Diva - The Story So Far...

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Worried1

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Firstly thank you all so juch for your messages, it was really comforting knowing that people were thinking of us. We dropped Diva off on Sunday evening, it was so weird seeing her stable empty, it really hits home just how much of a personality she is when she is not there.

I pottered around trying to keep busy, so took the opportunity to torture Blitz with some beard trimming and mane pulling which in his usual sadomasochistic way he loved and went off to sleep!

I then waited for the dreaded phonecall which came at lunchtime yesterday.

Well firstly the good new...
Is that it is not kissing spines, or her ovaries.
They x-rayed her spine which is absolutely fine, and the scans on her ovaries show nothing of any clinical significance.
Flexion tests revealed nothing other than a slight gait alteration on the left hand side which is consistent with soft tissue damage.
Both her hock and stifles are fine and show no clinical signs of damage or soft tissue injury which is brilliant.

Now the not so good
They wanted to see her ridden so Mark agreed to ride her for the vets so they could see her behaviour undersaddle. We all agreed that her back on the left hand side just behind the saddle was very sore, hot and that she showed significant discomfort.
It was horrible to see her grind to a halt and say no, almost like she was holding her breath.
Having seen her lunged and undersaddle, as well as the gait alteration on flexion tests, the vets think it is most likely to be a muscle strain which has resulted in a chronic muscle spasm.

So we have brought her home on two weeks total rest with lots of Danilon, Tensol applied 4 times a day over the affected area for 6 days, Physio and massage from a professional then applied heat treatment. (Have gone out and bought her a brand new pink fluffy hot water bottle!
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She can only wear minimal rugs which is horrible as she is clipped out. So she wears a cotton sheet during the day, a thin poly at night and a lightweight cotton lined turnout rug (all of which are pink to keep her spirits up
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After two weeks we can re-introduce work and re-assess how she is. If there is no imprivement then they will bone scan her.
I have had her saddle fitted and re-checked by David Dyer two weeks ago at Frogpool but just to be on the safe side we have asked him to come back out and take another look to rule out the possibility of the saddle causing problems.

Her hard feed has been cut right back and the head girl has told Diva she must be good in the field with no acrobatics as she needs to rest her back, apparently she obeyed her today and was very sensible. Lets hope she keeps it up!

So it is a bit of a waiting game but I feel much happier having ruled out kissing spines and ovaries.

Even just without her usual rugs on she is so much happier so I am hopeful that with time she will soon be back on track.

The regionals are a no, no but I don't care, the main thing is getting her back right and making her happy again.

Will keep you all posted, but thank you again for your messages, it is really nice to have people who I know understand what I am going through.

Love
Emma
xxx
 
VERY interesting about the rugs...as you know I am having trouble with P ATM and she has had physio as she was V sore behind her saddle on the near side - thing is, she keeps pulling massive faces at me and foot stamping when I put her heavy TO on....think I might leave it off and see if we improve matters.

Thanks so much for the update, I do hope the course of action works wonders for her
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When I spoke to the vet she said imagine you are walking around with a lead apron on (you know the ones you wear when you are holding a horse to be x-rayed.)

It has made me really think about rugs and their weight because she was getting really twitchy with lots of face-pulling when she was being rugged and would also paw the ground.

She was clearly trying to tell me she didn't want the rugs on. Hope you see an improvement with yours soon.
 
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Thank you - how is Patrick?

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He is fine thankyou although his glands are starting to come up again now even though he hasn't been turned out so I can only assume the grass is starting to pollinate again. I tell him on a regular basis that he is still really ill though as it seems to keep him happy
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God this is the same with Star aswell...the change in her at the moment is huge and i put a post about it last week. She used to be soo calm about rugging/grooming etc but at the moment she tries to kill me everymorning when doing rugs....

She's very strange ridden at the moment aswell...last week i put it down to just being fresh but she is still the same this week - fairly calm in walk but ask to trot and she just feels like she wants to explode and go everywhere else but forward. Looked at her saddle and decided wasnt a problem so thinking of getting back person out yet again, maybe Mctimathy or somthing like that???

Em - glad to hear its nothing too serious hun, im sure she will be fine
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Funny isn't it! Diva has settled very quickly into the whole patient/victim role remarkably well too.

Hopefully she will believe she is made of glass and be sensible!
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Ahh so glad it's not kissing spines, I did think it sounded like it might be but didn't want to say anything and make you feel worse before you had the results. Fingers crossed for a qucik recovery
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Brilliant news that it isn't kising spine or her ovaries.

I echo what Weezy has said about the rugs. Olympic always has a paddy when I'm doing his and the thought that his rgs might be making him sore didn't occur to me, it's food for thought.
 
Stallion on our yard had a mild back problem just behind the saddle diagnosed as soft tissue. Basically he was weak there and it was always the first point to feel the strain. He's ad many shockwave treatments on that area over the last few months, the muscle has built up and he is fine. He's stayed in some form of work throughout this.

Just though it might be worth knowing if the current plans don't work out.

Good luck I hope Diva is back on full form very soon.
 
Glad to hear that the awful possibilities have been ruled out! Phew.

Hope that Diva feels much better soon and that she doesn't get too cold! I'm sure she will enjoy being a patient....
Kerilli - those heat lamps look brilliant! I'd love to have those installed.
 
That's better news than expected, you must feel relieved. Fingers x'd she makes a full recovery and she's back working in a couple of weeks
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Funny you should say about the rugs.....whenever I have come across a horse that is sore in his back....this is the first sign......Rugging......they object, ears back and resist....

In my opinion a good physio, heat treatment and manipulation can work wonders....you can even massage and if your girl is sensitive she will tell you where she wants a rub.....it worked with my boy....
 
Really pleased that it doesnt appear to be serious and that you have an action plan.
Sending lots of treats and hugs for Diva, keep us updated with her progress
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Vet did say they could shock wave her if we were desperate to get to the regionals but I would rather used that as a last resort if all else fails.

Hils had shock wave which worked really well but his was used as part of a treatment for kissing spines.
 
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