It’s been a very long, muddy winter. And fall, and most of the previous summer too. I had a curious confluence of events that kept me feeling slightly overwhelmed. You know, that feeling where you are juggling everything but can not add one more ball to the mix without dropping everything. So I didn’t blog. I have a lot of things to write about, including Kasane, Breezy, kitties, old job, new job, more...
Continue reading...Kasane
New shoes for Kasane
After her hock issues, we’ve been evaluating everything with Kasane to try and help her as much as we can. The farrier was out and had a good talk with my vet about some shoe ideas for Kasane. She has her front shoes on backwards now. This helps alleviate pressure from her front suspensory issue and helps with breakover in her stride. The farrier also watched Kasane walk and noted that she is...
Continue reading...Kasane is home from the hospital
Kasane is finally home. She came home a few days earlier than expected and she is immediately settling in. She is so happy to be here. Not as happy as I am to have her home. Now begins the recovery process: stall rest followed by small paddock turnout followed by more small paddock turnout. Eventually, in-hand walking, followed by light riding and a very gradual return to work. Because of the heavy-duty antibioitcs she’s...
Continue reading...Results of synovial fluid tests for Kasane
My vet called with some good news for Kasane. The synovial fluid test and culture came back today. Preliminary culture results are no growth. Yay! The ultrasound of her joint fluid looked clear with moderate synovial thicking. This is some of the best news we could have had because it means that there is no bacterial growth and that the joint damage from this whole issue could be minimal. Apparently, Kasane also liked...
Continue reading...Update on Kasane
My vet is awesome. She has been keeping me updated on how Kasane is doing. She’s had her hocks lavaged twice she since arrived at the hospital. She’s done well both times. Today, the joint was not as distended. Here’s what my vet said: The joint fluid has some blood in it from the synovial lining. The cytology test results from the joint fluid sample had many neutrophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes as well...
Continue reading...Kasane hospitalized with a hock infection
Yesterday, Kasane’s hocks were swollen: soft swelling like too much joint fluid. My vet said that if we found any swelling, to contact her immediately. She came out 30 minutes after I sent her pictures of Kasane’s hocks. The result from the vet visit is that Kasane has had a reaction to the joint injection in both hocks, worse in the back left then the right. The vet had to drain the extra...
Continue reading...Kasane was stiff in her hocks
Kasane did very well over the summer with riding and lessons. We had improved so much. And then we had two hurricanes back to back and lots of rain. When I got back on her finally, it was like riding a different horse. She felt stiff behind and did not want to move freely like she had before the storms came through. She also had a swelling between her knee and fetlock, shown...
Continue reading...Canter departs
Thirteen years ago, my horse somersaulted and landed on me when we were cantering during a riding lesson. I don’t remember what happened exactly. We were cantering down the long side at the end of the lesson and she felt magnificent: strong impulsion, light in my hands, and then something. The world spun and I slammed into the dirt face down between her legs. She kicked once with her back legs and hit...
Continue reading...Kasane post-rehab
Kasane’s slow rehabilitation from her suspensory ligament injury made last year feel longer than almost any other year. Doing the rehab itself wasn’t hard. It just took dedicated time every week. No excuses (well, except for weather — can’t do much walking or riding in the rain without a covered arena). The hardest part was trying to remain positive when the odds were not in my favor. My vet had warned me that...
Continue reading...Returning to writing and riding
I finally feel like I have enough energy to start writing and riding for fun again. Kasane’s rehab took the majority of my energy last year. On top of that, things at my old position became…less than optimal. While I enjoyed everyone I worked with, the last reorganization ended up in my position changing from what I loved to something intensely frustrating. I did what I could from within the position to work...
Continue reading...Long, slow summer of the Mares
It’s been a long, slow summer. For the past few weeks, I’ve felt like I was holding my breath waiting for Kasane to reinjure herself. She hasn’t. But she might try, like the times she put her back feet through the stall wall and almost needed stitches. (She demolished that wall when she rolled in the stall and got cast.) I’ve had three mares to work with: Kasane’s rehab cycle (3-5 rides per...
Continue reading...Lack of posts and injury worries
Let’s say that you have a pool of energy to draw from to complete all of your daily tasks. Having a certain level of stress or worry is like having a small leak in that bucket so some things — like writing more blog posts — don’t happen as often. Kasane’s treatment for her proximal suspensory injury has been worrying me a lot. It is all a waiting game. Maybe she will heal...
Continue reading...Proximal Suspensory Injury for Kasane
For the past few months, I couldn’t bring myself to post here about Kasane. Her injury on her front right leg is serious and more complicated than we originally thought. It wasn’t just her front right fetlock that had arthritis, there were other things going on that had been highlighted in the bone scan done in early December. Because the joint injection did not completely resolve Kasane’s lameness, the vets did additional investigation....
Continue reading...Kasane 1, Stall Wall 0
Just as I walked into the barn today, Kasane managed to get cast against the stall wall. Seriously cast—as in, she couldn’t push herself away from the wall to get up. She was on her left side against the stall wall partition with her front legs tucked underneath her. She kicked out with her back legs—and took out most of the boards in the stall wall. She managed to cut up her back...
Continue reading...Joint injection worked for Kasane
When Kasane was at the vet hospital earlier this month, the diagnostic tests indicated that she had issues in her front right fetlock, sacroiliac (SI) joint in her back, front left foot, and one of her hocks. The vet said to wait two weeks and then check her for soundness. That check was today and I am so happy to report that she looks much better. There is still a slight head bob...
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