Uno - the vet's verdict

The lovely Ian Neilson came out again yesterday to look over Uno with his very experienced eye. Uno had been out with his mum in the herd (by 'herd' I mean an old broodie, a tiny shetland and now Jedi who's staying about 200m away at all times), for two days by the time Ian came. He'd been getting diarrhea for a few days, gradually worsening with no fever, loss of appetite or other changes, so I gave serious consideration to the stress he must be feeling not being able to run around.

I took the plunge and put him out for the day with mum, who promptly galloped off for five minutes while my heart leapt into my mouth where it stayed for the whole time watching them run around with gay abandon. But, she's never been big on running around for no good reason (or running at all, if I'm to be brutally honest), so within a short time she was munching on the first grass she'd had in over a month. And Uno was still sound. Fingers crossed with the diarrhea, thought I.

Sure enough, no diarrhea all day and a happy little dude. I brought them back into the yard overnight and, by the time I got out there in the morning, the diarrhea was back and he was looking listless. Still no temperature, though, so I put them back out and there was no running around which was great. And no diarrhea. He's been out ever since.

I was a bit concerned Ian might chastise me for letting Uno out over a week early, and without his OK. But quite the opposite! Ian was quick to point out that recent research shows that over 70% of foals confined develop ulcers in the first week of confinement which is a clear indication of the stress they feel. He was completely fine with my decision and thought Uno looked really good.

The knee has essentially healed, the fracture is no more, though the effect the injury may have had on the future development of soft tissue and the structures in the joint will not be known for a few more months. But basically, Uno is in the clear from the fracture. Bloody awesome. AND his front legs are, in Ian's words, 'straight'. Lots of leaping for joy.

BUT. And there's always a BUT with horses, isn't there? He appears to have injured the extensor tendon in the fetlock of the same leg the fracture happened. More interestingly, Ian thinks there may be an underlying iodine deficiency that is affecting those tendons in all four limbs and that may have even gone some way to explain the original injury.

The extensor tendons are the ones that run down the front of the fetlock and pull the hoof and pastern up and forward in the swing phase so the hoof lands heel-first on the ground. If that tendon is damaged or weak, the horse can't control that hoof and walks on his toes. For a time, anyway. Apparently, the injury simply resolves as the horse learns to flick the hoof forward in another way and the lameness or problem goes away. Very interesting.

In the case of an iodine deficiency, the tendons don't function or develope properly and the foal can start to walk on the fetlocks themselves in severe cases. Uno is definitely not that severe. However, it is noticeable that he walks a little oddly, almost throwing his front legs up and out with pointed toes before placing them on the ground.

Ian suggested feeding Uno and Rose (his mum) seaweed meal which is rich in iodine and see what happens. The problem is just subtle enough for Ian to be less than 100% sure it will work, but we are both very interested to see what happens.

Robyn Larson-Shelton came out the day before Ian to do some bodywork on Uno and Jedi. She was really pleased with Uno's progress and said if he was her horse she'd be over the moon with how he was doing. I was stoked hearing that. I'd followed her plan pretty faithfully (he just would not stand still for all those acupressure redlight points....) and we were rewarded. She did say he was extremely tight through his back and neck from holding his body upright off that leg. It'll be interesting to see if the iodine makes a difference there too.

All in all, a really amazing outcome. Uno is turning into a very big but handsome young lad and such a sweet boy to deal with. I'll post pics in the next post. Such a relief to have this worrying and time-consuming period over.

Jedi is doing really well. Lucy the Dentist came out to see him and said his teeth were quite neglected. They possibly had not been done since he was sacked from racing (or trials, still don't know if he raced). There's 3 or 4 years of neglect there and he has developed 'ramps'. I had never heard of these before. Basically, she said he had been stabled for some time as a young horse and fed up high, not on the ground, and this causes the lower jaw to move forward against the upper jaw, leaving a gap at the back of the mouth where a hook essentially grows up on the last tooth like a ramp (front to back). He'd need sedation and power tools to deal with it, meaning we'd need a vet to come and sedate him. Bugger.

Given the time of year, it wouldn't happen til at least after Christmas, but more like New Year, meaning not much riding over the holidays. Pooh. It also explained a lot about his unhappiness in the contact and unwillingness to round up properly. He physically can't...the ramps stop his jaw from accommodating the correct working outline. Lucky I hadn't been asking for more than long and low! That did explain why his mouth was so cut, though. Previous riders may have tried to force him to come round and he couldn't. Poor guy.

So, I tried to find a vet that could come out when Lucy could, after we got back from Christmas hols. Not easy. Eventually, I just rang Brindabella Equine and was thrilled to find out they could fit Jedi in before we went away on Christmas Eve. Woohoo!

Jedi's bodywork was also revealing, but in a good (ish) way. He's in generally good shape and Robyn liked him. A bit weak in the left hindquarter, his feet probably weren't helping as he is still a little sensitive. A bit stiff but some carrot stretches will help. Getting his teeth done will do a lot to help throughout his body. Who knew everything was so connected?

Jedi's feet are getting better and better. I've moved him in with the girls and Uno now Tux has gone and their paddock involves a good 150m laneway of hard packed dirt up to the water trough. In this heat they'd all need to travel up and back two or three times a day which is all good exercise for his hooves. They're hardening up nicely and getting less and less sensitive. He's quite good to ride on grass now and I gave them a quick balancing trim this morning. Really pleased with his progress so far. More pics in a couple of weeks. There isn't too much obvious change at this stage, though I think the hoof wall is growing quite quickly now with all the stimulation and change of feed.

As always, I'll keep you posted.

Have a great Christmas everyone. This has been one hell of a year, good and bad. I hope next year is a bit more....umm....sedate? :) Come back after Christmas for the next instalment!