It's been ages since I've done an update on the boys. I do have plenty of pictures to post too, go figure, right? Anyways, the photos will have to come later. First things first though.
Gringo. He's been doing fairly well all summer long. Too well, in fact. The little porker looks more like a cow then the Andalusian/Appaloosa that he is. He weights nearly as much as Gus, according to the weight tape at least.
Soundness-wise, well he's the same 'ol. Still off and on sound. More off then anything else though as of late. MIL doesn't seem to notice it at all, but I've known Gringo for a bit longer and although it is sometimes very minute, the lameness is still there. We'll see what the spring holds for him. She (MIL) would like me to start him under saddle again. I would like to see Gringo have some sort of job, as he's just wasting away in the pasture. But I think he enjoys his life for the most part. After all, he's nearly 8 and this is all he's ever known.
Food-wise, Gringo is now on more of a diet then he's ever been on. Short of slapping on a grazing muzzle (which I'd do if it wasn't for the fact that he'd literally live in it day in and day out, without it coming off) he's on basically just pasture and a small scoop (about 1/5 of a lb) of alfalfa pellets daily along with his supps. The supps are MSM (10g), MagOx 56% (10g), and Mega-Cell. The alf' pellets are only there so there is something to mix his supps with. He's currently on no hay, whatsoever. Although I do think the MIL feels bad for him and gives him some hay every now and then.
He's otherwise as happy as he can be. Just enjoying life.
Gus. We've definitely had our ups and downs. After doing the trial with boots and wedge pads (which we were successful with), Gus had shoes put back on with wedge pads and Forshner's packing added underneath. He was going well for a while, when just before our show in August he decided to throw a shoe. Lovely, right? J was out and put it back on just in time for the show. Despite the fact that Gus desperately needed his Legend injection, he did great at the show, bring in two ribbons, a first and a second. Very proud of my boy.
So, after the show, Gus got the Legend injection and that gave him a second wind. He really started moving better after that. Fast forward until the a few days ago.
We we warming up in the outdoor, prepping for this weekend's show when all of a sudden Gus took a bad step. A really bad step. Head bobbing lame immediately. Got B (the BO/Trainer) over to take a look and agreed with me that it was right fore. Definitely felt like hoof. We thought he may have gotten something (rock, sand?) up underneath the pad, but had no way of really knowing.
So I call out J, again. She really is fabulous. She comes out two days later (incident happened Sunday, I called her Monday after finding out he was still off, she was out Wednesday morning) and pulls both shoes, resets them and applies Equipak. I had a lesson on Wednesday evening and surprisingly, Gus was fairly sound. I am VERY HAPPY about this.
Still unsure what exactly caused the issues. We are sorta wondering if he may have knocked himself really hard or if there was something bothering him that had gotten stuck in the padding. It's interesting that where he did react to the hoof testers (sole, mainly outside near heel) was where he had a big divot in his heel and where he also had a large bruise. We plan on monitoring that hoof really well. I've got pictures... so I'll try to post them later.
Other then all that, Gus is really thriving back at B's. His weight is finally back to where I'd like it to be and he's looking wonderful. He recently received his annual body clip and looks fabulous. I just wish we could get his muscling back up so he looked even better.
Food-wise, he's basically on the same diet he's been on all summer. He's getting 2lbs of Progressive ProAdvantage Grass Formula ration balancer, along with about 6lbs of alfalfa pellets daily. Both of those are divided equally between two meals. His supps are pretty basic. He is getting MagOx 56% (10g), MSM (10g sometimes 20g), and Flex Force HA (1oomg). I'm thinking that if he needs more calories (fat) this winter, I'll either add in the Cool Calories 100 again or add in rice bran.
So, pictures are to come. Eventually.
Showing posts with label lameness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lameness. Show all posts
Friday, October 8, 2010
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Gringo's Story
Gringo has a sketchy past. I know little about what happened to him prior to my ownership. I got Gringo from an ex-boarder. She had gotten him from his breeder. He was only three when I got him and already had so many problems.
By the time I got him in October of 2006, he had already been at numerous (think about 5+) barns in just two short years. He had supposedly been "broke" to ride, but we found out soon enough that he either had no training or very bad training (I personally think it was a combination of both).
It took weeks before I could lead him without either being plowed over or stepped on. He had no concept of personal space and was as flighty as a bird. I do know that when his previous owner (PO) attempted to lunge him, he got away from her and got tangled up in a barbed wire fence. He has scars to prove he lost that battle.
Anyways, the training of Gringo progressed very slowly. He would be making good progress but within minutes would back track - miles back. For every one-step forward, it would be four steps back. It took a long time to build his trust in humans... makes me wonder what really happened in all those barns before I got him.
In early January, the BO thought it was time to finally throw that other leg all the way over. Well, needless to say, that did not go so smooth. I ended up with permanent nerve damage on my left side - primarily in my left arm and leg.
By late winter, we knew something was not right with Gringo. He would have okay days, and then he would have outright dangerous days. No rhyme or reason. No expression before he would freak... just one moment he's with it, the next he's trying to kill everyone.
In May, we stopped training. We just weren't making any progress. By then, I'd already had the vet out a couple times but we could never find anything wrong. Well, in early May we thought we had the culprit... an abscess in the left fore. Treated it for a couple weeks with no real improvement.
Therefore, we had the vet back out. This time we took x-rays. Found out he had fractured the coffin bone (extensor process was where the break actually occurred). So, my options were limited. Stall rest, corrective shoeing or surgery. I opted for a mixture...
In August, after having two months off and just chilling out in the pasture, I send Gringo to my significant other's (SO) parents' house. He had the luxury of being on pasture board for 9 months. Him and I finally bonded when he moved there. I was his "human" and he was always so happy to see me. Those 9 months out there did wonders for him. He became a horse again. He also became more trusting.
In March of this year I took Gringo to the specialist (same one Gus saw actually... love Dr. T) to see if there was any improvement in his x-rays from the previous May. Found out from Dr. T that the break was old... not just a year old, but like years old. Great. So, that means that while the PO had Gringo, this "accident" occurred... and she knew about it.
We never did notice it on the PPE back in October when I had gotten Gringo, but then, I didn't do x-rays. Lessons learn. Anyway, Dr. T recommended corrective shoeing. His other options were joint injections, stem cells, IRAP or surgery to remove the fragment. None of those were feasible... so I opted for the cheaper route.
So, now Gringo is sporting lovely shoes with clips, rocker toes and pads with frog support. He's sounder now then he's been in years. I also had his coffin bone injected back in early August of this year. That injection seemed to cause more issues, temporarily. He was very painful for about two weeks. But, he's seems to be getting along better now.
Thankfully, things seem to be resolving. There's no guarantee he'll ever be sane enough to be ridden. He has such a history and so much of it we don't even know. I do know that he's very reactive to pain... for what that's worth.
ETA: This is more for my own benefit, but here's another blogger's post about coffin bone injuries - great source of information! See: http://behindthebit.blogspot.com/2008/09/coffin-bone-fractures-what-to-look-for.html.
By the time I got him in October of 2006, he had already been at numerous (think about 5+) barns in just two short years. He had supposedly been "broke" to ride, but we found out soon enough that he either had no training or very bad training (I personally think it was a combination of both).
It took weeks before I could lead him without either being plowed over or stepped on. He had no concept of personal space and was as flighty as a bird. I do know that when his previous owner (PO) attempted to lunge him, he got away from her and got tangled up in a barbed wire fence. He has scars to prove he lost that battle.
Anyways, the training of Gringo progressed very slowly. He would be making good progress but within minutes would back track - miles back. For every one-step forward, it would be four steps back. It took a long time to build his trust in humans... makes me wonder what really happened in all those barns before I got him.
In early January, the BO thought it was time to finally throw that other leg all the way over. Well, needless to say, that did not go so smooth. I ended up with permanent nerve damage on my left side - primarily in my left arm and leg.
By late winter, we knew something was not right with Gringo. He would have okay days, and then he would have outright dangerous days. No rhyme or reason. No expression before he would freak... just one moment he's with it, the next he's trying to kill everyone.
In May, we stopped training. We just weren't making any progress. By then, I'd already had the vet out a couple times but we could never find anything wrong. Well, in early May we thought we had the culprit... an abscess in the left fore. Treated it for a couple weeks with no real improvement.
Therefore, we had the vet back out. This time we took x-rays. Found out he had fractured the coffin bone (extensor process was where the break actually occurred). So, my options were limited. Stall rest, corrective shoeing or surgery. I opted for a mixture...
In August, after having two months off and just chilling out in the pasture, I send Gringo to my significant other's (SO) parents' house. He had the luxury of being on pasture board for 9 months. Him and I finally bonded when he moved there. I was his "human" and he was always so happy to see me. Those 9 months out there did wonders for him. He became a horse again. He also became more trusting.
In March of this year I took Gringo to the specialist (same one Gus saw actually... love Dr. T) to see if there was any improvement in his x-rays from the previous May. Found out from Dr. T that the break was old... not just a year old, but like years old. Great. So, that means that while the PO had Gringo, this "accident" occurred... and she knew about it.
We never did notice it on the PPE back in October when I had gotten Gringo, but then, I didn't do x-rays. Lessons learn. Anyway, Dr. T recommended corrective shoeing. His other options were joint injections, stem cells, IRAP or surgery to remove the fragment. None of those were feasible... so I opted for the cheaper route.
So, now Gringo is sporting lovely shoes with clips, rocker toes and pads with frog support. He's sounder now then he's been in years. I also had his coffin bone injected back in early August of this year. That injection seemed to cause more issues, temporarily. He was very painful for about two weeks. But, he's seems to be getting along better now.
Thankfully, things seem to be resolving. There's no guarantee he'll ever be sane enough to be ridden. He has such a history and so much of it we don't even know. I do know that he's very reactive to pain... for what that's worth.
ETA: This is more for my own benefit, but here's another blogger's post about coffin bone injuries - great source of information! See: http://behindthebit.blogspot.com/2008/09/coffin-bone-fractures-what-to-look-for.html.
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