Bute = Sound

Well, like I previously mentioned, Gus gets his own post today. So, I haven't worked with Gus since I last posted and I was a bit leery as to what I'd find once I got out there. Definitely wasn't thinking he'd be doing okay... turns out, he kinda was.


He walked into the barn fairly evenly and was weight-bearing on all four legs. I had brought out his Cavallo Simple Boots, just on the off chance that he was off, I could try those on him to see if they made any difference. Good new was, I didn't need to use them at all. 


As per our last few workouts, I recorded Gus's work as best as I could. Turns out I need to angle my cell phone more, I ended up filming more of the ceiling then of the arena. Oh well, I tried. 


Just before we started working, Gus decided to have a moment. Here he is. 

I'm not sure what he's staring at, but he wasn't moving... just staring out the arena window. 

See below for the videos of Gus's work from today. 

Lunging w/o side reins

Lunging w/ side reins

Undersaddle work

I also noticed that Gus has developed a quarter crack on the outside of his RH hoof. I don't recall it being there a few days ago. Gus's next trim isn't scheduled until the 26th of September, so hopefully his hooves will hold up to a 6 week trim. The last two trims have been done at four week intervals because of all the bad cracking he's been having.

Here's a few pictures of the quarter crack. 

So, in general, Gus seems slightly better. Granted, he is on 1gram of bute daily and has been since his last ride. I also gave him another gram after I rode. Gus was looking really good when we left the arena. No funky steps, whatsoever. Maybe we are making progress.

I did talk to B as well, regarding Gus. Turns out my message (voicemail/email) I left Dr. N was pretty jumbled up. So Gus never did get looked at. I'm still thinking about x-raying the LF, just to see if any more changes are occurring. Especially since we know that back in January, his P2 was tilted a bit (that or there is something messed up with the P3). I guess I need to figure if I want Gus seen again... cause Cherry is leaving for Florida next week. She got "traded" for an Arabian gelding who used to board out at the barn. He's got "summer sores" (aka sweet itch, neck threadworms, etc) and just is absolutely miserable. His mom contacted B and asked to see if she would take him. Somehow a trade was made. Hopefully Cherry finds a good job down in Florida... she deserves it. So, Kherrosel (I think that's how it's spelt - think carousel) will be back to the barn, after being gone for probably at least 10 years. 

I opted to not have a lesson this week again, seeing as Gus still isn't back to his old self, though he seems to be doing better. I'm aiming for next week. I'm scheduled to work again this weekend, so I should be able to get rides in on Tuesday and Wednesday, for sure. I'm still undecided at this time if I'll be riding Thursday before work. But hopefully Gus is on the upswing of things. 

Off undersaddle, but not on lunge?

So, I was out to the barn last night to see how Gus was doing. Figured since I had canceled my lesson, I still needed to see how Gus was moving on the lunge and undersaddle. Took more videos as well.

Long story short, he is better on the lunge WITHOUT a rider and lame, essentially, with a rider. He started off okay with me up in the saddle, but as our ride progressed things got worse. He is extremely uncomfortable doing small circles more so when he goes to the right then to the left, if I'm remembering my directions correctly.

Here's the videos:

I ended up leaving his boots off, even though he seemed unsound upon leaving the arena (not sure how noticeable it is in the posted video above, video #4). Funny thing was, when I went to lead him back outside after I was done with him for the evening, he was moving sound and very freely. Go figure. I'm thinking it was because I had his evening grain in my hand. Haha.

Vet was supposed to come out today as well. I left her a note along with a link to the above mentioned videos. I'm not sure if she ended up looking at Gus or not, I left it up to her. He's definitely not comfortable so he's back on 1g of bute daily for the next week and a half, then we'll reevaluate things from there. So, here goes another long (hopefully not!) recovery.

Really? Still off!

I went out to the barn on Tuesday to see how Gus was doing. Did the usual 20 minutes (or so it seemed) of grooming and then proceeded to tack him up. We went to the indoor and walked around a couple laps before I tried asking for a trot. While Gus is very willing to move out, he was still definitely lame. Decided to hop off and lunge him both directions, to get a feel to see if he behaves any differently on the lunge versus under saddle. He willingly moved down and out at both the walk and trot (and didn't try to kick my head off either). Still noticeably lame at the trot though, in both directions. I mentioned it to the BO and asked her opinion. She really had no good ideas... stumped like me.

Today I headed back out to the barn and did another makeover session on Gus. Actually, I did that on Tuesday. I repulled his mane. He actually looks like a nice western pleasure horse. Haha... he actually used to be one.

Anyways after his typical 20 minute grooming session, I took him into the arena and just lunged him both directions. Still off. This time though, instead of being comfortable stretching down and out, he was trotting around like a giraffe saying "ouch, ouch, ouch" after his left fore hit the ground.

I sent a couple emails out to both the farrier, J, and the vet, Dr. N (the original Dr. N). J recommends (possibly) putting on shoes... just until she can get Gus better balanced and over these abscesses (I should just say get over this abscess...). So, that's definitely a possibility. She'll be back out next Thursday (a week from today) to trim Gus, and possibly put some shoes back on. We'll see.

I just sent that email off to Dr. N so hopefully I'll hear back from her within the next day or two. She's usually good about responding back quickly.

Any suggestions? I'm just tired of having a lame horse. It's just lame. [pun intended]

Still Off!

Sheesh. I went out today to see and ride Gus. His abscess is looking a lot better. No drainage, no tenderness... just a nice, clean hole. We went through our "normal" routine... meaning grooming with the shedding blade, then the face curry, then the Grooma curry, then the Furminator, then the hard brush, followed by the soft brush. Uggh. He's STILL shedding like crazy.

I had previously decided to hop up on Gus today to see how he was feeling under saddle. Well, he's good at the walk, but still very head-bobbing lame at the trot. I got back off and lunged him. He looked pretty darn sound to the left, but when the left leg was on the outside (so travelling right) he was definitely off. However, he was moving really down and out. I couldn't believe how comfortable he looking lunging.

So, I think I'll be giving him until Tuesday off. Then we'll try working under saddle again. Maybe allowing that hoof to dry-up and heal a bit more will make him sounder. Who knows?

It's an abscess...

Well, heard from the BM (a different person then the BO/Trainer) that Gus, for sure, has an abscess. The vet was out on Monday to look at another horse and since she was out, I figured I'd split the vet call and have her take a look at Gus too.

According to the BM (and the BO, as I sent her an email asking more questions) he was very sore in the sole... not sure if it was in the toe or where, but they did find the abscess and the vet dug it out. It's quite possible that there was another exit for that abscess... see those photos I posted previously.

So, the treatment plan is soaking and wrapping until it's no longer draining. The BO has been soaking and wrapping Gus since Monday. I believe she's doing an Epsom salt soak and then a betadine/sugar (sugardine) wrap.

I'm heading out today (first time I'll have been at the barn since Sunday) to do a soak and wrap before my lesson. I'm also planning on soaking with Epsom salts, but then doing a wrap with Magic Cushion. It's a great product (so I've heard) that I've fortunately NEVER had the pleasure of using. I'm hoping to not have to use it ever again (although it looks to be a great product to keep in my arsenal).

I plan on taking more photos, but it'll be with my Blackberry... so nothing spectacular.

Leg Photos

Gus's newest leg injury to his left front leg. Noticed the injury yesterday, April 19th but noticed the day before that he was off. Couldn't pin-point the leg (or even if it was front or hind lameness, although the head bob should've been a dead giveaway) but when grooming him yesterday this was pretty obvious.

These next couple photos were taken prior to cleaning up... although area has been clipped short.





This view shows there is no swelling at the site... which is LF outside, so the right side in this photo (where it's all wet). There is NO heat in the leg and it is not tender when been prodded. I ended up doing a hot pack (really, just a really warm towel - soaked in water) to the area for about 10 minutes. Nothing came out of the sores... least nothing that I could detect.

These next couple are after being hot packed and then slathered with Patch N' Go. I felt I needed to put something on there... so I figured that stuff wouldn't hurt. It's like an antibacterial ointment/homeopathic stuff.

And finally, another body shot of Gus with his head shoved in a round bale. Nice, huh?

Gus... his story.

Gus has literally been through hell and back. When I got him back in 2000, he was definitely not eye catching. He had not had a "job" in three years, so he was fat, happy and sassy living in a pasture in the rural Midwest. However, despite that winter coat and those long, overgrown hooves there was something about him that caught my eye.Gus was my first horse. I have always been one of those little girls that loved horses. I was finally getting my own horse; I just jumped at the first one we checked out. He was worth it.

His first "accident" happened that first May, May 2000. My trainer/barn owner "BO" was lunging him. Well, he decided to be stupid, as was his thing on the lunge line, and ended up slipping. That accident resulted in a hyperextended stifle. He recovered just fine with about a month off.

No further issues until the spring of 2003. That was our first spring together in the South. Did not know what was going on. Vet finally diagnosed the problem as arthritis in the left front fetlock. Sorta resolved itself over the summer.

Spring of 2004 brought about another bout of lameness. This time the vet thought it was navicular in the right front. Treatment consisted of really expensive, custom bar shoes. Was sound after that.

Spring of 2005... Guess what? Yep, you guessed it. Another spring of lameness. New vet. Didn't think it was the front end this time, but thought it was the back end. Diagnosis was hocks, specifically the left hock. Ended up doing a round of hock injections, which seemed to help, but still wasn't 100%.

Fast forward a couple months... I moved Gus back home following graduation. BO at our "old" barn (same barn we were at prior to the move south) thought it was stifles. Vet confirmed the diagnosis as probably arthritis. Treatment consisted of injecting the left stifle with a steroid/sodium hylauronate mixture. He was sound, 100% again.

Ended up needing the stifle injected multiple times in the course of a couple years. Legend worked wonders in helping prolong the time between the joint injections. However, this spring, things were very different.

So, this March Gus was lame, again. What's new? My vet and I have been through so much with Gus so we both immediately suspected the stifle, except this time it felt like it was the right one, not the left. Ended up injecting both stifles in March. Moderate improvement, but still lame weeks later.

It wasn't until May that I decided to take him to the specialist, to see if we could get a more concrete diagnosis. Well, I got more then I bargained for. By the time I got Gus to the equine specialist, he was so lame he could barely even walk. Diagnosis was a torn cranial cruciate ligament. Prognosis was poor.

Gus ended up on stall rest for about 4 weeks. Then he was allowed turnout, only after he'd been ridden. Finally, by late June, he could be turned out in the mornings like everyone else. He was making progress, even if it was slow.

But, like everything else, we had our setbacks. First one was in July. He had been previously turned out by himself, but in mid-July, the BO turned another horse out with him. Gus, quite literally, beat the crap out of the other guy. In doing so, he reaggravated his injury.

He was getting better, and then ended up running around on his bad leg again a few weeks later in August. Since then, he's not been getting any better. And, now we're dealing with a swollen cannon bone (noticed on Labor Day).

Aghh. I don't think any of this will ever end. Had the vet back out for the swollen cannon bone (it's his left hind). Not sure what he did... it could be a number of things. Like: bee sting, infection (splinter possibly?), or (getting dramatic now) he could have fractured something. We don't know. So, with the help of a DMSO/Nitrofurazone/Dex sweat, the swelling has come down. However, after a week of sweating the leg, the swelling is still present.

It's frustrating because he's still lame... though now on both hind legs, but more so the left hind now then the right. But, he can't be on Bute because it's causing a lot of stomach upsets... he's been cribbing again since I put him back on Bute back at the beginning of the month.

He's got until October to get this issue resolved, then I'll do x-rays. He's comfortable, but it's so sad seeing him not "happy". And, I can't even ride my boy right now, which is frustrating in itself. But, at least he's weight is up and his coat is looking nice again. I'll have to post photos of his stars sometime soon.

ETA: Another blog I follow, Behind The Bit, had a nice article on stifles... so for my information (mostly) here's a link: http://behindthebit.blogspot.com/2008/10/stifle-mother-of-all-joints.html.