Let’s Discuss: Boredom Busters

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Britt

Foster is now 1.5 weeks into his 8 weeks of stall rest, and while he seems to be handling it fairly well, my own guilt about keeping him so cooped up has only intensified.

For a horse, Foster is pretty vocal in general. Before the surgery it was commonplace to hear him nicker when I got out of my car, and give me a “come back” call when I’d leave his stall to go get tack or grooming supplies. Adorable, yes. But now his calls have tend to have a slightly frantic note to them on occasion, and it just tears my heart out. He’s also extended his vocals to other people- horse loves attention, and I hate that I can’t do more with him than a strict 15 minutes of hand grazing each day.

Meanwhile, my bandages (this is #3) are getting better and better

Last night I added a Likit to his stall, and he was immediately drawn to it. When he started grabbing the holder though, and yanking repeatedly on it, I wondered just how long the toy would last. I’ll be surprised if it’s still hanging, and especially if there is any treat left, this evening.

Because of Foster’s oral fixations (leading up and including to the fact that certain horses can’t be put in the cross ties out of his stall because he yanks on them- whoops), I have wondered if this might be the rare type of horse to actually play with a jolly ball, but I just don’t know.

So I’m reaching out to you guys- have you had any experience with “boredom busters”? Which kind actually seem to work? Which are just a plain waste of money? Are there any other ways to help out a creature confined to his stall for the next month and a half?

Photography Friday: Bette & Johnny

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Britt

Bette, Johnny and I go way back before the days before college, but our friendship really found its roots as dressage teammates in school. Since then, Johnny, an Irish Sport Horse gelding (7/8ths TB- can you believe it?! Not me!) is retired at 21 years old and living the life of luxury while Bette has made a life for herself amongst the beautiful Tryon mountains. We all have that one horse in our lives that simply cannot be replaced, and for Bette, I’m guessing it’s Johnny.

And a couple photos of the famous Jello, for good luck! #jellosleeping (instagram- you won’t be disappointed!)

Many thanks to Bette again for all the tours, meals shared, and tack store visits that made our trip to Tryon fly by! Happy Friday all!

Inside the Bandage

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Britt

Last night I changed Foster’s bandage for the first time since he left the hospital, and marked another first in my horseperson belt of experiences. Getting the old bandage off was an absolute act of God, since my bandage scissors did didley-squat to get through all those layers. I resorted to using regular scissors, and still struggled, and will be getting myself a razor blade for the next time- now I understand why the surgeon used that approach. Silly me.

For others out there who are likewise uninitiated in the post-surgical wrapping of a fetlock, here is how you bandage a Fosterpants.

Break a sweat getting old bandage off. Thank horse for neither mutilating you as you wage war on his appendage, and for standing like a statue as you search for angles that will allow you to cut into the bandage while not further injuring said horse or falling on your backside like a twit.

Admire one heavily shaved Frankenfoster foot.

Add small pile of gauze sponges over each surgical site. Try not to think about those surgical sites.

Wrap the ankle in cast padding to secure the gauze in place. Wonder if you have used enough cast padding. Check video of surgeon’s wrap, twice, to be sure.

Take thick sheet cotton and wrap the leg from knee to hoof, a la standing-wrap style. Worry over the fact that cotton does not roll onto the leg smoothly.

Add vet wrap, keeping everything nice and snug underneath. Have internal debate about “snug” versus “too-tight”. Finally remember that the surgeon said it’s tough to go too tight on vet wrap.

Roll on elastikon from top of bandage to bottom, attaching to the heel bulb for security. Loathe the fact that you use a whole roll each time, and these suckers cost almost $10 each. What are they made of, dreams and stardust?

End with a freshly bandaged, albeit somewhat lumpy looking Fosterpants.

Then try not to think about doing it all over again in another 2-3 days.

Let’s Discuss: What to Do when a Rider can’t Ride

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Britt

It seems with all the drama that has happened the last 8 weeks that I have been out to the barn roughly 6 times each week. Most of those days I never made it to the saddle, instead I’ve been lunging, evaluating, icing, or now grazing. This is obviously not normal barn behavior, but still.

Lots of this. Lots and lots of this.

On the rare nights away from the barn, I generally take the opportunity to cook dinner and then plunk down in front of some familiar favorite (these generally being HP films or Sound of Music, yes I’m a child sometimes) with a glass of wine (ok maybe not fully a child). I try to convince myself that I should use that time to go to the gym but the little wino in me generally wins out.

Check out his massive bandage

For the next couple weeks I’ll be dashing out to the barn for Foster’s 15 minute grazing sessions, and then have the rest of the evening free. Or it would be free, until we decided to start up the ~~next~~ last house project (:cough: instagram :cough:).

But still I ask you all- what do you do on non-barn days? For longer periods away from the saddle, how do you spend your free time?

Photography Friday: Foster Edition

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Britt

It’s very rare that I get a chance to photograph my own horse, since said creature typically doesn’t like to stand unassisted at a photographable distance, unless I want my picture to be of his nostrils. Or his tongue.

But with the impending surgery in my mind, I decided it was worth the trouble to get some proper portraits of him, you know… just in case.

So with that somewhat melodramatic thought in the back of my mind I trimmed and braided, washed and show-sheened the bejeezus out of my horse (and put him in a certain somewhat-new bridle that I just adore) just like we were about to go down centerline.

These just happen to be some of my favorites. They capture his intelligence and his sweet eye.

They hint at his presence.

And they manage to get a bit of his sense of humor in there as well.

I just love this horse. And I can’t wait to get him home and spend even more days with him.

Post Surgery News

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Britt

I definitely feel like another title for this post could be The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but we’ll get into that shortly.

The best news in the world is that he is standing on all 4 legs, and came out of anesthesia, albeit a little too eagerly, but intact (bar a small rub on his eyelid). When I got that call yesterday morning, that’s all I had ears for.

Foster checking out his diggs at the hospital

The Surgery
Backing up a bit- before surgery itself, the surgeon wanted a few more radiographs of the fetlock as well as the ultrasound the soft tissue in the area to determine if there is any damage to the suspensory. The good news is the suspensory ligament looks good, but because of something seen on the scope, she will also be ultrasounding the collateral ligaments as well today. Hopefully nothing, but it’s good to check.

In surgery itself, they were able to take out the bone chip that was associated with the cyst (good), but the cyst itself was out of reach (bad) unless we wanted to crack the joint open like a walnut (not happening). That cyst is now pretty much the bane of Foster’s current existence, as they were able to confirm that has caused a fairly significant scoreline in the surrounding cartilage and will eventually (likely) become a situation where little-to-none cartilage remains.

The site of the surgery

The Recovery and Treatment
The schedule for the next few months looks as follows:

Two weeks strict stall rest with 15 minute grazing sessions
Stitches are removed, joint is injected with HA
- He can now start being handwalked for 15-20 minutes
4 weeks post surgery: Tildren or OsPhos drip (also could happen post-IRAP)
- anyone have experience with either of these??
6 weeks post surgery: Start IRAP injections
- 3 separate injections on a weekly schedule
8 weeks post surgery: limited turnout (must be quiet, no running)
- Introduce tack walking
12 weeks post surgery: slowly introducing trot sets until back in full work (instructions to follow the Pony Club manual)

Getting his vitals checked post-surgery

The Prognosis
AKA- what does my horse’s future looks like? Well, in some ways it’s a pretty big question mark. Only time will tell how the cyst will develop. If the following treatment is able to stop it in its tracks right now, great. If it continues to develop and tear up the cartilage, his future as a sporthorse looks somewhat bleak. Worse case scenario he loses about 10% of the cartilage in the joint.

As far as the main doctor there thinks (side note: he also assisted in the surgery; I was thrilled since everyone and the internet sings his praises- awesome!), he could likely continue a career as a low level eventer for some time (though how long we won’t know). Low level being defined at Novice/Training horse trials, and Prelim Combined Training (dressage + stadium only) events. This is great, because Preliminary CT’s have only ever been my goal with this horse, or really any horse.

What limits Foster is obviously concussion to his joint, so lots of galloping, jumping great heights or lots of tall cross country drops are not recommended. No one can guarantee a time frame for eventing, and it was made clear to me that if he can’t event (due to being uncomfortable) there is no reason why he couldn’t become either a dressage horse or a show hunter (Dr’s words). This is fine news with me, since my plan was always to eventually focus on dressage with him and hopefully pursue that bronze medal and beyond.

Likely, we will always be looking at some kind of maintenance with the fetlock, probably in the form of IRAP injections. And as far as the future goes, only time and Foster will tell us that.

Surgery Day and X-Ray Images

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Britt

This morning Foster goes into surgery, and I will certainly post tomorrow about how it went. Until then, let’s take a look at the pesky bone chips themselves.

This is the first bone chip we discovered, and though it looks like it is located at the front of the fetlock, the x-ray doesn’t show depth, so surgery will show us exactly where it lies. Before going into surgery, the surgeon thought this was the one likely causing the most trauma, because you can see it is perfectly positioned to really tear up the cartilage in that joint. It may also be trying to form a cyst. Lovely.

The second chip is a bit tricker to spot. It’s back by the sesamoid bones, and here we are looking through the fetlock at a diagonal angle. For a better view of what the chip looks like, here is the other side of the fetlock compared to the bone chip.

Bone chip on the right (click to enlarge)

On the left you can see that the edges of the bones are nice and smooth, whereas on the right, there’s a decent sized chunk missing from the lower piece, and some jaggedness to the upper. Very scientific terms here, but you get the idea. The surgeon theorizes that the chip in this area (top left of the circle) may be buried in the surrounding soft tissue, so it is not clear until we delve into it whether or not the chip is worth removing.

Without the flexion test (which we only did because of some slight lingering swelling) and subsequent x-rays, I would have had no idea these issues existed. For now Foster is “serviceably sound” (video below), but I have every hope that this surgery will allow him a greater chance of both being comfortable and add some longevity to his career.

Thanks again for your continued support and I hope I’ll have great news to share tomorrow!

Thank you

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Britt

Through this whole process of on-again, off-again lameness leading up to the corrective shoes and now bone-chip surgery, I’ve had a lot of people who have been there to support us along the way. Not knowing how we’ll be this time two days from now, I thought I ought to get these out there while my brain is still ~~somewhat~~ functioning.

First the blogosphere. You guys are really, really wonderful, in a can’t-say-enough-about-this-community kind of way, and I appreciate all of the positive comments, feedback, and success stories you have shared with me. They give me a lot of hope that things will be back to normal soon.

Then there have been the people that have called, texted, and joined in with passionate discussion as to the various theories and faults. Thank you for sticking with me and keeping me from becoming a permanent passenger on the sad train- just, thanks. If you happen to read this, you guys know who you are.

I also have to thank Ali, who is lending me her truck for next week’s adventure, and I am entirely grateful. 5 bales of hay, feed, and my own personal belongings would have been a tough fit for my Kia, and once again you’ve come through to the rescue. Also for being the professional squeaky toy wrangler during our photoshoot, and for understanding why I want those photos in the first place.

Thanks to Bette and family for finding me a place to park it while I’m in Tryon, and for promising to enable the wine, hopefully in celebration, but wine nonetheless.

Thanks to N for taking a day off just to come with me and figuratively hold my hand through the surgery itself, and for talking me through so, so many veterinary questions. I’m very lucky to have such a patient and knowledgeable friend.

Thanks to all the folks who have offered their horses for me to ride while Foster is on stall rest, and for keeping my sanity. The husband would also like to thank you for this as well. The addiction is real.

There’s certainly more out there that I have to be grateful for, and in general it’s just been yet another way the equestrian community has shown has compassionate it can be, and more than anything I’m thankful to be a part of it.

To Tryon We Go

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Britt

Truthfully, I’ve been feeling fairly breathless since Monday evening, like someone has punched me in the gut and I can’t catch my breath again, even though I don’t feel mentally upset. Maybe it’s the result of emailing my trainers and giving them the news that we’re out of commission pretty much for the rest of the year. Maybe it’s deleting all those competitions off my calendar. Maybe I just need a glass of wine.

No related photos, so you get rainbow pics from last night. Yay, happy thoughts.

I’ve decided to take Foster to a clinic down in Tryon, North Carolina, about a four hour haul. It’s been something I’ve been mulling over ever since getting the results, and a matter of convenience versus my gut. See, the vet school that did Foster’s bone scan also does surgeries like this, but unfortunately several stories of miscommunication and misdiagnoses have reached my ears just in the last week and makes me reluctant to submit Foster to their care for surgery. The vet school is 30 minutes away, but my gut just wants him to go somewhere else.

When I related my wariness to my vet, she stated that “it’s usually the ones with that proceed with a bad gut feeling that something happens to”. Enough said- the vet school is officially jinxed in my mind, and we’ll be going elsewhere.

There are other bonuses to traveling to Tryon. For one, I plan on making on my old dressage teammate and friend, B, go to dinner with me. I’ll also try to make time to finally see the fancy Tryon International Equestrian Center. And more randomly, my brother will be in town to say hello to.

So, one week from today Foster will go under the knife, and we will take the first step on our journey back to greatness.

[PS- I’m sorry for not responding to comments yet but I’ve read them all and am truly grateful for the support and kind words. Especially love hearing about success stories! Keep ’em coming!]

X-Ray Results and More

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Britt

So, to recap where we left off last in the lameness chronicles. The bone scan helped us cross several items on the list, and after another lameness evaluation with blocking we were able to pinpoint the lameness primarily to the hind feet and suspected that negative palmar angles were making him sore.

Not Foster, but an example of a horse with negative palmar angle (back of line is down rather than up) compared to ground

This morning I am happy to say that the palmar angle theory was accurate, and the vet literally high-fived me when she saw them. It was really really great to have my farrier there in conjunction, and we can already see a difference in trotting him off in his new hind shoes- rocker shoes with magic cushion and a pad. Also good news, Foster has a lot of sole to work with which makesthe farrier’s job much easier in moving back the break-point and relieving the heels. He’ll be shod probably on a 5 week schedule and after 3 shoeing cycles we’ll x-ray again to make sure we’re still on the right track. Very happy that we have a plan and a solution already in play!

Getting shod

But I did say there was more…

So much more, and Foster was a patient boy throughout

The front right continues to come and go with swelling and the tiniest amount of heat, so we did a quick flexion test on the fetlock, which turned out to be positive. Remember we’ve only been walking so I couldn’t say if he’s been lame on it recently or not. We went ahead and shot an x-ray on it to check it out. Turns out, Foster has bone chips in two different places in the fetlock, which she thinks is causing the lameness as well as his huge “windpuff” on that leg. Just to be doubly sure, we then blocked the fetlock joint and got an improvement, which helped rule out a suspensory issue versus the bone chips for causing the discomfort.

Creature wants more cookies instead of a bandage where we blocked the joint

So, all in all, I’m glad we’re pretty certain there’s not a suspensory issue that we’re dealing with. However, it does look like Foster should have surgery if I want him to have a chance at a long career. Considering that he’s 8, it’s the option I’m exploring most right now. Surgery would mean probably a 3 month road back into work but ideally sets us up for success thereafter.

I’m hoping to make a decision this week regarding where we will go and when the surgery will happen. This is not the way I thought the morning would go, but I am grateful to still have some things to be grateful for.