Would you play it safe or risk it??

Samantha008

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Ok so the situation is....(sorry its really long- all those that get to the end need some chocolate cake!!)

My mare is a diagnosed wobbler. Yep, most would have had her pts, my vet told me shes a write off.

Hospital vet told me to have more hope, its only an injury thats causing it not a genetic condition (as is the case with most wobblers) and theres a chance she could come right. So give her a long time off to heal- recommended 2 years.

Im not daft and know shes never going to be the horse i thought i was buying, but id genuinely be happy with a happy hack for the time being, whilst im at uni etc.

So....my situation is this. The diagnosis was about a year ago now. Shes been turned away for the past year. The vet told me if it was going to get worse it would in the next 6 months. If she was going to get better, i would see a difference in the next 6 months.

So- shes put all her weight back on and i havent seen her trip for a long time. Shes not great with her feet and is still clumsy (standing in feed bowls etc), but baring in mind she used to fall to her knees...she couldnt do trotting poles AT ALL and any ground that was slightly testing would make her trip. Nowadays, she does trotting poles perfectly (ive only walked her over them and trotted her a few times- in hand), ive seen her trip once in the past 6 months (some horses without neuro problems trip more than this), and i cant decide what to do with her...

My decision is- start bringing her back in to work, or leave her for the next year as the vet originally said. Ive spoken to the hospital vet(leading neuro vet in the country), he says to make my own decision, as unless i take her back to the hospital for more x rays etc he wouldnt be able to tell me for sure, and nobody will insure her anymore and i dont have enough money to take her back to the hospital, just to check(ive got money in case of emergencies but dont want to use that in case i need it). Cant use my own vet as hes made his mind up about her and i know hed say to forget about it as i quote "horses never come back from this".

My head tells me to leave her for another year- just to make sure shes ok before i bring her back. I really dont want to make the wrong decision. But anothe rpart of me says that this *could* be degenerative and in a few years she could really go down hill, if it gets knocked again etc, and i dont want to waste time when im 99% sure shed be safe to ride. 100% sure shed be safe on the roads with tarmac. You geuniely wouldnt know theres anything wrong with her-shes 100% sound. The weight on her back wasnt ever the issue...so that wouldnt be a problem. The field rest was to limit movement to allow the bone to heal.

Im pretty sure i will just leave her for another year. Im not in a hurry to ride her... i just dont want to be a mug and waste a year if i dont have to.

What would you do??? How do i check????

Ive tried having another horse, in fact ive been through two???!!!, but its not lexi and, id rather have her as a pet than a horse that isnt her that i can ride (serious fluffy bunny here). Bleurgh. Sorry for the essay!!!
 
TBH i would leave her as advised by the vet for another year, try and save the money for the xrays and then say this time next year get the xrays done and take it from there. she sounds like she has improved a lot. xx
 
Sounds like my boy trips more than yours does now. He's awful for not picking his feet up and has gone right down twice on the road! Why don't you do some in hand walking with her? Take her out for walks and see how she is coping. After a couple of weeks of good walking everyday then think about riding
 
id keep going over trotting poles in hand for a while and take everything really slowly with her - if shes ready, why not? dont be too quick though
 
You've already said that you'd rather have her as a pet than another horse to ride, so why risk it? I'd leave it a year, or at least until you've saved enough to have her re-xrayed.
 
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