HufflyPuffly
Well-Known Member
So I posted a little while ago that I was concerned about my show pony. She seemed to be struggling with right canter in the school and generally was getting trickier to keep sound on hard and uneven ground (I posted more about the canter issue last time).
So I debated about the physio, who then couldn't get out to her for a week or so, so I did a bit more supplying work with her and she really seemed to even up and her canter became easier, which makes me think that it was just a case of use or lose it with regards suppleness and perhaps I need to do more to keep her going now! However the niggle that she wasn't quite right still persisted.
Over the past two seasons she has become gradually harder to keep comfortable over hard/uneven ground, I put this down to her arthritis but decided to get the vet out to look into joint injections to see if they would help. She was never lame as such just a little more unwilling and careful. I had just changed vet practices so thought it an ideal time to get some fresh eyes on her! He agreed that injections might help and would at least rule it out as being problems with her fetlocks. However said that with her symptoms he would be inclined to think there was a hoof issue occurring as well (the arthritis has been diagnosed by x-ray so we know it is there), despite having no other symptoms we decided to test for Cushing as a precaution as she did react to the hoof test.
Results today are positive, its a bit of a shock when she looks so healthy, (bright shiny coat, hair normal, not weeing excessively etc) but good that we know and can treat her. I'm super impressed with the vet for picking up on it, as it would have been easy to blame her existing condition for the symptoms. Though feel bad that she has probably had this a while and weve not associated her mild symptoms with it! It would explain why she couldn't go barefoot last winter and perhaps why her mud-rash is tricky to get rid of, but hindsight is a wonderful thing!
So I just wanted to say thank you to all that commented and gave advice last time, and a word of wording to others, horses do not have to look like a cushings horse to have it!
x x x
So I debated about the physio, who then couldn't get out to her for a week or so, so I did a bit more supplying work with her and she really seemed to even up and her canter became easier, which makes me think that it was just a case of use or lose it with regards suppleness and perhaps I need to do more to keep her going now! However the niggle that she wasn't quite right still persisted.
Over the past two seasons she has become gradually harder to keep comfortable over hard/uneven ground, I put this down to her arthritis but decided to get the vet out to look into joint injections to see if they would help. She was never lame as such just a little more unwilling and careful. I had just changed vet practices so thought it an ideal time to get some fresh eyes on her! He agreed that injections might help and would at least rule it out as being problems with her fetlocks. However said that with her symptoms he would be inclined to think there was a hoof issue occurring as well (the arthritis has been diagnosed by x-ray so we know it is there), despite having no other symptoms we decided to test for Cushing as a precaution as she did react to the hoof test.
Results today are positive, its a bit of a shock when she looks so healthy, (bright shiny coat, hair normal, not weeing excessively etc) but good that we know and can treat her. I'm super impressed with the vet for picking up on it, as it would have been easy to blame her existing condition for the symptoms. Though feel bad that she has probably had this a while and weve not associated her mild symptoms with it! It would explain why she couldn't go barefoot last winter and perhaps why her mud-rash is tricky to get rid of, but hindsight is a wonderful thing!
So I just wanted to say thank you to all that commented and gave advice last time, and a word of wording to others, horses do not have to look like a cushings horse to have it!
x x x