It has been a rough summer for Jay and me, but hopefully things are on the upswing now! The farrier was out to shoe Jay August 17th. Jay had still been lame on the right front, but had been working out of it until just a few days before the farrier came...at that point he wasn't working out of it any more. I had talked to the vet and he said that Jay was right where he expected, and that it could take 3 more months before he is really over all of this.
Anyway, the farrier came, and Jay started getting fussy when he was working on the right front. About that time the farrier said the he was opening up an abscess! That explains why Jay was no longer working out of the lameness! I was just surprised because he was never "abscess lame."
Jay is currently looking the best that he has in a LONG time. He still takes a bad step now and then, but is really looking SO much better. His back is sore, though. So Jay went to the vet yesterday for a chiropractic adjustment. He of course was out of adjustment, and was sore in several places. He even raised his LH as a warning when she was working on his left hindquarters!
The vet agreed that his back soreness is probably from standing around out of balance and guarding himself in pain from his foot ordeal this summer. He of course has no topline whatsoever at this point. He has really been out of work since April, as I was only able to ride 4 times after the saddle fitting in April in the saddle I was trying at the time.
He also has quite a bit more atrophy in his left hindquarters than his right. His LH is the weaker leg, and has that "twist" to it when he moves. The vet suggested that I use a series of 10 to 12 trot poles to try to get him to use both hindquarters evenly. Part of our task now is to see how he responds to work in order to figure out if the atrophy is from 1) being out of adjustment, 2) EPM related, or 3) lameness in the left hind. She has recommended that I only do walk/trot until he is re-checked in 4 to 6 weeks.
I have a lesson scheduled for Saturday morning. We will be taking it easy, and probably do groundwork...and hopefully some riding!
4 comments:
I am so glad to hear Jay is finally pulling out of his lameness. I know you are elated!
Did the vet say you could lunge him? I bet that would help his topline immensely (and work out any stupids he has built up over the summer vaca!).
Let me know when you're ready to start trailriding again! I'm gonna get Skate a western saddle and bridle and we're gonna learn to be cowponies and trail riders
: )
Yeah, I am pretty happy! I didn't talk to her about lunging, but I think I could. I have been round penning him, but VERY little at this point. He has been being so good that I think (and hope!) he will be good when I get on. I may get on him tonight and walk around depending upon the "feel" I get tonight, otherwise I will wait until my lesson tomorrow.
YAY, I was just thinking about you yesterday in regards to trail riding! I was hoping you would like to! :) I hope to be able to get out on some relatively soon, I just LOVE fall. It will probably need to be some easy rides for him for a bit, though, because he has been out of work for so long.
Ha - well, you know how I am about trail riding, the easier the better!
Glad to know that he's on the mend. I've been wondering if anyone else got to take advantage of the insanely nice weather this week.
I'm glad Jay's on track for his recovery. Of course he would blow an abcess now that things are clearing up! Hopefully you guys can get out on a trail ride together. That's an excellent idea for walking/trotting!
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