Back on Track!

Four months later....Shorty is sound! Even better yet, we are enjoying a little bit of jumping and pole work!

Mid-March we did return to the vet because the coffin joint injections seemed to be temporary. In the evaluation and blocks that day, he showed more lameness on the LF (last time it was RF). Same result, block the left and see it a bit on the right. With both feet blocked out he was happy boy. Still no tell-tale evidence on x-rays. MRI has been mentioned, but with the risk of not showing much.

The second part of the foot that sometimes needs help is the navicular bursa. I have heard of doing this and I really trust this vet, so we did it. We put him on Equiox for the first while to help with inflammation. Equiox has the same active ingredient as the dog version Previcox: Firocoxib; it is a cox-2 inhibitor and better than bute in that is does not inhibit cox-1...the main cause for gut issues with bute. It is safer to give long term if needed. We decided to try him on Equiox for the first 2 weeks. He was totally sound and turning normal after TWO days. When I took him off Equiox he continued to maintain well, so I also started him on Cetyl M joint supplement. Interesting science behind that stuff! Some people swear by it for themselves and their dogs. The studies suggest it has the ability to prevent arthritis.

Six weeks went by where he went super well and he was brought slowly into more fitness. At the end of six weeks I noticed a bit of soreness around corners and he was a bit lazy which is not usual. He had been very active in turn-out that week with his 20 year old paddock neighbor being replaced with a 3 year old paddock neighbor - that didn't help!! Without wanting to take any chances, I began the Equiox again just one tiny pill a day. He is right as rain now. This has been such a consistent issue and when he is more active even without being ridden he seems to do really well with Equiox. It is a small dose at one pill a day (size of a pea) and it would not cover up anything significant should something be really wrong or soft tissue, etc. With it being so small I also put it inside 1/4 of a fig newton! He loves it. We are going to try keeping him on it once every other day which is a routine I have heard a lot of people do for their working horses. Equiox is approved with USEF. Of course, when needed we can re-do the injections if it helps even more.

He gets cold hosing and liniment on his legs/lower joints pretty much every single time I ride him. I still do massage and check him for any body soreness. He is not an easy one to manage! I am really enjoying riding him though and he really perks up going over any poles or jumps! I am so blessed to have been taking riding lessons this whole time so at least I am a better rider for him :)

Razerhorse, Coffin Joints, and a really great vet team

Lame Pony

Hi everyone. The last time I posted I had just enjoyed 3 wonderful sound rides with Shorty during the week of Thanksgiving! I am sad to update that the Friday of that week following Thanksgiving Day, I brought Shorty up from his paddock for the farrier to discover he looked really ouchy on turns. I was told that he had been zooming around his paddock earlier that day much like a reining horse! Oh he looked to be having so much fun tearing around his paddock with sliding stops and 180 turns. He definitely over did something, and that has been the underlying issue for years now....that even though he is sound for a while, he goes and over does it and bam, he is lame.

Razerhorse

I think I may have failed to mention his current farrier set up he was actually already with by Thanksgiving. Shorty seemed to do well with shoes all round, but on his next visit his hoof walls on his front feet seemed to be chipping even on top of the shoes! My farrier was pretty amazed and she knew we had to do something to give him more support across the foot and less loading on the hoof wall. Together we decided to try the Razerhorse Pro Pad. More info about them here: https://www.razerhorse.com/propads

He gets the SS pro pad. What I like about these pads is they do allow the foot to function as if it was barefoot, but my vet who does chiropractic on Shorty has been on me for a long time about him needing more concussion reduction up front. These provide that as well. Since this set up we have not seen any more hoof wall deterioration!

Lameness Specialist

I guess this is the biggest thing I slap myself about now....as in why didn't you do this next part in the first place? Anyhow, Shorty never did come around 100% sound. Looked alright on straight lines but on turns and circles he was off. I had been saving up money and at this point knew it was time to pick a vet who was not only in general practice, but who saw lameness and surgery cases day in and day out. I picked a vet and Shorty got a whole new work up. He had front end AND hind end issues unfortunately. The RIGHT HIND was actually the main issue. We did lateral x-rays and ultrasound to find there was inflammation in the proximal aspect of the suspensory tendon (at the top just below the hock). Three weeks stall rest, bute for the initial 3 days of rest, soft tissue injection, cold hosing, and many standing wraps later....we returned for a check up where he moved 100% sound in the hind end. Now for the front...

Vet's initial thought process was he was going to need some maintenance with the front lower joints (fetlock/coffin area). The RF seemed to continue to be the main culprit and when the first block hit he was sound on RF and just barely off on LF. So at that point it was confirmed that it was still a bilateral front end lameness that was haunting us. 

He was thorough in going over the x-rays with me which was very neat. His angles were not a big concern and he did not see any evidence of laminitis. There were also no concerning bony changes. The only thing he could see was he had a bit of a natural wedge built up in the heel that he would like to see taken down. My farrier has the rads and will work on this.

So it all boiled down to joint discomfort/inflammation and we left with doing coffin joint injections with Adaquan. We also began a rehab program to bring back into work where we would also slowly increase his time in turnout.

Results?

The last vet visit was the week of  New Years and Shorty has been sound since then! We have worked our way up from walking, trotting, and now mostly walk and canter warm-ups under saddle. The lameness vet concurred with my chiro vet that the trot will always be more stress on him so the more canter work rather than a lot of trot work the better. He gets massage and also had a chiro adjustment and accupuncture recently. As this maintenance proves to be helpful to him, I will bring him back to the vet during the summer months to re-do the injections.

Right now every ride is a blessing! I feel like the vet and farrier team we have now is making a big difference for him and I am so thankful! He is a happy boy and often I cannot get his bit in his mouth fast enough :)