Delicious_D
Well-Known Member
You will have to bear with me, i am an over-emotional mess where i am so unbelievably happy.
Delicia has been on-off lame for a VERY long time, it started getting worse in December last year where she would go crippled but no one (vets, farriers, physio's etc) could work out why. With rest she improved, but as the year went on, her attitude changed. She became almost unridable with it building up until August there i spent over an hour with a horse rearing and throwing herself around, being bloody dangerous and i was stuck in a forest. I would try and pat her to relax her and she squeeled. Something was very wrong. But i couldnt dismount as i knew dee and i knew she would bolt. I couldnt risk it. I coaxed her home. What is a 5 minute walk took over an hour with her planting and refusing to budge. I remember getting her back, untacking her and she was suddenly fine again. I went home and cried. My horse was telling me something was wrong but despite having very experienced people around me, no one knew what was up.
The next day she was lame in all four legs, as the day progressed she became sound but then the following day she was presenting lami-type symptoms in both hind feet with a very strong digital pulse, sweating and generally very unhappy. I called the vet, the vet thought and absess and told me to poltice her. I knew it wasnt but i polticed anyway and prayed for pus.
I took her off all sugars and gave her soaked hay and grass nuts only. I bandaged all four legs and prayed the next day she would be fine. She wasnt, and there was no pus. However her pulse had gone down and she seemed a little more comfortable so she was on complete box rest with a very deep bed.
After a week she had no heat anywhere, her pulse wasnt up but she was very stiff. We walked very gently in hand and called the vet for advise. I got a new chiroractor out who noticed some real issues in her pelvis and back. She was very sensitive and becoming hard to rug up, becoming nippy when a rug was moved on her, something she never does.
As the months progressed Delicia yo-yo'ed between being lame and then fine. Under vet instructions we rode her in just walk and a little trot and she seemed ok. We progressed to cantering in straight lines and that seemed fine. I eve managed to take her into our cross-countru field for a little canter and she seemed fine.
Three days later she wasnt fine, she was dead lame again and this time she didnt come sound. The treatments were not holding and at that point i called tha vet and told them i needed this investigating more.
We lunged her both on hard surfaces and soft and they couldnt pick up on what i could see, it was really rather frustrating! Luckily, i had the backing of my trainer and friend, who knew the horse as well as I and we both knew something was very wrong.
In the end the vet said they would xray her back, but not until i had a saddler come out. The saddler came out and said the saddle was fine but my mare must have pulled a muscle in her back. This echo'ed the vets thoughts but i knew deep down this wasnt a torn muscle. So they xrayed, not thinking they would find anything. They did. She had 8-9 impinging processes with new calcification. They were shocked and immediately booked her in for a bone scan the following week.
As i dropped her off at the vets, i was shaking like a leaf. I gave her a huge hug and lots of kisses and was terrified of what was going to happen to my beautiful horse.
The 'kissing spine' term was used a lot and i was told to get myself ready to make a big decision concerning Delicia's future. I was heartbroken and very, very scared. They bone scanned her and it came up with numerous issues. Alongside nerve blocking in her back, SI join and both hind suspensories she was diagnosed with Kissing spines, SI disease, and increased bone uptake in her offside hing fetlock and nearside hind pastern. This combined with some heat spots in both her suspensories made the vets stuned. They couldnt believe up until now Delicia had not being showing symptoms.
Looking back, she had, its just they were so subtle we didnt put two and two together, there was always an excuse for her 'bad' behaviour, not once did i suspect a pain response. I felt gutted and so unbelievable guilty.
The vets, however, were amazing. I made it aware i didnt want Delicia to go through an operation but in all fairness, it was never offered to me. The kissing spines although present, are not the main area of concern, her sacro-illiac joint is. It showed bone remodelling that should not be there.
So a plan of action was afoot. Delicia was to have Depo-medrone injections (steroids), Tildren treatment and shockwave therapy. Then she would be coming home!
Delicia was an angel for the vets, i think she knew they were trying to help and so she took the treatments very well and the next day, was discharged from horspital after a 5 day stay with orders to be on box rest for 3 days then to start lunging in a pessoa and walking in hand to help further aid her treatment.
Poor Delicia has dropped over 100kg of weight in a few weeks. She looked dreadful. Have had ulcers in the past i was worried the stress would cause them to re-occur so she was put on adlib hay and a high fibre only diet. With the help of some very supportive HHO'ers, i added micronised linseed to her diet. The best thing ever.
So we have been doing everything the vet ordered. Lunging 4-5 times a week in the pessoa, gradualling increasing the intensity and adding trotting poles so she engaged her hind end more the help the SI joint. She has been an angel and with the work programme, hacking in hand and 3 feeds a day, she looks better then ever.
She had her second shockwave thereapy 2 weeks ago and the vets said i needed to start riding her again. Just gentle walk and trot only, and only if sound, but it would be the only way i would know if the treament was helping. It was a 50:50 chance Delicia would be ok, and it was mentioned if she was still humping under the saddle and rearing etc, the treatment hadnt worked and we would be looking at a very poor prognosis.
So....today.... i decided i needed to know. All these months of heartache and worry, i needed to know my overgrown pony was going to be okay. I needed to know for both me and her, for if she was still in pain i would end all treament and fully retire her. Very, very careful i tacked her up, checking her for any signs of discomfort or pain. She moved a touch but nothing more then that, there was no pain response so i did up the girth loose at first and gave her ten mins to adjust to the weight again. She proceeded to stuff her face
. Clearly stressed . After hopping about the yard puting my own boots on (i prolapsed 2 discs in my spine in september and have DDD now), so trust me, i cannot bend all that great so putting boots on is, erm, interesting. Luckily i didnt faceplant and so we were good to go. I took her to the mountblock and lowered myself into the saddle.
I needn't have worried, she was fine. I gave her a pat and walked to our indoor school. I cannot tell you the feeling, she felt a lok stronger and more secure then she has ever felt before! Before her diagnosis, it felt as thought she was very unsecure in her pelvis and snatching her hind limbs up, but there was none of this now. I walked about on a very loose rein, allowing her to adjust her own position to what was comfortable and focused on what i could feel.
Although her gait seemed shorter, it was more correct. She did run off throught he bit but waited. She was more correct in her bends on a large 20m circle and wasnt falling away from my right leg (the calcification is worse on the right side).
I even did a very sneaky trot. Only a long side on both reins but..wow! We did it.
All these months of heartache, uncertainty, the relief that finally someoen listened and agreed something was wrong, the upset over her diagnosis and worry over her prognosis, it was all worth it. I had my horse back!
I brought her to a halt and ran my hand down her neck like i always do. She breathed out slowly, a nice relaxing sigh, and licked and chewed at the bit. She was happy. There was no sign of pain. I can still feel a little grelim in there, its very subtle and no one on the ground could see it, but i can feel it.
We are not there yet, by no stretch of the imagination, BUT it is a very positive step and i am over the moon. I have never been prouder of my horse. Her temperament and acceptance of all the nasty horrid things we and the vets have done. She has behaved wonderfully. Walking back to the yard she disgraced herself shying at...wait for it...a pile of poo. *shakes head*. Have said this, she felt lovely and loose as she passaged past.
Delicia has been on-off lame for a VERY long time, it started getting worse in December last year where she would go crippled but no one (vets, farriers, physio's etc) could work out why. With rest she improved, but as the year went on, her attitude changed. She became almost unridable with it building up until August there i spent over an hour with a horse rearing and throwing herself around, being bloody dangerous and i was stuck in a forest. I would try and pat her to relax her and she squeeled. Something was very wrong. But i couldnt dismount as i knew dee and i knew she would bolt. I couldnt risk it. I coaxed her home. What is a 5 minute walk took over an hour with her planting and refusing to budge. I remember getting her back, untacking her and she was suddenly fine again. I went home and cried. My horse was telling me something was wrong but despite having very experienced people around me, no one knew what was up.
The next day she was lame in all four legs, as the day progressed she became sound but then the following day she was presenting lami-type symptoms in both hind feet with a very strong digital pulse, sweating and generally very unhappy. I called the vet, the vet thought and absess and told me to poltice her. I knew it wasnt but i polticed anyway and prayed for pus.
I took her off all sugars and gave her soaked hay and grass nuts only. I bandaged all four legs and prayed the next day she would be fine. She wasnt, and there was no pus. However her pulse had gone down and she seemed a little more comfortable so she was on complete box rest with a very deep bed.
After a week she had no heat anywhere, her pulse wasnt up but she was very stiff. We walked very gently in hand and called the vet for advise. I got a new chiroractor out who noticed some real issues in her pelvis and back. She was very sensitive and becoming hard to rug up, becoming nippy when a rug was moved on her, something she never does.
As the months progressed Delicia yo-yo'ed between being lame and then fine. Under vet instructions we rode her in just walk and a little trot and she seemed ok. We progressed to cantering in straight lines and that seemed fine. I eve managed to take her into our cross-countru field for a little canter and she seemed fine.
Three days later she wasnt fine, she was dead lame again and this time she didnt come sound. The treatments were not holding and at that point i called tha vet and told them i needed this investigating more.
We lunged her both on hard surfaces and soft and they couldnt pick up on what i could see, it was really rather frustrating! Luckily, i had the backing of my trainer and friend, who knew the horse as well as I and we both knew something was very wrong.
In the end the vet said they would xray her back, but not until i had a saddler come out. The saddler came out and said the saddle was fine but my mare must have pulled a muscle in her back. This echo'ed the vets thoughts but i knew deep down this wasnt a torn muscle. So they xrayed, not thinking they would find anything. They did. She had 8-9 impinging processes with new calcification. They were shocked and immediately booked her in for a bone scan the following week.
As i dropped her off at the vets, i was shaking like a leaf. I gave her a huge hug and lots of kisses and was terrified of what was going to happen to my beautiful horse.
The 'kissing spine' term was used a lot and i was told to get myself ready to make a big decision concerning Delicia's future. I was heartbroken and very, very scared. They bone scanned her and it came up with numerous issues. Alongside nerve blocking in her back, SI join and both hind suspensories she was diagnosed with Kissing spines, SI disease, and increased bone uptake in her offside hing fetlock and nearside hind pastern. This combined with some heat spots in both her suspensories made the vets stuned. They couldnt believe up until now Delicia had not being showing symptoms.
Looking back, she had, its just they were so subtle we didnt put two and two together, there was always an excuse for her 'bad' behaviour, not once did i suspect a pain response. I felt gutted and so unbelievable guilty.
The vets, however, were amazing. I made it aware i didnt want Delicia to go through an operation but in all fairness, it was never offered to me. The kissing spines although present, are not the main area of concern, her sacro-illiac joint is. It showed bone remodelling that should not be there.
So a plan of action was afoot. Delicia was to have Depo-medrone injections (steroids), Tildren treatment and shockwave therapy. Then she would be coming home!
Delicia was an angel for the vets, i think she knew they were trying to help and so she took the treatments very well and the next day, was discharged from horspital after a 5 day stay with orders to be on box rest for 3 days then to start lunging in a pessoa and walking in hand to help further aid her treatment.
Poor Delicia has dropped over 100kg of weight in a few weeks. She looked dreadful. Have had ulcers in the past i was worried the stress would cause them to re-occur so she was put on adlib hay and a high fibre only diet. With the help of some very supportive HHO'ers, i added micronised linseed to her diet. The best thing ever.
So we have been doing everything the vet ordered. Lunging 4-5 times a week in the pessoa, gradualling increasing the intensity and adding trotting poles so she engaged her hind end more the help the SI joint. She has been an angel and with the work programme, hacking in hand and 3 feeds a day, she looks better then ever.
She had her second shockwave thereapy 2 weeks ago and the vets said i needed to start riding her again. Just gentle walk and trot only, and only if sound, but it would be the only way i would know if the treament was helping. It was a 50:50 chance Delicia would be ok, and it was mentioned if she was still humping under the saddle and rearing etc, the treatment hadnt worked and we would be looking at a very poor prognosis.
So....today.... i decided i needed to know. All these months of heartache and worry, i needed to know my overgrown pony was going to be okay. I needed to know for both me and her, for if she was still in pain i would end all treament and fully retire her. Very, very careful i tacked her up, checking her for any signs of discomfort or pain. She moved a touch but nothing more then that, there was no pain response so i did up the girth loose at first and gave her ten mins to adjust to the weight again. She proceeded to stuff her face
. Clearly stressed . After hopping about the yard puting my own boots on (i prolapsed 2 discs in my spine in september and have DDD now), so trust me, i cannot bend all that great so putting boots on is, erm, interesting. Luckily i didnt faceplant and so we were good to go. I took her to the mountblock and lowered myself into the saddle. I needn't have worried, she was fine. I gave her a pat and walked to our indoor school. I cannot tell you the feeling, she felt a lok stronger and more secure then she has ever felt before! Before her diagnosis, it felt as thought she was very unsecure in her pelvis and snatching her hind limbs up, but there was none of this now. I walked about on a very loose rein, allowing her to adjust her own position to what was comfortable and focused on what i could feel.
Although her gait seemed shorter, it was more correct. She did run off throught he bit but waited. She was more correct in her bends on a large 20m circle and wasnt falling away from my right leg (the calcification is worse on the right side).
I even did a very sneaky trot
. Only a long side on both reins but..wow! We did it.All these months of heartache, uncertainty, the relief that finally someoen listened and agreed something was wrong, the upset over her diagnosis and worry over her prognosis, it was all worth it. I had my horse back!
I brought her to a halt and ran my hand down her neck like i always do. She breathed out slowly, a nice relaxing sigh, and licked and chewed at the bit. She was happy. There was no sign of pain. I can still feel a little grelim in there, its very subtle and no one on the ground could see it, but i can feel it.
We are not there yet, by no stretch of the imagination, BUT it is a very positive step and i am over the moon. I have never been prouder of my horse. Her temperament and acceptance of all the nasty horrid things we and the vets have done
. She has behaved wonderfully. Walking back to the yard she disgraced herself shying at...wait for it...a pile of poo. *shakes head*. Have said this, she felt lovely and loose as she passaged past.
