Paddy Irish
Well-Known Member
Morning all...
Paddy arrived at bristol vets at about 1pm after he left here at 9.20...he loaded perfectly which was a relief after 10 months of not going anywhere.
The first vet did his initial examination , just a basic ' in stable ' assessment and found back pain , and also neck pain , general stiffness one side etc.
The second vet ( the top bod Fellow of eqine orthopedics and surgery ) then took him to a proper examination room and started her bit - where the big oaf promptly stood on her toe
she was not a happy bunny.
Then followed walk / trotting up which showed lameness in his right hind , and front left with a keratoma in the coronary band above his cracked hoof ( he's always had the crack and lumpy c/band but never presented lame) , also as an added complication there is something amiss in his neck at about C3 vertabrae..
He was then lunged ( which i don't do because i'm crap at it ) but he was good as gold despite lameness. We then tacked him up - ha ha this is where the fun begins!! I rode first - bear in mind he's not been sat on for over 4 months Well he bucked everytime i went up the transistions - walk to trot - buck , trot to canter - massive buck - yikes , not nice especially as i had borrowed a hat which didn't fit !! Anyway then the proper rider got on and he was worse again - although the vets were laughing as he was trying to buck in the most gentle fashion as if ..ouch you're hurting me , but i wont dump you cos you're my friend..
The decision was taken then to give him a massive IV pain killer and we were asked to stay another hour , so i could ride again we'd been doing all these test for nearly 2 hrs , including a neuro vet examination which involved blind folding him and i've got to say at that point i could have wept for the poor guy - utter humiliation..
Anyway just over an hour later we tacked him up again and i rode first - no change, in fact he seemed more unbalanced than ever , still putting in the bucks but did begin to settle - then the proper rider rode him and after a few initial bucks he did begin to carry himself in a better outline , so the vet put this down to anticipation of pain and then realization that actually he didn't hurt any more.
So todays fun and games start with a nerve block of the front left , to take that out of the equation and then if he's still lame despit the block then she will do a bone scan of his back , hind limbs , neck and the fronts if lame.
I was quite proud of the boy really as the vet kept saying ' he's such a nice person that he's telling you in the only way he can that he's in pain' .
Now all i can do is wait for the scans to be done and go from there...and even if he comes back home as a field ornament - you know , i think with the courage he's shown , he's bloody well earned it!..
I finally arrived home at about 9.30 last night so it was quite a day.
Sorry this turned into a ramble , i shall try and keep the results short and sweet!
Al.
Paddy arrived at bristol vets at about 1pm after he left here at 9.20...he loaded perfectly which was a relief after 10 months of not going anywhere.
The first vet did his initial examination , just a basic ' in stable ' assessment and found back pain , and also neck pain , general stiffness one side etc.
The second vet ( the top bod Fellow of eqine orthopedics and surgery ) then took him to a proper examination room and started her bit - where the big oaf promptly stood on her toe
she was not a happy bunny.Then followed walk / trotting up which showed lameness in his right hind , and front left with a keratoma in the coronary band above his cracked hoof ( he's always had the crack and lumpy c/band but never presented lame) , also as an added complication there is something amiss in his neck at about C3 vertabrae..
He was then lunged ( which i don't do because i'm crap at it ) but he was good as gold despite lameness. We then tacked him up - ha ha this is where the fun begins!! I rode first - bear in mind he's not been sat on for over 4 months
Well he bucked everytime i went up the transistions - walk to trot - buck , trot to canter - massive buck - yikes , not nice especially as i had borrowed a hat which didn't fit !! Anyway then the proper rider got on and he was worse again - although the vets were laughing as he was trying to buck in the most gentle fashion as if ..ouch you're hurting me , but i wont dump you cos you're my friend..The decision was taken then to give him a massive IV pain killer and we were asked to stay another hour , so i could ride again
we'd been doing all these test for nearly 2 hrs , including a neuro vet examination which involved blind folding him and i've got to say at that point i could have wept for the poor guy - utter humiliation..Anyway just over an hour later we tacked him up again and i rode first - no change, in fact he seemed more unbalanced than ever , still putting in the bucks but did begin to settle - then the proper rider rode him and after a few initial bucks he did begin to carry himself in a better outline , so the vet put this down to anticipation of pain and then realization that actually he didn't hurt any more.
So todays fun and games start with a nerve block of the front left , to take that out of the equation and then if he's still lame despit the block then she will do a bone scan of his back , hind limbs , neck and the fronts if lame.
I was quite proud of the boy really as the vet kept saying ' he's such a nice person that he's telling you in the only way he can that he's in pain' .
Now all i can do is wait for the scans to be done and go from there...and even if he comes back home as a field ornament - you know , i think with the courage he's shown , he's bloody well earned it!..
I finally arrived home at about 9.30 last night so it was quite a day.
Sorry this turned into a ramble , i shall try and keep the results short and sweet!
Al.
