Michen
Well-Known Member
I'm still not talking to him after his loading drama (and he's apparently not talking to me either judging by his aloof attitude when I visited yesterday) but the horse has dodged the bullet yet again.
I'm trying really hard to find a reason to have him PTS but he's refusing to give me or my poor vet one
So the bone scan revealed:
Front feet are red hot. I'm a bit disappointed by this given he is much sounder since the navicular bursa injections and tildren and his boots but I guess it's to be expected as it's only 7 weeks post him barely being able to turn a corner.
Back feet are fine
Hocks are warm
Fetlock v slightly warm.
Back is slightly warm in places.
I'm waiting to hear about whether the surgeon feels the back is operable. We already have back x rays and know there are a few vertebrae touching so if they match up to the heat he may well have the lig snip op. In normal circumstances my vet said the warmth wouldn't really be something we would operate on straight away, probably try injections. But given his loading difficulties and the fact he's currently not in work it seems like a good idea to do something if we can.
Still a bit concerned about why he's constantly resting and shifting his back feet so often. I counted 4 times in a minute yesterday. We know he's lame in them and the vet says it would be unlikely he would have DDFT injury, collateral ligament tears etc when nothing like that showed in front. No money left to MRI so taking my chances on that. I'm hoping it's just because he's been trying to take the weight off his front feet so much. Or perhaps his hocks are bothering him as he's been in no work so they aren't being kept active. We are x raying the hocks tomorrow as well to have a look there. They don't bother me hugely, two of the best horses I know have arthritis in their hocks and it certainly hasn't held them back.
All in all, no where near as bad as I expected. I was fully expecting his back and sacriollac to be an obvious point of pain. Given the horse has likely been in pain for a long, long time (his legs started shaking two years ago) and still raced I think it's pretty amazing that he's not lit up like a Christmas tree. Bless him, he really is determined to live! I had a very frank convo with my vet and she said if those feet aren't improving in 3 months I need to re think whether he's ever going to be okay as a riding horse and to PTS. I'm confident I'm doing the right thing with his feet going down the barefoot route so hopefully this will work out!
Anyway, as ever the support on here has been completely amazing so I'm going to try and make this post slightly more interesting with a few photos of the celebrity himself! Here is a few from our exhausting, stressful, journey since he left the track in November.
Arrival...
My OH who clearly knew what I (and subsequently he) was in for with this animal...
Generally just being a total dude and poppet at silly Christmas gymkhana games. He was one of the most laid back out of most of the horses there despite being 4 weeks off the track and never having been in an arena with other horses before. In hindsight maybe he was so laid back because his feet hurt!
Laughing in my face at the newly extra high voltage electrified fence because the ****** kept escaping from his medical paddock. He would break free if I was slightly late bringing him in for his dinner or he just fancied a wander around the yard. I have to admit I was rather hoping his shoes would touch the fence slightly here...
Just generally being deceivingly cute... He had finally started coming out of his shell here instead of being quite and depressed.
I'm trying really hard to find a reason to have him PTS but he's refusing to give me or my poor vet one
So the bone scan revealed:
Front feet are red hot. I'm a bit disappointed by this given he is much sounder since the navicular bursa injections and tildren and his boots but I guess it's to be expected as it's only 7 weeks post him barely being able to turn a corner.
Back feet are fine
Hocks are warm
Fetlock v slightly warm.
Back is slightly warm in places.
I'm waiting to hear about whether the surgeon feels the back is operable. We already have back x rays and know there are a few vertebrae touching so if they match up to the heat he may well have the lig snip op. In normal circumstances my vet said the warmth wouldn't really be something we would operate on straight away, probably try injections. But given his loading difficulties and the fact he's currently not in work it seems like a good idea to do something if we can.
Still a bit concerned about why he's constantly resting and shifting his back feet so often. I counted 4 times in a minute yesterday. We know he's lame in them and the vet says it would be unlikely he would have DDFT injury, collateral ligament tears etc when nothing like that showed in front. No money left to MRI so taking my chances on that. I'm hoping it's just because he's been trying to take the weight off his front feet so much. Or perhaps his hocks are bothering him as he's been in no work so they aren't being kept active. We are x raying the hocks tomorrow as well to have a look there. They don't bother me hugely, two of the best horses I know have arthritis in their hocks and it certainly hasn't held them back.
All in all, no where near as bad as I expected. I was fully expecting his back and sacriollac to be an obvious point of pain. Given the horse has likely been in pain for a long, long time (his legs started shaking two years ago) and still raced I think it's pretty amazing that he's not lit up like a Christmas tree. Bless him, he really is determined to live! I had a very frank convo with my vet and she said if those feet aren't improving in 3 months I need to re think whether he's ever going to be okay as a riding horse and to PTS. I'm confident I'm doing the right thing with his feet going down the barefoot route so hopefully this will work out!
Anyway, as ever the support on here has been completely amazing so I'm going to try and make this post slightly more interesting with a few photos of the celebrity himself! Here is a few from our exhausting, stressful, journey since he left the track in November.
Arrival...
My OH who clearly knew what I (and subsequently he) was in for with this animal...
Generally just being a total dude and poppet at silly Christmas gymkhana games. He was one of the most laid back out of most of the horses there despite being 4 weeks off the track and never having been in an arena with other horses before. In hindsight maybe he was so laid back because his feet hurt!
Laughing in my face at the newly extra high voltage electrified fence because the ****** kept escaping from his medical paddock. He would break free if I was slightly late bringing him in for his dinner or he just fancied a wander around the yard. I have to admit I was rather hoping his shoes would touch the fence slightly here...
Just generally being deceivingly cute... He had finally started coming out of his shell here instead of being quite and depressed.
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