Marchtime
Well-Known Member
Well for all those who have followed the ups and downs of Jesper we've reached a decision.
On Tuesday Jesper retired. I got on and took him round the school for a leg stretch and whilst in walk and trot he was ok but not tracking up he physically couldn't canter. The vet suggested last time he came out that his hind suspensorys weren't great and it's now become clear.
For those who missed out a quick catch up - Jesper injured his LH suspensory aged 4yrs although recovered fine after treatment. Aged 8yrs we started a long investigation into his front fore lameness. He was bi-laterally lame although only 1/10th. MRI a few months later confirmed collateral ligament damage, worse in RF although present in both. After rest and treatment he returned to hacking aged 10yrs, however the combination of LH suspensory and RF collateral meant both were under constant stress due to him compensating and it seems he may also have injured his sacroilliac. In the last nine months he has been in and out of light work but each time he returns to work something else goes wrong.
I've got the physio coming tonight to check he's not in large amounts of pain (fairly certain he isn't as he's still happy). Vet is away in Spain for two months so will have him out on his return but only to confirm what we already know.
So Jesper is very happily muching hay and going out in his field. It's been a heartbreaking decision especially being that he's only 10yrs old. I don't know how he'll cope with retirement but we'll see.
To all those I've been PM'ing - keep your chins up. Just because Jesper never recovered doesn't mean others won't. And to all those who have offered endless support everytime I've asked for more treatment options or whether to put him on danilon (which we have done but only a low dose) thank you for your time and patience, I'm just sorry the story didn't have a happier ending.
On Tuesday Jesper retired. I got on and took him round the school for a leg stretch and whilst in walk and trot he was ok but not tracking up he physically couldn't canter. The vet suggested last time he came out that his hind suspensorys weren't great and it's now become clear.
For those who missed out a quick catch up - Jesper injured his LH suspensory aged 4yrs although recovered fine after treatment. Aged 8yrs we started a long investigation into his front fore lameness. He was bi-laterally lame although only 1/10th. MRI a few months later confirmed collateral ligament damage, worse in RF although present in both. After rest and treatment he returned to hacking aged 10yrs, however the combination of LH suspensory and RF collateral meant both were under constant stress due to him compensating and it seems he may also have injured his sacroilliac. In the last nine months he has been in and out of light work but each time he returns to work something else goes wrong.
I've got the physio coming tonight to check he's not in large amounts of pain (fairly certain he isn't as he's still happy). Vet is away in Spain for two months so will have him out on his return but only to confirm what we already know.
So Jesper is very happily muching hay and going out in his field. It's been a heartbreaking decision especially being that he's only 10yrs old. I don't know how he'll cope with retirement but we'll see.
To all those I've been PM'ing - keep your chins up. Just because Jesper never recovered doesn't mean others won't. And to all those who have offered endless support everytime I've asked for more treatment options or whether to put him on danilon (which we have done but only a low dose) thank you for your time and patience, I'm just sorry the story didn't have a happier ending.
