Alpha bitch...

My sis, Jen aka Never say Never Greyhounds came for a visit on Saturday with her 3 greys. I finally got to meet Reagan, what a deer she is, literally :-) I didn't get really any pics of Limo's slumber party :-/ and I should have, it's always funny to see Limo in a swarm of greyhounds and she's right there in the middle of it all thinking she is one of them. Limo is actually a greyhound snob. She's very leery of other breeds, especially hairy ones or beagle mixes :-x guess no one told her she may have beagle in her.
The GrimLim was actually pretty nice to her guests. She only had 1 or 2 outbursts for which she was put in time out for. I think my sis just oozes "I am ALPHA" so Lim felt like she could give up the role a bit. I was surprised there wasn't more growling and snapping going on. Is this pic not hilarious?? :-D Check out the front legs,

Now some Lester news. I usually leave out a lot of important details because I have a hard time understanding what vets are telling me :-p I get the general picture and I leave it at that. The big words go in one ear and get lost.

Less' fetlock joint was injected with (HA) Hyaluronic acid and a steroid. I always want to say hydrochloric acid, but I'm pretty sure that would just make his joint completely dissolve into an acid cloud or something. HA is injected to restore fluid and give some cushion in the joint. We've injected his bad stifle before and it does help, makes him sound for a limited of time.

The little bit of lunging I have done with him I don't see any difference:-/ Could be still stiff from the injection itself I guess, still protecting the leg and going the way he's used to or he's sore somewhere else. Dr. Matt (Reynolds) did mention Less is also sore in his right knee so we may inject that in another week if Less doesn't show more improvement. On Saturday when I went to see the ponies, Less and Polo they both came running up to the gate. Less looked fine from what I could tell, I think he even threw in a crappy lead change;-), but poor Polo came in 3- legged:-( I thought for sure I was going to find something broken, but I could find no swelling or heat. So Laura met us halfway down the driveway and we were trying to figure out if it was his stifle or foot because he would not put his right hind heel completely down. We both agreed that it was probably an abscess (she called Jason (Dr. Mclendon) and told him what we were seeing and he said it was most likely an abscess too. It probably took 30 minutes to get Polo from the top pasture up to the barn. Less was an obnoxious thing on Saturday! He was acting like a young colt, he was chewing on his lead rope, head high and alert and posturing at the other horses, didn't bite me, but dug his teeth into me a few times :-x We brought them in a couple of hours early so he was clearly not impressed with that since he got shorted on his pasture time the day before also. *This* attitude made me think gosh he was be feeling good and sound, so I was disappointed to see that he was still off on the lunge line (again I'm wondering though if he's just used to going that way). He was much more mellow yesterday, back to his sweet, normal self. I'm going to have Dr. Matt look at him and see what he thinks and if I can get on him or really lunge him again.

Spur be gone.

The PonyMan got his injection in the right front fetlock last night. The vet drugged him up and put an evil twitch on him. Less was in la la land and I have to admit I was a bit jealous;-) He was a stellar patient as always. The procedure seemed quick and *painless* and he's now sporting a nice fluorescent yellow wrap. Since I had to kill time and wait to feed him and he was nice and *liquored up* I decided to take advantage of him and clean *him* Though I have to admit he's pretty good about it even when he's sober, it's just a lot easier to pick at *it* when you don't have to play tug-o-war with it or go way up into no woman's hand/arm should be there land.
He has to stay in his stall today so hopefully he's not too upset. I asked that another horse stay in with him at all times and maybe the other horses could rotate babysitting him:-) I can take him out and let him graze later so I know he will enjoy that. He can be turned back out tomorrow and maybe Sunday I can hop on him.

Right front

So I was hoping to have the vet watch Less under saddle, but it didn't happen. Guess it doesn't matter, I'm sure I'm fooling myself thinking he is *any* better u/s. Less was stiff, but not surprising since he had flection tests the day before, I shouldn't have even gotten on him.
We did get his right front xrayed though and it shows a spur in the fetlock joint. So we will inject that joint.
Dr. Reynolds also said he didn't like Less' reaction to his right knee flection so we may inject that too.
This week sucks. I'm ready to snap. From having to deal with state tax crap, crying at the sight of Spooky's pics, finding out my horse may have neuro problems, not knowing what's gonna happen when the *new* company takes us over...blah blah blah blah so yeah, when I see my lunge line left out yet AGAIN and introductions are being done at inappropriate times, yeah I'm gonna snap. Oh and I feel fat, don't fit in my clothes and hate my hair right now too :-)

Is He Lame or Is He Neurologic?

Sounds an awful lot like Lester's story

Southern Crescent Equine hired a new vet recently and I was eager to see what he "saw" in Lester. To date he will be the 5th vet to look at Less for his NQR'ness (not quite right). I find it interesting that each vet has their own ideas and procedures. The first couple of vets tried to pass it off as bad hocks, naturally dressage horse's hocks are the first to go in the scheme of things, but this wasn't the case with Less. His hock views look fine for his age, normal wear and tear. Then I had him examined by Dr. McClendon and finally he found something other than hocks and I was satisfied and it seemed to all make sense as far as all of his issues.

But is there more to it?

I struggle to know if what I'm asking Less is too painful for him or just too much. This is NOT my first post on the subject. I go from no riding, riding alittle- natural-where ever he wants to keep his head, to some actual dressage stuff. Some dressage work seems to be the best for us both. Mentally and physically. And ever since I have had Less on the Thyro-L his spooking has been very minimum.

So the following was done yesterday:

• Back withdrawal: Pressure is placed over the back and pelvis to determine if the patient resents the pressure. Less didn't give into the pressure or act painful.


• Mobility of the neck: The horse is quietly and gently encouraged to bend their neck so that the nostrils reach behind the shoulder.


• Placement tests: The front legs are taken one at a time and crossed over the front of the other leg or placed in a wide stance. Normal horses should instantly replace their legs to the proper position while horses with spinal cord problems can take a long time to recognize their awkward stance. The test should be repeated on the opposite side and can also be done on the hind legs on subtle cases. This is probably the most alarming of all the tests. While he will right or replace his front legs quite normally he does not do so on his hind legs. He will hold the position as long as you let him and ask him to move forward. This means he doesn't know where his back legs are.


• Tail sway: The tail is pulled to each side by the examiner while an experienced handler is walking the patient. Normal horses resent the tail pull, but "wobblers" are easily pulled to the side while walking and when the pressure is released, they over correct or sway to the side. Vet was able to pull Less off balance with the strength of one arm, he said normally he has to use both arms just to have a normal horse budge.


• Tight circles: The patient is walked in a very tight circle pattern. A normal horse has the outside front foot placed in the front of the inside front foot and the inside hind foot placed in front of the outside hind foot. Horses with spinal cord problems will be confused and often reverse this order or pivot on the inside foot instead of lifting the leg. They will also swing the hind leg very wide (circumduction). Not sure how he scored here.


• Hills: The patient is led up and down an incline with the head in a normal position and then again with the head elevated. Normal horses place their hind feet flat on the ground and do not elevate the front feet (hypermetria) when going down hill. When coming up hill, the normal horse should also walk with flat rear feet. Abnormal horses walk downhill as though they have been tranquilized (truncal ataxia) and will knuckle over on the hind fetlocks. The patient will walk on their toes coming up the hill and swivel the toes and hocks laterally trying to get enough strength to get up the hill. Walk the patient with the head elevated and if the horse is affected, the signs should be even easier to see. Less drags his toes and "bobbles" (noticeable lateral movement in hocks and feet.)

He watched him on the lunge line and straightways and saw what I feel and see- sound on the straight-a-ways and lame on a right circle. Less tripped, knuckled over behind twice, that's what happens when he "loses" his back in. I described to him that I find that he trips and stumbles more when he's not on the bit or round and that his whole body just feels stiff. In this position trying to turn him right is a chore to say the least. BUT if I have him flexed and round then I can bend him left or right with my legs and just my fingertips. He will watch me ride him in the next week or so to show him. I told him I felt like when he was flexed that he was more "aware" of his body, mostly the hind legs. He found this a bit weird sense the cases he's seen horses react the complete opposite, but when has Lester ever been an easy, textbook case?

So what does all this mean? Dunno yet. We also have to figure out what is going on with his right foreleg. I've always thought it was compensation for the back end problems, but I think it's too prominent for that to be the case anymore. His flections weren't good on it.

and I had him check Lester's teeth and the good news is his teeth are in great shape :-p

I didn't know Matt had a son :-o

Just kidding:-) Hah! Lester had a visitor on Saturday and he looked like he could be a son of Matt's...My friend Teresa brought her nephew Camden out to the farm to visit Gigi (the guest greyhound we have had) and to see the horses.
I forgot to mention in my last post ANOTHER reason I love Less so much is he is the sweetest and most gentle horse I have ever seen around kids -as long as they stay on the ground:-) A kid can lead him, hug him, feed him, brush him, anything. And he never disappoints with his tongue trick :-p

Lester will take treats with his lips and not take your whole hand off either. He's never been obnoxious about treats even though he is spoiled with them constantly! I never worry about him around kids.

Which leads me to a funny goat story. My nephew, Sam came to visit when Lester was still in my parent's backyard. We had 2 goats at the time too, Scarlett and Magnolia. Sam and I walked out to the pasture to see Lester and give him some carrots. Since Lester was not in a halter I was solely paying attention to him and making sure he didn't step on Sam. So I turn around and find Sam flat on his back, apparently Scarlet had knocked him down and she was standing over him ready to nail him again :-o Guess I should have paid more attention to Scarlet the B*tch Goat from Hell as I affectionately called her.

Well Limo is definitely fearful of little kids. But she's also fearful of manure piles that have been piled oddly so really she's just a wimp. She did finally warm up to Camden though and learned that not all kids are bad.