And somethings to think about
If you’re reading this, you know that Weather Wiz has been having soundness issues. My vet came out here and did x-rays and diagnosed him with sesamoiditis. He sent the x-rays off to Dr. Lamb at Roaring Fork Equine Hospital for possible treatments plans. She suggested a thorough ultrasound and PRP Therapy.
We have been inundated with monsoons for about three weeks, which is highly unusual. They usually don’t start until mid-July. The rivers are high, and we were in a flash flood watch when I loaded Wiz into the trailer to head through the West Elk Mountains to Glenwood Springs.
Wiz runs warm, so I chose to go through the mountains to keep him cool. It got a little dicey on the way. There were several spots where the material from the pull off spots had washed across the road, and water from new streams meandered along the roads to the other side into the river below. I came across two mudslides that were luckily being cleaned up as I got to them, and there were some mini rockslides. It lightly rained the entire trip, and it was an amazing drive despite my stress. Wiz and I literally got to drive through the clouds as we descended McClure Pass.
Once we got to the hospital, we waited for maybe five minutes before it was our turn. I unloaded him, and he handled everything like a champ. I am so proud of my rambunctious guy.
Some people think that this may have happened due to his training with me, and to be honest, I was concerned that I did something. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure it out. I’ve always had some concerns about his right leg, so we have worked really slow. I haven’t even lunged him, which turns out to be a very good thing.
What has been happening? Well, the first time, he got up from a nap, did a little yoga, and suddenly he was three-legged lame. I kept him in a small area, and he did worse. I decided to take him out to hand graze, and guess what? He was 90% better in three days. After six months, I started letting him do more. He was doing great. One morning I was watching him on the cameras, and when he got up from his nap, he was three-legged lame again. I went back over the footage, and he was sound before he plopped down for his nap. Again, I put him in a small area, and he didn’t improve at all. He was scared to walk. I took him out for a hand graze, and he improved 50% due to that short walk while eating. In three days, he was almost 100%. The main tell right now is that he can’t cross his right leg in front of his left if he does a tight turn.
According to Dr, Shull and Dr. Lamb, the sesamoiditis is from his horse racing days. He has definite changes to his sesamoids, changes that make me cringe, and one very bumpy area that we need to keep an eye on. We have our baseline x-rays and ultrasounds of his sesamoids, so we can note any changes from year to year. Dr. Lamb does not believe his lameness issues currently have anything to do with his sesamoiditis. Sesamoiditis develops from repetitive, concussive work such as jumping, barrel racing, and horse racing.
This is good news that it didn’t flare up.
She then began examining his tendons and ligaments their entire length and origins and insertions. She said, “The good news is there is nothing major going on here, and nothing to stick a needle into (referring to the PRP therapy we thought he needed).”
What she did find were two old injuries to his suspensory. One is at the medial distal branch, and the other was halfway up his cannon bone. I hoped to have the image, but I haven’t received the report yet. The fibers of the healthy part of the suspensory are long, and then you see much shorter fibers. These two areas are what she thinks are bothering him. He reacted more to the area halfway up his cannon bone.
These are old injuries from his horse racing days. What she thinks, and what I saw, is that he tweaks them doing yoga or getting up. Imagine getting up out of bed or off the floor. You might get up in a weird way or slip a little bit, and then you tweak that muscle in your back or your knee. This is what Wiz is doing. This is why movement improves it instead of makes it worse.
She said that the ligament has great tone, so our hand grazing and ten-minute walks in the mornings are benefiting him; not hurting him. She and Dr. Shull both told me that I had it figured out and to keep doing it. I can never lunge him. Not only is it bad for his suspensory but bad for the sesamoids. Whenever he works, he will have his Cavallo boots on, and his suspensory, orthopedic leg wraps. She showed me where to use the red light on him, and she told me to keep doing the myofascial release work I’ve been doing on his leg and for his body. His tight shoulders and poll that I am releasing every couple of weeks are definitely tied to this. For the record, I have not given him any pain meds; only herbal anti-inflammatories and icing or cold hosing.
The great news is he doesn’t need any pain meds! Instead, I brought home a tube of Surpass for whenever he has a flare up, and that probably will happen for the rest of his life. If he doesn’t recover in a short time, we will head back up to Roaring Fork for another ultrasound to see what changes have happened and treat as needed. He may need PRP one day, but right now, it is all manageable.
We can return to Liberty work, because his leg needs it. It will help keep his leg healthy as long as I don’t let either of us over do it. It is all about balance and will be low level work. We will be doing Liberty work, pole work, and we will do a lot of walking together. Maybe one day we can do low-level dressage work. Riding is out of the question for now. All I care about is Wiz…all of my horses. Their needs always come first. I miss riding. I would be lying if I said different, but what matters to me is them. I love the relationships I have with these silly guys, and that is so much better and important than riding.
Now I don’t have to worry that I just walked Wiz too much this morning. Today we walked all over the pasture and walked back and forth over the irrigation pipe, and instead of being worried, I know that it helped him.
To Horse Racing: I have suggested it before, and I will suggest it again. Turn the infields into cross-training areas for racehorses. If they could cross-train, it could create much stronger bones. It would be great if they could go on a trail that had gentle rolling hills, a pond to walk through, and an arena to do some basic pole work and dressage. It would only help the horse.
Reenchanted Thoroughbreds 