Puffy.

We've settled into a good stall rest routine for the mare.  We learned a lot last time around and I think everyone is happier for it.  For one thing, I'm still riding.  There's a.... sensitive gelding who I'm able to lesson on a couple times a week.  So that helps me.  a lot. 

The mare is still behaving, so she's getting several hours of turnout each day, which has to be good for her.  It's like she knows she has to be on good behavior because she is cool as a cucumber, more so than she normally is.  I've pulled her hind shoes, and her fronts have swapped back to regular shoes (not bar) while she's out of work.  In an ideal world I would have liked to pull her fronts too, but I don't trust the quality of her hoof right now and I don't want to add any soreness to the mix while we're stabilizing. 

More grazing - now with wraps

The only setback has been that the mare's legs got very, very puffy on Monday.  Like, stovepipes to her hocks puffy.

Prair has a pretty regimented wrap schedule right now.  She's naked at night, and while she gets turned out in the morning.  Then, when she comes in she gets ice boots, which has been followed by standing wraps with a poultice. 

I learned yesterday when I was there (and poking at the very puffy legs) that she was also getting poulticed (but not wrapped) overnight to help keep things tight.  I think that perhaps her skin got irritated?  I have no other explanation for equal swelling in both legs (swelling that was present when her wraps were removed).  I was worried that so much fill had reached her hocks.. and was showing no sign of leaving, even after bute, tri-dex (in case it was allergic) and handwalking.  But the mare was quite, eating, and comfy with no signs of distress or concern.  I left her in plain standing wraps with assurances that I would be called if things looked worse.

Today, Prair's right leg is normal (whew) but her left hind is still holding some fill, with a little up in her hock.  I'll be back at the barn tomorrow, and if things still aren't normalizing, I'll have the vet out.  The vet is already planning to be out on Monday for shockwave and PRP, so I'd like to avoid adding another trip, but I don't want to mess around with prolonged swelling, especially if it's creeping up the limb... (ugh).

As for me, the catch rides are good.  Mr. Gelding Man is the opposite of Prair in pretty much all possible ways.  He's compact and quick, light in the bridle and loves jumping but is a reluctant student on the flat.  He's rock solid where Prair isn't, and he's hard where Prair is easy for me.  So basically I'm exhausted after every ride and able to work on some of my own mental hang ups.  I'm a very confident rider on the flat and don't mind a horse that bucks/kicks/takes work to move off my leg or collect.  Mr. Gelding Man does all of those things, (where Prair is a willing partner on the flat) so it's good work for me.  Over fences, Mr. Gelding Man is supremely confident and very comfortable from any distance.  I can miss by a mile and he is just as happy as he would be with a perfect ride.  Prair is decidedly not happy when I miss by a mile (or an inch), so it's a good opportunity for me to stop overriding and get comfortable in a quieter, softer ride. 

Most importantly though, I finally picked up more horse treats, so the cookie dispensing can return to its usual, elevated rate. 

Stall rest and rationed treats are not well suited partners.

holy crap this is going to get boring in a HURRY (more wine)

Even as I was snapping my (typical) pictures of Prair standing in her stall with her head out and munching on grass - I was rolling my eyes and wondering how many more of these things I can actually take.

Activity #2

Here's one with her ears forward!

Here's one with her looking like a total nerd horse.

Here's her eating grass!

grass with our ears forward!

A new blanket on!

etc etc, FML.

So consider this a proactive apology for the EXTREME BORINGNESS that will be the blog for a while. 

Again.

In less monotonous news, Prair has had two of her shockwave sessions and is scheduled for a third and some PRP (fly money, FLYYYYY) later this month.

I also maaaaaay have an appointment with a pet psychic on the books, but that clearly is its own post...

Prair also continues to be an obedient and quiet mare so she's still getting daily turnout which makes my heart hurt a little less during this process.

However, she is beating the shit out of her wraps, so I'm investigating alternatives.  She totally tolerates her ice boots and polos, but her standing wraps are apparently a no-go.


Finally the child has started eating shoes (wtf?) and furniture.  So... more wine.

Using My Words

Thanks for all the support (and sympathetic wine drinking) I appreciate it. 

It's been a frustrating week.  My emotions ping from "eh, this is horses and I'm totally ok with that" to a totally victimized "why Prair, why…. I'll never get her sound... etc etc."

Wisely, The Boy has been traveling for work most of the week, so my cat has suffered a majority of the manic ranting. 

Basically - as awesome as Prair has been feeling since her back injections, this little (tiny) hopping action she does during her initial warm up has been nagging in my head.  It started back when we were just getting back to trot work last summer.  Prair would pop above the bridle and sort of hop (a tranter-like thing) for a step or two, especially when changing direction. 

At the time, my vet was unconcerned so I’ve consistently told myself to shut up about it and put my head in the sand. 

However, after her back injections, the hopping seemed to exaggerate itself.  She always works out of it – usually only in a lap or two, but recently it’s been more obvious when you add left leg. 

A stiff hoppy thing for a lap or two that’s unexplainable is one thing, but something that consistently shows itself with left leg?  Quite another, and much harder for me to accept.

So, I called the vet back.  And since Prair only does the hoppy thing under saddle, I tacked her up and got ready to ride. 

The good news was her left front looks spot on.  No glimmer of shortness or soreness, so big YAY there.  The bad news was that her left hind was looking like a .5 or 1/5. 

At this point I couldn’t decide if I was relieved to be dealing with a new limb or ready to cry because we were adding a new leg to the mix… but it turns out my emotional reaction doesn’t do shit for what the mare feels, so I ignored myself and waited for some flexions (that’s what the flexi-bicep emoji stood for, btw).

Everything flexed great until her Left Hind Fetlock, which she was uncomfortable even holding the flexion in. 

Then we trotted on hard ground which didn’t exaggerate any lameness on either left limb – which was moderately encouraging.

Then we took out the ultrasound machine since Vet thought the extremely bad flexion warranted a look see. (the flying money emoji)… And the world’s-longest-ultrasound commenced….And I heard my Vet say “sorry this is taking so long, but there’s a lot to look at.” 

crap.

I could not think of any possible answer that was a good explanation such a comment.

But after what felt like endless scanning and consternated looks, we sat down to talk about what she saw. 

Good News: No major tears or massive trauma that’s readily obvious.

Bad News: The medial branch of the suspensory, medial branch of the superficial flexor tendon and lateral lobe of the DDFT (I may have mixed some of those up, but there were definitely two medials and one lateral in there) all look… angry.  Some edema, minor disruption, etc.  The most concerning of the three is the DDFT which is hard to see and (my vet thinks) could be the hardest to rehab.

Ideally she wants another MRI, which, if the mare was insured would likely be covered since we are now dealing with a new limb.  But she’s not, so that’s another $3,000 and right now I’m not sure it’s worthwhile.  The first time around I was adamant about getting the MRI and not making any assumptions about what sort of injury we were dealing with.  But this time? I don’t know.  In talking it over with my vet, she can see enough on the ultrasound to want the mare on 2 months (gulp) of stall rest no matter what, and to shockwave the area. 

Part of me feels like if the MRI isn’t going to impact our treatment plan, then why stress the mare with the trip and spend the cash when it could go toward treatment.

Now, if we recheck the mare in two months and still have some questions? Maybe the value of additional diagnostics goes up. I’m not sure.  I just am having a huge mental block about loading the mare up and hauling her east again – but maybe I need to get over that. 

As for what potentially caused this? No one can say for sure, but the minor disruption and edema make it look like a slow irritation/strain rather than a traumatic sprain/tear.  In an infuriating twist of events it’s quite possible that the slight fill that Prair picked up in her hind legs from her previous stall rest was enough inflammation to lay the groundwork for this. 

I’m so frustrated.  And I’m mad at myself for not having felt this earlier.  I suppose my nagging concerns about the hoppy-warm-up-thing were silenced by how straight and balanced Prair has been.  Her changes have been nearly automatic, she’s pushing off straight over her fences (which is a new skill) and she’s so much calmer in her work, all signs have been pointing toward “comfortable.”

But clearly that is not the case. 

So, two months stall rest (she can go out in a small paddock if she’s good), with wraps on for 12 hours a day to try and keep her inflammation out.  Ice Vibes will be doing double duty on the front and hind limbs…. And that’s our plan. 

If this is truly a hiccup from having additional fill in her legs and extended stall rest, then fine, I can deal with it no problem.  But I can’t quite silence my worries that we’ve started a downward spiral of chasing soft tissues injuries from leg to leg to leg.  Fingers crossed this is a one-off and not a slow degradation of the big, lovely mare.

But that’s a bridge I’m not crossing yet.

 

 

 

Annnd Scene.

And Just like that.  We are back on stall rest.  I'd type a really detailed post about wtf is going on, but the rage is still strong, and it seems more appropriate to use emojis.



 

 

For those who don't speak emoji, I'll elaborate whenever I run out of wine and start using words again.