faerie666
Well-Known Member
Some of you may remember me posting a tribute to my old horse Robbie about 6 weeks ago.
Well, a couple of weeks before I had to make the decision to have Robbie put down, I took on Disco, one of the horses from work who didn't really seem to want to be a racehorse.
He had two months off in the field, then last Monday I fetched him home.
I was so excited, bought loads of new stuff for him (typically, most of Robbie's stuff wouldn't fit
) and was really looking forward to working with him.
I knew he was a horse with some issues, but I had a plan, and felt fairly confident I could overcome them.
So, last Friday I had the physio to give him a once over before I wanted to start riding him. She took one look at him, and told me I should get his back x-rayed before doing anything else, suspecting Kissing Spines
I was surprised to say the least, because he was regularly seen by a physio and a McTimoney chiro whilst in training for 2.5years, as well as the vet, and none of them ever mentioned it as a possibility.
This afternoon I took him to my vets to have the x-rays, and sure enough, it was the worst possible news.
There were Kissing vertebrae in several places, some mild, some so severe that the bones were actually starting to fuse, and my vet felt that even with surgery, chances of him ever being pain free were slim, so there was only one sensible decision I could make, and he was put down .
My vet also said it's a credit to his honesty, that he allowed himself to be ridden at all, without trying to kill anyone.
I took lots of photos and I was really looking forward to doing a before/after post about him in a couple of months, but there's no point showing you pictures of him looking poor, so I'll only post this one, because it shows his beautiful, kind face (and big lugs
)
RIP The Disco Kid
Well, a couple of weeks before I had to make the decision to have Robbie put down, I took on Disco, one of the horses from work who didn't really seem to want to be a racehorse.
He had two months off in the field, then last Monday I fetched him home.
I was so excited, bought loads of new stuff for him (typically, most of Robbie's stuff wouldn't fit
) and was really looking forward to working with him. I knew he was a horse with some issues, but I had a plan, and felt fairly confident I could overcome them.
So, last Friday I had the physio to give him a once over before I wanted to start riding him. She took one look at him, and told me I should get his back x-rayed before doing anything else, suspecting Kissing Spines
I was surprised to say the least, because he was regularly seen by a physio and a McTimoney chiro whilst in training for 2.5years, as well as the vet, and none of them ever mentioned it as a possibility.
This afternoon I took him to my vets to have the x-rays, and sure enough, it was the worst possible news.
There were Kissing vertebrae in several places, some mild, some so severe that the bones were actually starting to fuse, and my vet felt that even with surgery, chances of him ever being pain free were slim, so there was only one sensible decision I could make, and he was put down .
My vet also said it's a credit to his honesty, that he allowed himself to be ridden at all, without trying to kill anyone.
I took lots of photos and I was really looking forward to doing a before/after post about him in a couple of months, but there's no point showing you pictures of him looking poor, so I'll only post this one, because it shows his beautiful, kind face (and big lugs
)RIP The Disco Kid
, but I love thoroughbreds, preferably big ones (over 16hh), not too fussed on age, as long as they're not on their last legs, and I like them a bit quirky/characterful, as long as they're not dangerous.
