Coming back into work 23/11/16

The last few weeks have been frustrating and worrying to say the least as since the middle of October Jack has been suffering with a mystery lameness. 
Despite 2 vet visits and the farrier we still don't know what was causing the lameness and so effectively managing and treating it has been pretty much guess work.  The vet after her first visit had prescribed bute and rest in a small paddock which at first seemed to have had the desired effect and when I brought him back into work he was sound for a couple of days.  He then went and had a hooley in the field and came in very lame again. 
The vet returned 2days later and by then he was almost sound again and once again she was unable to pin point any cause.  He was also exhibiting signs of ulcers, ears flat back, head tossing, biting etc.  At this point she prescribed a further 2 weeks bute and rest however as the bute had already had an adverse effect on his ulcers and I was reluctant to continue knowing how unhappy it was making him.  As the lameness was fairly minor we decided instead to just rest him without bute and I brought some protexin equine premium quick fix and increased his equus health gastro kalm to a loading dose. 
Luckily this seems to have done the trick and he is now much happier. 
I tried my very best to keep him in his stable sized paddock for the 2 weeks recommended by the vet but in the first few days he got out 3 times!  I had to reinforce the fence with another string of electric and was moving the paddock daily onto fresh grass, giving plenty of hay day and night, providing a treat ball etc.  It was a bit labour intensive but would be worth it if it worked which it did for about a week and he stayed put getting the rest he needed but towards the end of the 2nd week he was escaping twice everyday, even jumping the fence from a stand still, so I figured he couldn't be feeling too bad and I was wasting my time!  The next day he was more lame again so I decided that he was more of a danger to himself jumping out of the paddock than just being in a larger field so I opened the fence up and let him have a little more freedom, still on his own but with about half an acre so he didn't feel so claustrophobic. 
He was also due the farrier at the end of the 2nd week and I had already decided he would be having his shoes off for the Winter this time.  I was also still holding on to the slim hope that despite already checking his feet that taking the shoe off might reveal something.  Sadly it didn't and the foot was completely normal and healthy under the shoe so no quick fix there.  I trotted him up and lunged him to see how he was without shoes, sound in a straight line but slightly lame on the near fore on the tight circle on hard ground.  He was turned back out for another few days to see how he went without the shoes and a plan to call to the vet after the weekend and have the senior vet come out to him if there was still no improvement.  He should have been seeing our physio Tamsyn on the Monday but with him out of work and still lame we decided to postpone her visit.  I'm pleased to say that he is now much sounder so I've not had the vet back yet and I will be trying him under saddle tonight to see how he feels with my extra weight.
We had dreadful Weather over night Sunday and when I arrived Monday morning to bring him in for a rest from the rain I found the horses from the field next to him in his field with him and the fence broken.  I checked them all for injury and found them all ok so brought Jack in for the day as I had planned to anyway.  The heavy rain never stopped Monday and by the time I returned in the afternoon the fields were under water and the fence still broken.  The other horses had all been moved onto our Winter grazing which is a 20 acre field which they all go out together in a heard of 8.  I was reluctant to put Jack over there with them because I was concerned that with all that space and the other horses that he's not been with since last Winter he would mess about and do himself more damage putting back his recovery again.   The rain was still bad and I didn't want to keep him in for 24hours either as he would have really gone nuts when he finally got turned out so I reluctantly put is turn out on and lead him out to the field with lots of treats in my pocket.  The others were all near the gate and Jack was really good standing quietly while I took his headcollar off and then just walking off and eating not even bothering with the other horses or the fact he could run for miles!  I was down before Dawn the next morning to make sure he was ok and they were all together by the gate ready to come back in to dry off!  He stayed in for the day and I lunged him last night and pleased to report he was still sound so he went back out with the others last night too. 
I am a bit apprehensive to assume he is now going to stay sound and crack on as normal so I will be bringing him back onto work very slowly and carefully and with a bit of good luck for once we might be back to normal in the New Year.

Jacks problems continue! 7/11/16

Last week I blogged that Jack was lame again and the vet was booked to come back and have another look at him.  :0( When I had booked the appointment I had been pretty worried as he seemed very lame however 2 days later when the vet arrived he was actually hardly lame at all - typical! We talked through what had been happening and I trotted him up for her, it was very hard to tell at first if he was lame or not as everytime I asked him to trot he was putting his ears flat back, throwing his head around, trying to bite and generally not being helpful.  As I had feared it looks like putting him on bute has cause his ulcers to flair up, the vet thought so too as he had not behaved like this a few weeks ago when he had been far more lame.  We gave him a little feed of healthy tummy to help with the acid and then tried again to trot him up.  She also performed flexion tests on both front legs and checked his back and pelvis thoroughly for any pain.  The good news was that his back was fine and his Pelvis much, much better than when she had seen him a couple of weeks ago.  I also lunged him for her and while he was slightly lame it now seems to be his off fore rather than the near fore which it had been the last time she came!  As ever Jack likes to complicate things!  So Based on all the info and his current level of lameness the vet concluded that the check ligament is the problem, but that as it seems to respond well to rest, that it isn't too serious and a longer period of rest should see him right.   So she prescribed another 2 weeks of bute plus rest in a tiny, stable sized paddock where he cannot run around and keep undoing all the healing that is going on while he is resting!  I raised my concerns about more bute because of his ulcers and also showed her what I feed him and the ulcer supplement which says it cannot be given with bute.  She felt that it was more important to give him pain relief for the ligament and deal with the ulcers after.  I feel quite differently as my poor horse is miserably unhappy and I feel dreadful feeding him something I know is only going to make him worse.  I joined a facebook group for people with horses with ulcers as I find the kissing spines group is so helpful and full of great people who really support each other.  I put up a post about the situation to see if anyone had suggestions for alternatives to bute or a supplement I can feed along side to help him.  There were a few suggestions but everyone agreed the bute is not a good idea.  So I spoke to the vet and although she wasn't keen to stop the bute already she has agreed to try it and see how he goes.  I've also ordered some Protexin quick fix and hopefully this will help settle his tummy back down.  Will have to see how it goes over the next few days but hopefully we can get his ulcers back under control quickly.
For the first couple of days after the vet visit Jack did stay put in his little field which is next to his mates but the morning after bonfire night I found him in the big field having pulled half the electric fence posts out!  He wasn't injured or distressed so I don't know what happened, I put all the posts back and popped him back in with a bucket of feed while I went to get him some hay, by the time I returned he was out the field again!  Little monkey!  So I set about adding another wire of electric fencing to try to contain him.  It worked that day and he stayed put hurrah!  I move his paddock every night onto a bit of fresh grass as he soon eats it and that night is was pouring with rain and getting dark and windy so maybe I rushed the job but the next morning he was out again!  This is not going to be doing the leg much good :0(
Luckily since then he has stayed put so hopefully he stays that way now and properly rests the leg.  When I brought him in last night he was looking pretty lame again so I really want him to rest it properly and not go running about!
I'm feeding masses of hay so he's not hungry so hopefully that helps keep him put and he gets the rest he needs to heal his leg.  Being off the bute might help keep him a bit more quiet too as if he's feeling it he hopefully wont want to run around. 
I have to admit as it's going on I'm getting more and more concerned that the lameness does not seem to be improving.  All I can do at this stage is give it more time and if we are still not seeing an improvement at the end of the 2 weeks of rest the vet will come back again with her boss for a second opinion.  I really just want my boy to feel better.

Just when I thought we were getting back to normal 2/11/16

It's been a pretty quiet few weeks with Jack, he first went lame nearly 3 weeks ago, he had the week off on bute as prescribed by the vet and seemed to be feeling better.  After the bute finished I discussed with the vet and due to being on my own decided to lunge him gently in the ménage to assess whether the lameness was gone.  I lunged him quietly in walk and trot and was very pleased to see that he appeared to be sound so after a further discussion with the vet was given the go ahead to slowly bring him back into work.  I was to ride him in walk only in the ménage to start with and build up gradually over a week to 10 days if all was going well and any problems to let them know.  Feeling excited about getting back on board I brought him in on Tuesday popped his magnetic back pad on and left him in for the day so he was ready to ride that night.  Later that day I got to the yard a bit later than usual and found Jack unusually unsettled, its not like him to be jumpy and agitated but there was something definitely up with him.  I got on with mucking out and grooming him and by the time I'd finished he seemed to have relax a bit.  Before I got on board I did all the usual stretches I do with him before every ride - carrot stretches 2 each side, between his knees and to his chest, pelvis tilts and tail pulls then tacked up and he seemed to be back to normal.  I was planning to get straight on and just do 20minutes in walk in a long and low outline and some lateral steps.  As soon as I took him in the ménage he was very alert and on his toes.  I always do some tight turns each way and back him up a few steps before I get on and he was rushing and over reacting to everything I was asking him to do.  He was also wide eyed and snorting at something across the dark fields!  I took him to the mounting block but he wouldn't stand still and I could tell getting on would not be a clever move.  I considered if I should just turn him out and forget trying to ride but decided not as he was clearly in a mood and was likely to go charging around the field and do himself harm again if I did. Instead I grabbed a lunge line.  This too was a bad move.  He still went nuts belting round the circle, bucking, kicking, leaping and generally pratting about!  This is really not like him.  By the time he settled down for me to be able to assess how he was moving he was lame again.  I have no way of knowing if he was lame before that or if it was the loony antics on the lunge that caused him to go lame again, either way I felt incredibly frustrated.  I've no idea what caused him to behave like that but something had really got him wound up.  I turned him out and decided to give him another day off and reassess again Thursday.  When I went to check on him the next day there were fireworks going off and he was clearly bothered by them so maybe there had been some before I go there the previous day and thats what had upset him, I guess we will never know!  I lunged him in tack Thursday and hallelujah he seemed sound again so I popped on board for 10 minutes just in walk and all was good.  I felt happy that we could get on a gently bring him back into full work but not wanting to push him to hard too soon I gave him Friday off again.  Saturday I lunged him again and he looked really good I even gave him a little canter and he was moving well.  I also walked him over some ground poles as this is a good indication if his pelvis is tight but he was fine doing these.  Again not wanting to push him to hard I gave him Sunday off and then took him for a little hack on Monday and he felt good I only did 20minutes in walk but he felt forward and happy and was swinging through his back.  So full of hope I took my clippers with me to the yard yesterday to give him a clip as he is still in his full Winter woollies and the last thing I wanted to do was work him and get him sweaty and then turn him out and risk him getting a chill.  I gave him a quick belly and neck clip as he is still living out and so I didn't want to take too much off then I tacked up ready to school.  As soon as I took him into the school I could tell he wasn't right, when I turned him to the left he seemed very lame and wasn't much better to the right.  There were a couple of guys from the farm still there so I grabbed one of them and asked him to trot Jack up for me already knowing he was going to be lame.  Poor Jack was really bad, worse than when the vet saw him 2 weeks ago which is pretty worrying.  One of the other liveries arrived and had a farrier coming so I asked him to take a quick look but he didn't find anything.  She mentioned that Jack and his 2 field companions had been galloping about the field earlier in the day so it is possible he has done himself an injury then but like before there seems to be no sign to indicate what he's actually done.  Another call to the vet and they are booked to come back tomorrow and have another look at him.  I'm feeling pretty stressed about the whole thing.  The vet is talking of scanning the tendons and I'm thinking of selling a kidney!!
Will update tomorrow/Friday after the vet has been, please send us positive healing vibes until then.