The last few weeks have been a blur!! In the midst of moving house I also had to take Dustry to ‘Horsepital’ and as such have been whizzing about the B-roads of Wiltshire in my trusty Ponymobile driving either cardboard boxes containing my worldly possessions to their new home or (even more precious cargo) my broken pony back and forth to the vets. There are times when my mind has been so frazzled by stress that I’ve half expected to see Dustry delivered to my sitting room and my sofa standing out in his paddock.
Broken pony news first. Since his PSD/shock wave and rehab Dustry has been coming back into work and initially things were looking positive, then a few months into building up his work rate and beginning to hack again he just started to feel off. Concerned that progress should be a gradual improvement and things seemed to be heading backwards I consulted my vet and we sent D off to Horsepital for a full lameness work up.
Moving home is apparently considered the 3rd most stressful life event, after death and divorce. I’d have to challenge that list because from an equestrian POV I think it reads more like this:
1/ Any thing wrong with my horse
2/ Buying/selling a horse
3/ Moving yard
4/ Moving home
Dustry had the full works, bone scan, nerve blocks, xrays, the penthouse suite you name it. Every day that passed I got a phone call and full run down from my vet, and as we got nearer to assessing his physical fitness my bank balance started to look decidedly sick!
The outcome of the tests is that he needs to have a kissing spine op. Thankfully he’s a very good candidate for the standing op (cheaper than full sedation) and my vet seems very positive about his post op prognosis, and future ridden capabilities. After going through all his results in detail, she said ‘I wouldn’t be gloomy about this’ and her positive attitude towards prognosis and treatment has been really encouraging.
It’s horrible to think of him having been in discomfort. When you try to do your best for your horse at all times but occasionally fail it’s pretty deflating.
The large period of downtime he had whilst being treated for PSD lead to him loosing a lot of his top line and back muscle and as a result the toned muscle structure that he used to have wasted away. No longer having the muscle structure supporting his spine, this made the underlying issue of kissing spine more evident. Those with more experience in this area may recognise the chain of events.
Thinking positively in a way his PSD was a good thing because it brought to light a more pivotal issue. Also having had the full body bone scan has also provided me with peace of mind when it comes to what he actually doesn’t have issues with! 😉
Luckily I have always taken out the top of the range insurance cover because I know how vets bills can spiral out of control. Less luckily I am now engaged in discussion with my insurance company about what they are willing to pay out on – deep joy!
So in the not so distant future Dustry will be going in for that op, and any left over Ketamin from the procedure I shall be willing to re-home in order to calm my frazzled nerves!
That’s broken pony news covered, now on to fat pony. Bolly is a BALLOON! Between moving home and Dusty’s stay at the vets I haven’t been able to work him very muc. Mummy groom has also been out of action with a bad back and Bolly has been making the most of this free time to stuff his greedy little face with spring grass.
Mission ‘slimmer of the week’ is now in full force to try and get him trim and fit to enter our first ODE. We had booked in for Elmwood ODE in April but that got cancelled due to the ground and we couldn’t make the rescheduled date in May and this month’s entry for West Wilts just got wait listed…things are not going smoothly. I think Bolly is sabotaging my plans!
So it looks like we won’t be out eventing until July/August which is not ideal but in the meanwhile I’ll try to get out show jump training, do some dressage, and continue to chip away at his waist line.
