A Blog in Decline?

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Britt

It’s been obviously quiet around here recently, and for good reason.

My days for the last month have been overwhelmed with work- and while that in and of itself is not newsworthy, it’s recently reached a fervor that keeps any little blog ideas from spawning in my mind. I honestly didn’t realize how much my subconscious focused on the blog throughout the day until even the remote recesses of my brain got geared towards the day to day responsibilities of running a creative team.

This is your brain on stress and horses.

Secondly, there’s just not so much going on in the world of Jack. He’s bored, I’m bored, we’re bored. His second injection is today, but we’re basically operating on a no-news-is-good-news sort of mentality. It doesn’t make for the most riveting blog content.

Same, Blue, same.

And last but not least is that one awful truth for every animal owner- vet bills are expensive, yo. So I’m using every little bit of downtime I have after work to hustle. I’m doing some continuing education for my photography, have completed 2(3) model calls, and am trying to work the grind as much as possible to claw myself out from underneath those ever increasing credit card bills.

This is definitely not all to say that I’m taking a hiatus, or stopping the blog by any means. Simply put, I think I’ve got to trickle back the blog expectations over the next month to once a week. I’m bummed to say that, since the blog really is a source of joy for me, in my conversations with readers. But I’ll be back after I get back in the saddle and hope you all will be around when that happens.

THE PLAN

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Britt

Hallelujah hallelujah, we have a plan!

Backtracking a little though- we did our joint-specific nerve blocks on Thursday, and they revealed that our issues are primarily in the coffin joint area. This is apparently better than having issues in the fetlock, since the fetlock can be a bit of a complicated joint to rehab. Though a little troublesome to get to, the coffin is slightly more straightforward.

Jack also got his pour-in pads, and based on lunging he already looked better before and after his new kicks.

So, the golden boy’s immediate future looks like:

Next 3-4 Weeks
We will be injecting IRAP into both coffins (the other for good measure) every 5-7 days. The first injection is today, and there will be at least 2 more injections. Jack will stay in his small rehab paddock during turnout to minimize concussion on his feet and allow the bone bruising to heal.

Month 2
We start tack walking! And then building up to W/T/C on very soft footing to limit concussion still. Jack will graduate to a larger paddock if all goes well. For his next shoeing, Jack will move into aluminum shoes, which being lighter should make any fetlock joint nonsense a bit happier. Since these shoes are also deeper he will get even thicker pour-in pads, which is very helpful as his feet are so flat/not concave.

After that
From there, we will see what happens. At this point I’m loathe to really truly make plans. But I’m hopeful.

A little more good news

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Britt

This week’s MRI was a wealth of information and, albeit rather expensively obtained, it was well worth the 4-hour-each-way trek to learn more about what’s going on in that left fore.

It turns out that the collateral ligament isn’t actually of prime focus. The main observations, as described to me in laymen’s terms, are this:

Significant bone bruising on the medial side (which explains him being worse going right)
Arthritic changes in both coffin and fetlock joint

So, really, we are not looking at soft tissue as the primary cause of Jack’s lameness. There was some discussion around mild aggravation to the DDFT, but not enough to think that it was related to the overall lameness we are seeing. Which is good!

Tryon Equine Hospital (And standing MRI)

Our next steps are thus:

Do balance x-rays and pour-in pads for shoes (today)
Make plan for IRAP injections (blood draw today)
Do joint-specific blocks to determine how much coffin vs fetlock joint are causing lameness (today)
Keep Jack on stall/rehab-paddock rest to limit concussion on feet (in progress)
Take baseline x-rays of coffin/fetlock for future reference

Once we determine which joint is more at play in his lameness (or both, who knows), we can make a more exacting plan in regards to time off, and/or when to work our way back into work. Hopefully more on this tomorrow, if all goes well!

MRI update and a semblance of a plan

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Britt

At the time of writing this, I only have limited details on Jack. Having received the findings report just minutes ago, I am still waiting to discuss with a human that can translate the “vet speak” into something a laymen like myself can understand.

A little bit of good news, though:

Jack did not have to get an additional MRI this morning. This is good- that means the original images taken were clear and he doesn’t get the stress of being re-sedated and entering the MRI box.

I have a horse to ride, this summer at least. A sweet (and flashy) draft cross that I can hopefully bring along and have fun with, and stay in the saddle for a few more months.

A plan to find Jack a more appropriate facility for rehabbing him has been discussed and approved with the barn manager.

I hope to have more news tomorrow as I translate the findings. Tomorrow or Thursday- stay tuned!