LeannePip
Well-Known Member
Is it 2016 yet?
At the tail end of 2014 we'd had a couple of good confidence boosting runs round a couple of hunter trials, bought a lorry, cracked on with some show jumping including DC in our first 1m and enjoyed several days on the hunt field and did our first novice dressage test and getting 64% all psyched up for an early un-aff run at Munstead in March, this was the first mistake, planning something more than a couple of weeks in advance!
From here things started going downhill considerably faster than they usually do when things start going well for us! so with a horse dropping weight by the day, refusing to do anything on the left rein and becoming increasingly mardy, we headed to Hampshire Equine for Teeth, Scoping and X-Rays. Teeth OK, need some follow up work from November as expected but on the whole 100x better and no progression with the Peridontal disease or Gingevitus. Scope Bad! lots of discolouration, ulcers of varying degrees and lots of other vet stuff that i cannot even begin to understand, in layman's terms it wasn't good news! Plus a burst blood vessel on the way down made the exam suite look like a massacre had taken place! X Rays on the back were clear and beautiful, nothing to report, x rays to the skull showed the left hand tempular Mandibular joint was compromised on the left hand side which would go part way to explaining her reluctance on the left, but whether this is a by product of the poor dentistry she has received in the past or the cause is hard to establish as this joint is generally over looked.
This is a couple of days before the scope - despite all the feed we could get into her 3-4x per day ad-lib haylege - nothing was sticking!
With instructions from the vet and a checkup 2 weeks in we were advised to keep a regular level of work up due to her history with UFP. We started the Omeprazole and waited . . .
6 weeks later all ready to go back for a check up and i get a call at 8am to tell me that Pip's stifle had completely locked and they couldn't get it free - Que a vet visit, 2 vets, 3 yard staff, 3 sedations and 2 hours later we had one unlocked but very sore horse in no state to travel to the vets
Take 2 a few days later and we made it to the vets for a less eventful scope this time no blood, no ulcers, and a perfectly pink tummy - waved on our way with blessings to carry on as normal and resume full work.
picture the following day:
Around this time we had a very frank discussion about Pips future, my aim to be competitive at something and Pips aim to be a happy hacker come hunter were always going to bump heads, after thinking long an hard i decided i was always going to be trying to get a square peg in a round hole, as talented and as promising as she showed potential to be, it was never easy and some days she was on side and some days she didn't want to play ball and it was breaking my heart. We decided she would either go to my Farrier and his partner for hacking and pub rides and a bit of fun, or have an extended field holiday on the farm and i'd find something else more suited to the job. Next mistake - thinking i could ever give her up!
Fast forward a week and confident with my decision, we went on a fun ride with some friends and hd such a lovely after noon cantering through open field, jumping all sorts and enjoying each others company with no pressure. Bliss! Fast forward to the next morning, i get another phone call at 8am - never a good start - to tell me Pips completely lame, hopping in from the field and trying not to bare weight on her off fore. Whether this has something to do with the ride or something she did overnight we don't know. I trotted her up as i always do when we get back from a comp and she was sound and happy on the concrete about 2 hours later, and when i went back a following 4 hours later to put a rug on she trotted over the field again as sound as a pound so who knows!
Please don't think i pushed a horse who had only just 'come right' she had been in full hacking work throughout her treatment for the ulcers and the vets were happy for her to go there was little difference between this ride than the ride we had been doing for weeks round the farm.
Initial thought was suspensory or abscess so called the vet out who thinks we are looking at either DDFT or Suspensory, she was very tender on the tendon and showed no reaction to hoof testers, so now we wait some more for the swelling to subside before we can scan, and my days now consist of frequent trips to the yard to cold hose, change ice boots, and muck out!
So thats it, looks like this summer is off the cards already and it hadn't even begun! Apologies for a very self pittying post but i have completely had enough of horses and vets!
At the tail end of 2014 we'd had a couple of good confidence boosting runs round a couple of hunter trials, bought a lorry, cracked on with some show jumping including DC in our first 1m and enjoyed several days on the hunt field and did our first novice dressage test and getting 64% all psyched up for an early un-aff run at Munstead in March, this was the first mistake, planning something more than a couple of weeks in advance!
From here things started going downhill considerably faster than they usually do when things start going well for us! so with a horse dropping weight by the day, refusing to do anything on the left rein and becoming increasingly mardy, we headed to Hampshire Equine for Teeth, Scoping and X-Rays. Teeth OK, need some follow up work from November as expected but on the whole 100x better and no progression with the Peridontal disease or Gingevitus. Scope Bad! lots of discolouration, ulcers of varying degrees and lots of other vet stuff that i cannot even begin to understand, in layman's terms it wasn't good news! Plus a burst blood vessel on the way down made the exam suite look like a massacre had taken place! X Rays on the back were clear and beautiful, nothing to report, x rays to the skull showed the left hand tempular Mandibular joint was compromised on the left hand side which would go part way to explaining her reluctance on the left, but whether this is a by product of the poor dentistry she has received in the past or the cause is hard to establish as this joint is generally over looked.
This is a couple of days before the scope - despite all the feed we could get into her 3-4x per day ad-lib haylege - nothing was sticking!
With instructions from the vet and a checkup 2 weeks in we were advised to keep a regular level of work up due to her history with UFP. We started the Omeprazole and waited . . .
6 weeks later all ready to go back for a check up and i get a call at 8am to tell me that Pip's stifle had completely locked and they couldn't get it free - Que a vet visit, 2 vets, 3 yard staff, 3 sedations and 2 hours later we had one unlocked but very sore horse in no state to travel to the vets
Take 2 a few days later and we made it to the vets for a less eventful scope this time no blood, no ulcers, and a perfectly pink tummy - waved on our way with blessings to carry on as normal and resume full work.
picture the following day:
Around this time we had a very frank discussion about Pips future, my aim to be competitive at something and Pips aim to be a happy hacker come hunter were always going to bump heads, after thinking long an hard i decided i was always going to be trying to get a square peg in a round hole, as talented and as promising as she showed potential to be, it was never easy and some days she was on side and some days she didn't want to play ball and it was breaking my heart. We decided she would either go to my Farrier and his partner for hacking and pub rides and a bit of fun, or have an extended field holiday on the farm and i'd find something else more suited to the job. Next mistake - thinking i could ever give her up!
Fast forward a week and confident with my decision, we went on a fun ride with some friends and hd such a lovely after noon cantering through open field, jumping all sorts and enjoying each others company with no pressure. Bliss! Fast forward to the next morning, i get another phone call at 8am - never a good start - to tell me Pips completely lame, hopping in from the field and trying not to bare weight on her off fore. Whether this has something to do with the ride or something she did overnight we don't know. I trotted her up as i always do when we get back from a comp and she was sound and happy on the concrete about 2 hours later, and when i went back a following 4 hours later to put a rug on she trotted over the field again as sound as a pound so who knows!
Please don't think i pushed a horse who had only just 'come right' she had been in full hacking work throughout her treatment for the ulcers and the vets were happy for her to go there was little difference between this ride than the ride we had been doing for weeks round the farm.
Initial thought was suspensory or abscess so called the vet out who thinks we are looking at either DDFT or Suspensory, she was very tender on the tendon and showed no reaction to hoof testers, so now we wait some more for the swelling to subside before we can scan, and my days now consist of frequent trips to the yard to cold hose, change ice boots, and muck out!
So thats it, looks like this summer is off the cards already and it hadn't even begun! Apologies for a very self pittying post but i have completely had enough of horses and vets!
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