Y Ceffyl Du

Isis has been steadily recovering from her fall in the spring. We both have been. My knee and ankle are doing better. She is losing weight and back in regular workouts. She still periodically trips.

The chiropractor pointed out that Isis probably trips when she steps on a pointed object, even a small stone would be enough. Most of the time when I’ve noticed Isis mis-stepping, there is a stone in a hoof-print.

Maybe her problem with tripping is just based on musculo-skeletal problems and not neurological. I mildly freaked out for a few days considering the implications of neurological problems: extensive neurological testing, possibly a spinal tap to test for equine protozoal myelitis (EPM), among other things. Let’s just say expensive and nasty and frightening implications.

I really don’t want to go there.

We found the swelling on Isis’ legs on Sunday, 6/12. When I cleaned her back hooves, she held her leg at an odd angle — rather like a dog lifting its leg on a water hydrant. She has never done that before. Two days later, she was still sore and was holding her leg a little out, but not nearly as much. By 6/16, she was holding her legs normally when her feet were picked out.

I have been monitoring the swelling in Isis’ legs. Her back legs appear to be nearly normal (her tendons are clearly visible and the swelling appears only as minor stocking up around her rear fetlocks). Her right front leg also seems to be back to normal, with little or no swelling visible. The tendons all seem to feel normal, without any “squishiness” like she had with the tendon injury year before last. No swelling has appeared on her front left.

Isis finished her last 1g bute dose on Sunday PM, June 19. She is currently on night turnout in a level paddock next to the barn.

When the farrier came out on Monday evening, we finally had some good news. Before the trim, Isis’ front feet were at 55 degrees; back were at 56 degrees. After the trim, her hooves were at 57 in the front and 58 in the back. This was the first trim where both front feet not only remained the same angle but grew at the same rate and shape. The evened-out growth has happened since Isis started chiropractic treatments. (Isis is on a 3-week trim cycle.)

The farrier also found a mild stone bruise in the front right hoof using the hoof testers; he didn’t think it was serious enough that the bruise would abscess. He suggested investigating shoes to protect the soles of her feet, including a glue-on shoe. He also said that he was pleased with her progress on her feet; her front left hoof looks very good. The back feet look normal.

On Monday after her trim and after having been in her stall all day, I brought her into the big ring to see how she was moving. We free lunged at a walk and trot both ways for about 5-10 minutes total and then did some in-hand exercises. She seemed stiff on her back legs and hips, but she didn’t seem ouchy on her front legs.

Today (Tuesday) I went out after work and lunged her again. Same routine as Monday. Five minutes into walk and trot, when moving to the left and slightly downhill, she missed a stride with her back legs and stumbled. She had been dragging her back hooves when trotting earlier. She stumbled twice on different sides of the ring.

I’m hoping to schedule Isis’ next appointment with her chiropractor some time next week.

Have you ever lost a family member? A family member whose impact and friendship was felt most keenly once he or she was no longer there. The same is true when a horse at a boarding stable dies.

My mare’s pasture-mate, Zargo, died early Saturday morning. He was fine, and then 30 minutes later, he was down… His owner did everything she could.

Here’s to the big Grey Gentleman, the stately senior gelding who put up with my mare’s temper for two years, whose little quirks about the grazing muzzles he and Isis both wore always brought a laugh. When Zargo and his mommy were riding, they were a real team. One afternoon, I sat and watched them ride in the ring: walk, trot, canter, countercanter, flying lead changes… They made it look effortless.

Rest in peace, Zargo. May you find sweet pastures and crisp water, and nicker for your mommy when you next see her. She misses you terribly. We all do.

How many horses do you know who have a full staff of professionals? Isis does. I need to make t-shirts that say “Team Isis” for her farrier (podiatrist), chiropractor/massage therapist, veterinarian (doctor), trainer, and owner (me). Five people trying to make one mare sound.

My friends think I’m a little nuts working so hard on my mare. “It’s just an animal,” some of them say. They have never seen the soft glow in her eyes, the way she nickers and calls for me when I’m at the barn. They don’t know, and probably wouldn’t understand, the kind of bond and friendship it is possible to share with a horse.

Yes, friendship. She’s proven that she is trustworthy over and over again (she didn’t struggle when I was pinned beneath her). She knows when I’m feeling down and oddly enough, I’m learning to tell when she is too.

She is not a pet. No 1,000+ pound animal should be a “pet.” She is my four-legged kid.