Summer is here?

Well, it's definitely questionable as to whether or not summer is here. There have been many nights at the barn where we're in fleece jackets or sweatshirts to feed! Luckily, I believe we may have finally gotten what we've been asking for....80 degrees and humidity.
Lots of stuff has happened since the last post. CB and Judy have gone to Vermont twice now and have gotten to enjoy the trails up there.....despite the snow in April and the rain in June. CB is on a mission to get Mr. Legend in shape for some rides this year. Speedy is always ready. ;-) With the wedding behind me now and planning not in the way, I can now start focusing on Socks. He really hasn't done anything in about 2 months.....or even almost a year with his silly abscess problem. I did get to jump on his back on Saturday and ride through the trails a bit. They were pretty muddy and slippery but he was relatively good seeing as we haven't done anything and he was by himself. He's a goofy boy but in general, I do have fun with him. Hopefully, there will be more posts of our achievements!

Winds of change again.............

So, here we are in March.....a lot has happened in a short time! Miss Sereele went to her new home with Norman last Saturday and seems to be settling in with her new friends. Carolyn has found a new friend as well. Please welcome WOW The Black Legend....or Legend as he is called. His granddad is Cass Ole who played The Black in the movie The Black Stallion! Very cool! He seems to be a good boy and a very promising mount for CB. Herd dynamics are pretty funny though....Legend is over Socks, who is over Zak, who is over Legend....they go in circles. I've been able to finally get a few rides on Socks too. I got the ok to start under saddle at the walk back in January but Mother Nature had other plans for us. BOOOOO! So, CB and I have been just walking up the street. She needs to learn/bond with Legend and I need to rehab Socks so it works out nicely. We went out yesterday despite it being a bit chilly. Socks was a total poke...I rode on the buckle nearly the entire ride! =) Hopefully, the snow continues to melt and the mud dries up a bit so we can venture into the trails.

summary since fall

Chris has done a great job keeping this blog updated, thank-you! This is more of a history of events than a fun story so I don't forget it all. so my summary is that although Sereele had been doing very well in regard to her tripping and falling, it was still happening sporadically. she fell on her knees while I was leading her down linden street and for some reason went to her knees while eating under the hickory tree. she fell while I led her down the street in chester but hopped right back up. I decided to try different shoes, found a natural balance farrier who did a nice job and she wore these shoes at the CDR and did AWESOME! I was feeling so happy! but after a couple of weeks she fell while riding with lou and rebecca, not a big deal, down to both knees, little scuttle and back up. tried the shoes again and she fell while I was riding with Jen Verelli and really freaked her out. there was just no reason for it, we were walking on flat dirt and she went down fast and ran on her knees for quite a ways before being able to get back up. that made me finally decide to get this figured out before one or both of us got hurt. had Bret Gaby come out for neuro eval and he was excellent. watched her move on longe and ridden, did some tests and said she was weak on RH, possible "searching" with RF with head elevated. had to ACE her to longe at the canter in the ring, but he got to see the bunny hopping. he suggested a myelogram. brought her to tufts who found her to be weak on the tail pull, did x-rays and saw some narrowing and possible instability at C4-5. they felt she was a wobbler and unsafe to ride. heartbreaking yet good to finally have an answer. I felt confident this was the diagnosis and declined the myelogram, didn't want to put her through it. but over the next couple of months she just looked so good, she really isn't neurological, I started to doubt the diagnosis. so I did bring her back, the neuro exam was totally normal and the myelogram was negative. they did a muscle biopsy for EPSM and blood test for vitamin E deficiency and suggested a couple of other motor neuron diseases. during all of this I have been in contact with a guy named Norman who is looking for a nice young mare as a companion for his mare. he came and met her and really likes her (of course) and will take her this spring I think, assuming she doesn't have some horrible degenerative disease. tufts neglected to start her on abx after the biospy and the incision was hot, oozy and a little puffy. emailed Dr Bedenice and Carmel and started her on SMZ's, things look better. will probably take the stitches out tomorrow. she looks great bucking and rearing and prancing around! this is all so frustrating and depressing.

Healing processes......slow but forward...

So, CB and Judy came back from Colorado horseless, but I'll let them tell that story as I wasn't there. =)
Socks went back to Tufts for his 4 week recheck on his collateral ligament to make sure it was healing correctly. He's been in a roundpen since he came home from Tufts. He hasn't been very happy alone all day either. Sereele came with him as she was having a myelogram done. It was a confusing day and the communication was a bit askew leaving me to escort CB and Sereele to her stall. Finally, I got to bring Socks to the ultrasound room to be checked. Well, he was screaming for Sereele who was screaming back so we had a bit of sedation......which he blew through...and then a bit more. Ah.....relaxation. Dr. Chope palpated his elbow first checking on the leftover bump from his abscess. She said it may be just something that stays and will be a cosmetic defect. No big deal to me. She did the ultrasound and was happy to report that the ligament seemed to be doing very well. Guess it was pretty bad right before he left to come home. YIKES! So, he got the ok to go in the "big boy" paddock with his brother and Sereele and let him acclimate himself to that for 2 weeks. If, in two weeks, he seems fine and not bothered, I can then ride at the walk! Looks like a lot of walking and with gradually adding in the trot, he should be all set to really work by late spring. WHEW! It's been such a chore with him being isolated and alone worrying about his leg. Now, if he'll only grow some hair on his leg where it was shaved.....that would be nice.

2011

Welcome to 2011. Not so sure of what's to come. CB and Judy will be leaving for Colorado on the 7th to look at a horse for her. Zakora....bay, fast, sound? and hopefully the one for CB. Socks has his recheck appointment to check on his leg on the 11th. Hopefully it's a good recheck. There are already plans for riding this year as the girls are headed to Cowshed Cabin in June. I'll be holding down the fort as I'll be just getting back from my honeymoon.....and who knows if I'll have a horse to ride myself. =(
Hopefully, there will be some great posts this year!

Happy Thanksgiving........

So, Thanksgiving, I got the phone call no horse owner really wants to get. Socks was dead lame and had a swollen upper leg. Now I'm frantic as I can't leave work and it took a little while to find my vet. She had to attend to another emergency before me so I got to the barn and ended up sleeping on some hay bales in my sleeping bag while I waited. She came in to examine him and he could barely even walk out of the stall! I was thinking the worst....it had to be broken! Shawn showed up with more jackets and a hot chocolate and unbeknowst to him, he was to be recruited for help with the exam. Dr. Williams took some x-rays and thankfully, nothing was broken. There was a small pinhole in his leg but it didn't appear to go anywhere. The injury was deemed a kick and stall rest and Bute was his future. We also hotpacked his leg and the weird lump moved down his leg and then the whole upper leg just stayed swollen. After a few days of him seeming to improve, I tried not to be too worried about him. But, then, he stopped getting better and seemed worse so, again, called the vet out. She could barely get him to flex his leg and made an immediate phone call to Dr. Garcia at Tufts to see if we could get in there. After about 30 minutes or so, Dr. Williams called back and said just go to Tufts, they're expecting you. Thankfully, CB was home and we made the trek to Tufts with Socks trailering by himself and Shawn leaving work to come with us. When we got to Tufts, Socks was a sweaty mess and only had one shoe on. How embarrassing! X-rays showed nothing and the pinhole again didn't seem to communicate with the elbow joint at all. He ended up having to stay overnight to get an ultrasound done. Around 5 pm, they called me to tell me that he had an abscess and it sat against the collateral ligament and they needed to lance it. UGH! Long story short, after waiting for the culture and sensitivity panel to come back, Socks spent one day short of two weeks at Tufts on IV antibiotics. Thank God for insurance! He got shoes put on about a week later and is continuing his stall rest until he goes back for an ultrasound recheck on the 11th of January. Summer was so nice and then.....BOOM......everything seemed to fall apart.

And it just keeps getting better.......NOT!

Socks ended up with some weird mystery lameness on one of our last rides together with CB and Sereele. We had trailered out to Upton? and were just starting to trot down the trail when he seemed just not right. We walked and he seemed fine, thought maybe he stepped on a rock but as we started to trot again, same thing...slight head bod and definately not right. I got off and headed back to the trailer sending CB on her way around a short loop on the trail. I was pleasantly surprised that Socks did not have a major meltdown walking away from his riding buddy. He called out a few times but did very well with me handwalking him back down the trail to the trailer. I let him graze a bit and all was well until he called and heard Sereele answer. YIKES, then the circling commenced and he seemed even more off than before! Luckily, Sereele and CB emerged from the trail and we tried trotting Socks out and he seemed fine again. UGH, maybe he didn't want to work. The next week was rainy so the week after I tried to ride again...still off. I called the vet and she took some radiographs and discovered that his pastern axis was off and suggested some wedged shoes. Tim came out and tried a wedge pad first that would be cheaper for me and give the same results....or so we thought. Socks couldn't handle the pad at all. It was a Myron MacLane pad with frog support and it must have been too much pressure on his feet. After another call to Dr. Williams and her and Tim talking, Socks got another pair of shoes on, this time the wedge shoe with leather pads as suggested. Again, he went lame....and of course, more phone calls were made to the vet. After about a week, he seemed fine and I got on him in the riding ring. He was poised to spring out from underneath me so after a few circles and a serpentine or two, I called it a ride and decided to longe him instead. He wasn't going to win this one at all. He seemed fine at the longe although a bit naughty. Later on in the week, I went out with CB and the dogs for a walk in the woods. Socks was so much better and happier and dare I write it....less ouchy with his new pads on. CB even got on him for one of the hills we had to climb on Mt. Pisgah. I was pretty happy that he was back in action and his gaits were nice and flowy again. YAHOO! It was also cool to see how my horse does under saddle as no one really rides him except me. =)