It happened again.

[J_sarahd]

Thank you everyone for your stories. I think I feel slightly better about things in terms of what it means for Nova’s future. Although I have told myself that this is the last big treatment she is having. Her little body doesn’t deserve to go through anything else major - especially after the kissing spine and colic too. It might sound heartless, but I’m emotionally and financially spent.

I’m most dreading a) the cost of all of this as, even though I’m insured, my excess is a fair amount and after paying for the excess of the kissing spine and the colic, as well as the 9 weeks in rehab, I don’t know where I’ll find the money tbh as well as the money for diesel, extra bedding and hay and b) the box rest - I live about 25 mins from the yard so going up twice a day for at least 4 weeks is going to be a lot. On top of that, I’m meant to be at Badminton for the full 5 days, which will be about 2 weeks into box rest.

My mind is really going a thousand mph and I’m trying to work (and completely failing right now)

 

[Squeak]

This might be a terrible suggestion as I don't know what treatment you've been recommended but can you just turn her away to give her a chance to heal and reset and yourself a chance to recover too? I think I saw you mention yesterday that you didn't have the facilities to turn away but could you put her somewhere on full grass livery even if it's further away?

 

[J_sarahd]

We’ve been recommended N&F. I would love to just turn her away for a year but I am worried that if turning her away doesn’t fix her then I’ll be out of my claim to then go on to do any treatment to fix it. Plus, my yard has a pretty long waiting list and people never really move on, so if I sent her to grass livery, I wouldn’t be able to afford two sets of livery bills and I’d lose my space.

If I had the land/money, then yes. But then I’d probably also be in a position to get something else too to muck about with haha.

 

[Lucky Snowball]

I’m really sorry you and Nova are going through all this. Could you get help from friends just so that you can have a proper break and enjoy Badminton. Nova might still be a riding horse in the future and if she isn’t then at least you know you did everything possible. Good luck.

 

[J_sarahd]

I’m really sorry you and Nova are going through all this. Could you get help from friends just so that you can have a proper break and enjoy Badminton. Nova might still be a riding horse in the future and if she isn’t then at least you know you did everything possible. Good luck.

Thank you, I think I will because like you said I am in need of a proper break. I’ll wait until my rehab plan and then ask around, especially if there’s bandage changes involved.

I’m hoping she will be one of the success stories but also knowing how wrecked her little body is, I’m preparing myself for the worst

 

[HufflyPuffly]

I went in a different direction, I had an 18 year old been there done it out at PSG diagnosed with PSD and 'some' changes to the back but not clinically significant for a KS diagnosis. Plus a 8 year old, clear on the back but PSD and SI disfunction.

The 18 year old was an easy choice to not do surgery and retire from dressage, we injected her back just in case, she was never lame and is thriving in the hacking life, but we do have good hills so it keeps her fit. She is 22 this year and looks great.

The younger horse the vet wrote off (a whole other story and I wont use that vet again), with her I gave her 6 months field rest, then slowly brought her into work. She's been back hacking two years and has done the odd fun ride and the odd jump, she looks great! However, I think with horses like this they take all your energy, time, money in keeping them on the narrow tightrope of being able to be a functional competition horse, so I made the choice to let her just be a hack. I am tempted these days to see if she could cope with more, but I did buy a baby horse to concentrate on instead.

I hope Nova is one of the success stories for you!

 

[J_sarahd]

The surgery was successful and I should be able to pick her up on Friday. I won’t lie that I’ve been thinking it would be just easier to pts - obviously will see if the surgery works and if it helps her. But I keep saying that this is the last “big” thing I’m putting her through. If she breaks down further - in a few months, a few years, whenever - then I know it’s kinder to her to say goodbye, especially with all her current issues and the fact she is just 5.

Trying to stay positive that I’ll get a few happy years with her doing the stuff we enjoy (within her capabilities, whatever that looks like now) but I’m also not going to be one of these owners who keeps fixing things just because “she’s young”. The last 5 months have already been emotionally (and financially) draining. Like I’ve said before, I’m well aware that she will break down quicker/sooner than a “healthy” 5 year old.

Sorry, it’s still fairly raw

 

[Bernster]

You and she have had to deal with a lot and you’ve gone above and beyond. I hope this works out for you.

As you’ve mentioned it (I didn’t want to be insensitive!) if you get to a point where you don’t think you or she can manage, retirement or PTS are valid choices imo. I had a lovely young mare and spent 3 years on/off trying to get her sound, she had 3 issues, probably linked but they came up at different times. After the 3rd diagnosis, I turned her away for a year. Many moons later, she’s still there (with Aus) and happily retired (mostly) and happy. She just wasn’t up to ridden work.