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Trial and Error
This post has been a long time coming. With Axel still being lame and just not right we have had multiple vet visits and an awful lot of claims on his insurance policy.
Finally, insurance getting exhausted and poor Axel being fed up with it all, we decided to send him up to CSU (Colorado State University) for some further diagnostics.
One of the first things to do by this point was a bone scan to highlight problematic areas. I was a little panicked when the vet let me know how much had lit up but she assured me that it was not anything abnormal.
Next they worked Axel in hand, on the lunge and as per normal he wasn't showing overt signs of lameness. The vet even went as far as to hook him up the their electronic lameness assessment unit. This is a cool setup with sensors on on their head, legs etc which feeds back to a computer to measure asymmetric gait etc. So the vet goes to me, something happened which has never happened before. The computer fed back that this horse is totally sound, even horses which are going great show lameness on this. Well haha no real surprise that Axel confused the computer even, this is why diagnosis has been so tough!
So, the vet rides him and feels how tight and unhappy he is and they start nerveblocking and riding more and she can feel how much he improves with nerve blocking the stifle so that is now the focus.
Finally, after all this we find something, my poor boy has stifle joint medial femoral condial cysts (bone growths on his knees) worse on his left than his right.
What does this mean, and whats next? Well, we have a few options but I have decided to operate on him to remove these naughty things. We will probably have a long path to recovery but we wont know how long until they open him up and remove the cysts and can see the tissue etc around the area.
In the meantime I have taken over running the our gorgeous barn. The first month has been exciting but is probably the most stressful and difficult thing I have undertaken. I have been cleaning, admin'ing', crying (yes lots), smiling, laughing, staffing, sacking, employing... the list goes on. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far and am proud to have two really fantastic young trainers to promote. Take a peek at my Happenstance website and please do go follow our FB page too. Any and all support is so appreciated!
I have so much I am starting to look forward to and be excited about, But, heart to heart, this last few months have been incredibly difficult for me. I am starting to feel like there are some breakthroughs but honestly my friends, it's been really tough. Life isn't all sunshine and flowers and I am honest and frank where possible on my blog.
Heres though, to the future, to looking forward and to new horizons.
Heres to you, my friends.
Finally, insurance getting exhausted and poor Axel being fed up with it all, we decided to send him up to CSU (Colorado State University) for some further diagnostics.
One of the first things to do by this point was a bone scan to highlight problematic areas. I was a little panicked when the vet let me know how much had lit up but she assured me that it was not anything abnormal.
Next they worked Axel in hand, on the lunge and as per normal he wasn't showing overt signs of lameness. The vet even went as far as to hook him up the their electronic lameness assessment unit. This is a cool setup with sensors on on their head, legs etc which feeds back to a computer to measure asymmetric gait etc. So the vet goes to me, something happened which has never happened before. The computer fed back that this horse is totally sound, even horses which are going great show lameness on this. Well haha no real surprise that Axel confused the computer even, this is why diagnosis has been so tough!
So, the vet rides him and feels how tight and unhappy he is and they start nerveblocking and riding more and she can feel how much he improves with nerve blocking the stifle so that is now the focus.
Finally, after all this we find something, my poor boy has stifle joint medial femoral condial cysts (bone growths on his knees) worse on his left than his right.
What does this mean, and whats next? Well, we have a few options but I have decided to operate on him to remove these naughty things. We will probably have a long path to recovery but we wont know how long until they open him up and remove the cysts and can see the tissue etc around the area.
In the meantime I have taken over running the our gorgeous barn. The first month has been exciting but is probably the most stressful and difficult thing I have undertaken. I have been cleaning, admin'ing', crying (yes lots), smiling, laughing, staffing, sacking, employing... the list goes on. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far and am proud to have two really fantastic young trainers to promote. Take a peek at my Happenstance website and please do go follow our FB page too. Any and all support is so appreciated!
I have so much I am starting to look forward to and be excited about, But, heart to heart, this last few months have been incredibly difficult for me. I am starting to feel like there are some breakthroughs but honestly my friends, it's been really tough. Life isn't all sunshine and flowers and I am honest and frank where possible on my blog.
Heres though, to the future, to looking forward and to new horizons.
Heres to you, my friends.
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| Taken by the talented @Doneker King |
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