Spring = Lameness (Gus)

Go figure. It's springtime in Minnesota and Gus is lame again. But that's nothing new, right?

Last Wednesday during my lesson, Gus was extremely stiff and sore all over. Although I wouldn't consider him lame, at the time, he was certainly wasn't his usual self. B noted that Gus kept switching which hind leg was bothering him ... but it seemed to be more left side then right side. During our entire lesson, we worked on just getting him to loosen up. If I recall correctly, we mainly worked on walk/trot figures - mostly serpentines/loopy figure-8s/etc. I think we did some canter work as well, mostly making the arena a large rectangle versus rounding the corners (which is taboo anyways, but we all still do it).

After my lesson, I did give Gus a gram of bute. He had been on an anti-grain kick as of late, so he wasn't getting any supps except his Prascend (the new pergolide tablet). I thought all was well, for the most part, and talked with B about possibly getting Gus looked at by Dr. N in the near future - whether that be for a Legend injection or joint injections.Well, on Sunday Gus made the decision easy for me.

I had planned to ride outside on Sunday, taking advantage of the really nice weather, once again. Upon mounting though, it was evident almost immediately that Gus was more then just off ... he was just about head-bobbing lame. So I took him back inside and B confirmed my suspicions ... off on left hind. (Granted I couldn't tell undersaddle exactly which leg it was ... but on the lunge it was obvious).

An email has been placed to Dr. N, so it looks like Gus will have at least one more week off before he gets looked at. I'm sure he's okay with that ... but I do know he's in some discomfort. B noted that Gus has been laying down a lot more then usual, so until he's seen by Dr. N he's on 1g of bute daily. Still no additional supps, but I did increase his grain back up to 1lb/twice daily. He's now back to eating again. Yeah!

Stay tuned for more information ... I guess the ACTH was FINALLY going to be pulled this morning. Should be interesting to see what those results state.