persevere, he is still as stunning as ever and I hope and pray for you completely on the road to recovery.
Wow!
 
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