Back to Blogging?

Back to Blogging?  Well, Maybe.  Maybe Not.

I only say that because I often have very good intentions about writing these wonderful, insightful blog posts that rarely come to fruition.  But often I, when I'm struggling or unsure of something, I return here to write about it and that helps me work it through.

Jessie has had a trying year.  After the colic last August, she had a lameness issue in February.  I gave her March and April off and she was still lame in her front left.  I took her to a "lameness specialist" and ultrasounds and x-rays revealed nothing definitive.  We were instructed to give her another 60 days off then re-check.

Now, I'm not sure what the doctor was going to re-check.  He hadn't found anything on the first go.  I gave her stall rest and massage the tendon that was suspected.  I wrapped and applied liniment and gave her and anti-inflammatory.

After two months off, instead of going for the re-check, I took her to an Equine Spa that specializes in conditioning horses.  They have an underwater treadmill, an Equi-Vibe machine, and a hot walker. They also have a very caring staff and I knew Jessie would get excellent care.

She started out with just 3 minutes on the treadmill, a few on the hot walker, and then finished on the Equi-Vibe.  Each day they increased the treadmill by a minute.  I don't know the exact details of the progression, but by the end of the month she was doing some strenuous work in the treadmill.

And, when I picked her up she was looking quite buff.

Jessie Before

Getting her work in on the hot walker.

Going home day.  Love the braids.

She came home July 21st and we've had about half a dozen rides since.  The last four I've done groundwork after the ride (the early morning rides were essentially walking for 2 hours and I thought we needed to actually get some work in).  She hasn't shown any sign of lameness and she appears to be in really good shape.

Since she has come home, I've been trying to keep all the horses worked/ridden.  It's been a challenge, but a fun one.  Each of the horses have a different personality and it's neat trying to figure out how to ride them accordingly.  Jessie loves to move and is not afraid of anything.  Scratch loves to move and is ever on alert.  Dusty hates to move and can be brave one step and scared the next.

Working it Out

Keeping the Moving Parts Moving

Jessie has not been getting the work she needs while I've been off training Scratch (See Scratch's Blog).  Part of the reason I took on the Scratch project was to give Jessie a little break.  She has seemed a bit "off" since she stepped in a gopher hole a few years back.  It's not a consistent enough injury to get checked out.  Her limp seems to come and go sporadically.  The four months of the competition with Scratch would be a good hiatus for her...or so I thought.

Back on August 28th Jessie had a bout of colic.  My usually healthy, easy keeper, went south.  We got her to the vet and he took care of her.  Thank goodness it wasn't too bad a case and she made a full recovery.  It was probably noticeable back then, but I was to busy with Scratch to see it.  She didn't whiny or act up when we left for training so I thought she was okay with it.  The lack of work took its toll on her.

Scratch's competition ended on October 11th and, while I'm still training him, I gave Scratch a week off to recover from the arduous prep work we had done in the weeks leading up to final days.  When I got on Jessie to ride she was lamer than ever.

Now normally I would take her to the vet.  What was stopping me was the way she acted at feeding time.  In the mornings I would walk by her pen to get to the hay stack.  She would bounce around like a bucking bronco.  No sign of limping here.  Her tantrums were big as she kicked her back feet high above the top rail of our 5 foot panels.

I started taking her on short easy rides.  We would trot a few steps, then walk - mostly walk.  As time went by the limp eased and rarely shows up (although it's only been about 8 weeks).  The girl just needs to work.  I thought giving her a rest would be a benefit - a little vacation.  She needs a job and to move.  We are working more regularly now and we'll keep after it.

Trouble in Paradise?

So far I've had Jessie for three + years and thankfully no health issues. We were scheduled to leave town for a family wedding 250 miles away last Friday. Thursday night I came home and was busy getting ready for the trip. About dusk I went out to see Jessie and noticed she seemed a bit lethargic. I went in and rubbed her and she felt warm so I took her temperature...103.4. She was eating her dinner, her stools were normal, her rear pasterns were a bit swollen but held no more heat than the fever, and she walked, but it was a laboring kind of amble. No discharge from either the eyes or the nose. Normal stomach sounds. I ran my hands over her entire body and found no wounds or marks of any kind. I gave her some bute hoping it was an antipyretic. I checked on her a couple of times that night and she was still up and moving. She usually lays down around 10 or 11 pm and she followed that pattern. (A couple of other tidbits: I had noted in my journal that she was in season on the 9th [this was the 21st], and she is up-to-date on all her vaccines having had them about a month ago)


The next morning I checked her at 6 am. If her temperature was still high, I was going to take her to the vet for the weekend. She had pooped two more times overnight, both normal, and peed once. Her temperature was 97.8 which is a little below normal but it was a cool morning and I think she had just gotten up. She went after her breakfast with "almost" all of her usual gusto. She seemed to be walking better and her rear pasterns seemed less puffy.

We went on our trip and had a good time seeing family and friends. The neighbors took care of all our animals. We got back and Jessie was looking better. She had had a crack in her rear hoof that I thought was just a minor thing. Sunday afternoon I lunged her around. At the lope she was more willing and balanced going to the right. Going to the left her gait was choppy and less smooth. The crack in her hoof is on the outside of the right rear hoof.





It is somewhat interesting to note, although I really have no idea when they appeared, but there are several "dents" in the TOP rail of our good Priefert panels. Not to say these could have cause the cracks, just that they are there.



This morning she looks like she is getting her energy back most notably by the display of impatience at my hay dispersal techniques...