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| Yes please. |
Dr. Bob knows how hard I work for my horses. He knows the hours I spend toiling, studying, watching, searching, and fine-tuning every aspect of their existence to give them the best I can. So it made me feel a little less paranoid when, as he stepped out of his truck Tuesday morning, he said, "I'm hoping I can give you some good news for a change today so you can finally catch a break!"
You and me both, buddy, you and me both. At least it wasn't just me who felt like the dice kept rolling against us just enough to keep us from, you know, actually doing anything. I could only keep chanting my life mantra: nothing lasts forever, nothing lasts forever...
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| Stuff blew out everywhere. |
I had spent the last six weeks dutifully feeding bute, painting on
Durasole (thanks for the reminder of its much-loved magic, Yvonne!) and strapping and re-strapping fly boots (thanks, Allie!) and examining every surface and crevice on
Encore's four bruised-up feet for any signs of emerging abscess or other "nasties" (hey, that's the term my vet uses, so it's real now!).
As directed, I'd kept him in very light work on grass; even though we knew his hips were out of whack and he was sore, he still needed to do some gentle walking and trotting to keep the blood pumping in his feet, speeding healing and exorcising all evils. He was all kinds of cattywompus, but after three to four weeks, I felt the footiness subside until all that remained was his out-of-whack hind end and poll.
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| Check out where that back meridian on top goes! |
The latter two were a result of his compensation for his foot soreness. Interestingly, because of the way the muscles and nerves work,
many times a hind end lameness can manifest through a jammed or resistant feeling in the horse's poll on the opposite side. Even the ancient rules of acupuncture acknowledge this connection, which is pretty remarkable if you consider acupuncture itself dates back to the Stone Age and the use of metal needles dates to at least 113 BC!!
I told Dr. Bob that I believed that he had finally worked out that last significant bruise in his left front foot and, miracle of miracles, had not developed abscesses in any of them. At times, I am hesitant to make any assertions, as it can be difficult to detect small things in all the colours and dirt layers of a hoof. But the hoof testers backed me up and I had to let out a giggle of excitement.
Next we had Encore's long-awaited chiropractic adjustment to put all that cattywompus back where it belonged. Dr. Bob had informed me that yes, he could have adjusted him two weeks ago when we were at the clinic, but it would all get thrown right back out again since Encore was still compensating a bit, so instead of wasting time and money, it was better to hold tight until his feet felt good (this is a vet you keep!).
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| Not Encore, but that is his favourite stretch! |
My big brown beast leaned into the stretches with relish, licking his lips as joints popped and settled from his poll to his tailbone. Happily, his mid-back was solid so his
spring vertebral injections were still doing their trick and his withers and hips quickly fell into line. I was glad we had decided to inject his hocks six weeks ago; even though they do not have arthritic changes, they were sore from compensatory motion and were now swinging freely and their range of motion was as good or better than ever! It was with great satisfaction that I watched him trot off across the pasture already looking pretty darn normal again.
Dr. Bob went merrily along his way (significantly more financially merry) after a hearty congratulations and Encore was free to rest and meander around his pasture. The latter will get today off in case of any soreness from the adjustments and then, I will swing a leg back over to....dare I hope?...bring him back into work.
Don't leave us behind, fall season, we're trying to catch up!!
