3rd Vet Visit 26/2/15

Yesterday afternoon was Jacks 3rd home visit from the vets since he came home from vet hospital.
It was delayed a couple of days due to my usual vet having to take some emergency leave.  They did ring me the day before to let me know and offered another vet to come instead but I felt that as I wasn't concerned about anything and it was just a check up I would rather wait and extra 2 days and have the vet that has seen him before and knows his history etc.

I was pretty sure the vet would be happy with how his 3 leg wounds were healing, if she was and as long as the vets at the hospital agreed then I was hopeful we would be able to start a bit of in hand walking/grazing just to get him out of his box for a few minutes a couple of times a day.

I have been religious, almost obsessive, in my approach to cleaning his wounds morning and night and keeping all the bowls/syringes/buckets and everything else I use spotlessly clean with hibiscrub and boiling water and applying the cream they prescribed.  I've also been giving him a full muck out twice a day to keep his stable as clean as I can - literally picking out every little bit off poo!  With all the effort I have gone to I was really pleased when the vet said what a good job I had done, the wounds were all healing well and she was very happy with Jacks progress.  She has said she doesn't need to see him again now, unless anything changes significantly for the worse and I think I need her, otherwise he wont need to see a vet again until he returns to Oakham vet hospital on 23rd March for his follow up xrays. She was going to ring Oakham on her way back and give them an update. In anticipation of Oakham agreeing to the walking the vet left me with a tube of sedalin.

So today I spoke to oakham and Jack is allowed a very small amount of in hand walking/grazing, only a couple of minutes walking on a flat surface and straight as possible twice a day at the moment then a bit of grass and see how he goes. If he can't walk calmly and quietly then we will have to stop as rearing or jogging or dragging me about sideways/backwards etc will not do him any good.

When I arrived at the yard this afternoon I popped a dose of sedalin in jacks feed before giving it to him.  He didn't seem bothered about it and ate it all up so I let it get to work while I mucked out and tidied up his stable.

He had been unsettled all day despite nothing appearing to be any different.  I had been up as usual this morning and he seemed fine and I did everything I normally do.  When I left he was happy munching on his hay but just over an hour later I got a call from one of the other liveries to say he was rearing and charging round his box since she had turned her mare out.  As everyone else was already out he had no company although this is quite normal today he found it upsetting so I asked her to spray him with the instamag calmer and give him some more food and he did calm down a bit.  For a while.  Then I got a text from another livery, she had been down to ride and was going to leave her horse in as Jack was going nuts again.  The calming spray didn't seem to be having much effect and Jack was rearing and spinning again when she went to turn her horse out so she decided to leave him in and hope it helped Jack settle.

When I arrived 2 hours later all carnage seemed to have stopped and Jack was just eating!

I didn't over do it with the sedalin, I just wanted the edge off him so he would walk calmly not fall asleep!  15/20 mins later I attempted to walk him round the front of the yard a friend helped and we both wore hats and gloves but I didn't feel it was the best way as with 1 on each side if he spun 1 of us would be in danger.  He wasn't too bad just very keen and strong and it didn't seem much like the sedalin was having any effect so I took him back in and gave him a bit more before trying again on my own.  This time he was better and we managed a couple of uneventful laps of the carpark. He was still pulling and strong but controllable.

After that I started to clean up his wounds and when I came to the back leg some of the scab came away as I was washing it.  I took out my phone to use as a torch and took a look only to find where the scab had come off there was a stitch that had gone unnoticed through 2 vet visits and all my cleaning!  I immediately rang the vets to explain what I had found and see if they could fit in seeing Jack to remove said stitch when they come to do vaccinations on Monday.  So much for no more vets visits!  At least this one will be free!

He's still not looking too bad 3weeks and 4days of box rest

The vastly improved foreleg

And the offending stitch!

Recovery week 13

Jack has now been home a week and it's like he's never been away!

It took us a few days to settle back into a routine and I found that being a bit out of practice I was a bit slower at completing tasks, items having gone walkies while we weren't around didn't help but we are now fine, found everything and have got a good routine that suits us both sorted out!

Initially I was bringing Jack in during the day, exercising him after work, turning him out for a few hours and then returning late evening to put his grazing muzzle on for the night.  Jack didn't seem very happy with this arrangement!  He was unsettled during the day as had no company, was very full of himself during his work and was not keen on being caught in the evening knowing the muzzle was going on so at the weekend I changed to turning him out during the day muzzled, bring him in late afternoon and working him then leaving him in for the night.  This is much better for him for several reasons, he has company at night as there is another pony that stays in next to him, he has been out so is more chilled to work and he's not on the spring grass for a long, there is also the benefit to me of only 2 visits a day rather than 3 so everybody is happy!

Following his return home last Monday Jack began working, my last post details the first few days.

Having attempted long reining fairly successfully for the first time on Thursday I tried again on the Friday and even managed to walk over some ground poles on each rein albeit a bit wobbly!  Then we had a slight technical issue when one of my lunge lines snapped!  Thank god it did it when I had a second attached and was able to stay in control!  Saturday down to 1 lunge line we had another session in the pessoa this time with ground poles at B and E on the circle for him to step over.  Having changed is routine the night before he was 100% calmer and he walked trotted and cantered over the poles nicely on both reins with no bucking or kicking or silliness at all :)

On the Sunday I was able to borrow another lunge line and give long reining another go, he was a super star again and we were able to walk over a line of 4 poles on each rein and even did some trot although I seriously need to get fitter as I was struggling to keep up! 

Monday we returned to the pessoa again this time with 3 ground poles 1 canter stride apart on the circle.  After a good warm up on each rein he walked trotted and canter over the poles beautifully.  He was doing it so well I decided to up the difficulty and raise the poles at one end so he had to use his back end that bit more.  Jack rose to the challenge and popped round on each rein in walk trot and canter with no problem.  He had a really good work out and I was so thrilled with him.

He has been working far better than I expected him too and I'm almost waiting for the wheels to come off again!  It seems to good to be true that he will come back into work without having some issues.  Perhaps he is just saving them all for when I get back on board, which is tomorrow eek!!

The saddler is booked for the afternoon and typically the weather forecast is for high winds, just what you need when getting on a fresh horse that's not been ridden in months!  I am really hoping that the hard session on the pessoa, being turned out for the day before hand and being lunged for a bit first will be enough for the saddlers visit to go without too much drama and we can get his saddle sorted and begin his ridden work proper!  It is such a big occasion, it feels like all the hard work all boils down to this moment when I put my bum back in the saddle and we will get more of an idea if the surgery has really worked and if it has all been worth it.  Obviously there is still a long way to go and unfortunately there is plenty of potential for things to still go wrong further down the line but all being well if I take things nice a slowly and keep things easy and fun for Jack to give him time to realise he is no longer in pain I will have my boy back.

My loose aim at the moment is a charity fun ride in September.  It's a long way off and a lot will have to go our way in order to get him fit enough and accepting me on his back enough to take part but I feel we need something to aim at and not being a competition there is much less pressure on the both of us.

I shall report back after Tuesdays saddle fitting how we have got on!

Work at home begins for Jack 28/4/15

Having brought Jack home on Monday night he enjoyed a couple of hours out in the field before much to his disgust I arrived to slap a muzzle round his chops for the night!

The next morning bright and early I went back to the farm and brought him in to his stable for the day with a nice little net of soaked hay while I went off to work.

Once my boring day job was out the way I headed straight to the farm to see Jack and tackle our first lunging session on the pessoa!  He was a little on his toes and calling to his mates out in the field a lot.  I am obviously out of practice as it seemed to take me ages to find all my stuff, get it all organised, tack Jack up and actually get into the ménage!

As I lead him through the gate Jack started jumping about, throwing his head and stamping his feet and I was glad I had got my hat and gloves on!  He shot off on the circle leaping about, kicking at the pessoa and cantering at speed but bless him he never tried to pull away just kept going round and round me!  I made sure the circle was big and tried to encourage him to calm and slow down!  It didn't take too long until he was working properly. I even managed to get my phone out and take some video - this is a still taken from the video:

I think he looks pretty relaxed and is working well!  The pessoa is attached to the bottom ring between his front legs and quite loose to encourage him to work long and low to use his back and hind end correctly and keep the muscles developed from the aqua treadmill.

I'm thrilled with how well he worked, although he was a bit excitable he didn't take too long to settle and the work he did when he was calmer was really good.  His stride length is longer and he is using his hind end much better than before the surgery with a clear 3 beat to the canter.

I had intended to attempt long reining on Wednesday but Jack was even more excitable and wound up so in the end I was only able to pessoa him again.  I don't want to pessoa everyday as it puts a lot of pressure on his joints so hoped in a few days he would settle enough to being long reining.  We had never attempted it before so I felt he needed to be calm and listening before we gave it a try! 

Thursday I lunged him just in loose side reins and took in a 2nd lunge line so that I could try the long reining if he was ok.  He was much calmer on the lunge and only trotted off this time with less bucking. leaping and kicking!  After a good warm up on each rein he seemed to be listening enough so I attached the 2nd rein and positioned myself behind him slightly to the side so he could see me.  I started next to the fence on the track to help get us going the right way and after a few tentative steps we were off.  Jack seemed to get the idea pretty quickly and we managed some large circles figures of 8 and to go large on each rein in walk.  I'm really proud of him and how well he is doing!

I'm hoping to start bringing in some pole work and even venture up the lane if he is behaving himself for a change of scenery. 

Tuesday is our next big milestone the saddler is booked to come and check his saddle which will mean him being ridden!  He has not been sat on since early January so this should be interesting.  I will have a neck strap attached and a body protector on just in case and the saddler will be there to pick me up should I need it!  He will be out all day and lunged before I even attempt to get on!  Fingers crossed the saddle will just need some minor adjustment that can be done on site, then we can crack on with ridding!!  EEEEKKKK!!!!

Recovery week 12 27/4/15 - Jacks home :)

Monday 27th April was a big day, exactly 12weeks post surgery Jack is came home again (Yay!!) following 4 weeks of hydrotherapy rehabilitation at Bennett Equine Limited.

It's great to have him home and be able to see him everyday, the novelty of not having to go and look after him soon wore off and I've missed him loads! 

Having been on holiday last week I went up to see him on Saturday and was so thrilled with the difference in him in the 2weeks that I'd not seen him, he looked so well.  He has built up more muscle and has been really relaxed and happy there meaning he has been able to get the most out of his time there.  His wounds have healed well, they are barely noticeable now and he has a gleam in his eye and a lovely smooth coat.  He also had his first physio session while I was away and she found he was generally sore everywhere but no specific problems, as expected he was worse down his left side.  Tamsyn the physio explained the general soreness is common for horses having undergone surgery and that she found nothing she was concerned about.

Tim has been fantastic and kept me up to date with his progress at every step, even when I was away.  On Friday I took a call from him to arrange my visit Saturday, he wanted to show me Jack working himself but was taking his daughter eventing so wouldn't be back until late afternoon.  As it turned out that fitted in well with my plans too so I arranged to be there at 4pm.  He advised me that he had a slight concern about Jacks near hind and Tamsyn their Physio was booked to see him again at 7am Sat morning before they left for the event.  There was no lameness and he was using the leg fine but Tim had noticed that Jack was holding the leg slightly awkwardly when picking that foot out.  Their attention to detail is spot on and Tamsyn found Jack has a tight hamstring and was also a little tight all down the left side of his spine.  She was able to treat it there and then and he responded immediately.  Tim phoned me at 8am Saturday morning to let me know how it had gone and that all was fine.  He really is so good!

When I arrived on Saturday afternoon Jack was looking bright and happy in his stable perfectly groomed and munching on some haylage!  I took his rug off and had a look at all his wounds, if you didn't know they were there you would never suspect the way they had looked a few weeks ago, they have all healed and the hair almost all grown back with no visible scarring :)

Left pic is his foreleg at 2 weeks and right is now at 12 weeks post op!

 

This is the hind leg again left pic is at 2 week and right is now at 12 weeks

 

This is his chest

 

 

His Elbow

 

 

And finally his back

 

I'm so, so pleased with how well all the wounds have healed and I dont think there will be any noticeable scaring once all the hair is fully grown back.



So having had a bit of a chat with Tim we headed into the treadmill to see him working again.

He is so chilled out about it, I'm still surprised how well he has taken to it but Tim is so calm and consistent with his approach and its certainly worn off on Jack!  He did his usual 30 minute work out but the level the water is at and the speed has been increased so he has to work a lot harder and use his hind end more to keep up.  Its exciting to see how much his is now using his back and certainly appears to be without pain.

 

Here he is working:

 

As you can see ear pricked and happy :)

 

So his work done he had the usual warm shower and solarium session before being tucked back in to bed while I had a cuppa and more of a chat with Tim about what will happen when Jack came home on the Monday.

 

On to Monday and I finished work early so I could head straight over to collect him.  Tim helped me hitch and reverse the trailer (I hate reversing but Tim was so good at explaining what to do in a way I've never been taught before and he made it seem so much easier!).  Jack had been on the treadmill in the morning and then had a bath so he was gleaming and smart :)

 

Tim went over what to do with Jack when we got home and the plan is to pessoa and long rein in side reins alternate days using some pole work too until I can get his saddle checked.  Once his saddle is sorted I can begin ridden work with him ideally hacking with lots of straight lines in a long and low outline slowly building in some schooling but taking things nice and slowly making sure not to push Jack too hard to soon.

 

He will also be returning to Bennetts every 2 weeks for top up sessions on the treadmill as well as having sessions as needed with Tamsyn the physio.

 

With the plan sorted and first return session booked we loaded up, which as usual took Jack a while, but with Tim's patience and a bucket of carrots we got him on in about 10minutes and we were on our way home :)

 

The journey back was uneventful and we arrived home without any stress!  Jack unloaded sensibly and I put him into his stable while I sorted the trailer.

 

 

I took a couple of pics to show the fab condition he has come home in:

 

 

Then it was out to the field to see his mates and get some grass for a couple of hours.

I returned later in the evening to pop his grazing muzzle on as I am determined to not let him get fat!  He will be coming in during the day, working in the afternoon, out for a couple of hours grazing and then having his muzzle on for the night, hopefully that will stop his girth expanding too much!

 

And now the fun begins first session on the pessoa should be fun :)

 

 

 

 

 



 

Recovery week 11 rehab continues - 20/4/15

It's now 11 weeks since Jack had his kissing spine surgery and 3 weeks since he began his hydrotherapy rehab and this week I've not seen him! I've left him in the capable hands of Bennett equine while I visit my parents in the highlands of Scotland with Thomas.  I thought I might as well make the most of not having to look after Jack and take a little holiday now rather then interrupt his ridden rehab when he comes home.

These are some of the spectacular views we have been fortunate to see every morning

It's very strange not going down to the farm everyday, usually I am up twice a day even if im not riding and Jack is out 24/7, even if it's just to change rugs, check him over etc.  I had planned in these 4 weeks that he is away at rehab that I would go up to the farm still, ride a friends horse, clean out my stable and scrub the rubber mats and generally get all those jobs I never normally have the time to do done. I have however found myself with lots of other things taking up my time including having a poorly Thomas for a week.  Although it was a bit frustrating not to get the jobs I wanted done I suppose it is better that Thomas be poorly now than when Jack comes home.

Jack was seen by Bennett's usual physio this week as Tim felt he was a little stiff and could do with a good once over.  He's not been physio'd since his op so it would be interesting to see what she thought.  It was also a completely new physio who had never treated Jack before but I knew she must be good if she's used by Bennetts.  Tim promised to let me know how it went and sure enough I got a txt on Tuesday morning to say he had been treated and had unsurprisingly found him to be very sore in a lot of places, apparently this is pretty common for horses having been under a general anasetic let alone for spinal surgery!  She had been able to loosen him off and Tim could see an improvement in his stiff left rein straight away, good news as the left rein had always been a bit of an issue so hopefully the surgery, rehab and Physio will help even that out when he's under saddle. The advice is for him to been seen again in 2weeks before any ridden work commences at home.  As the Physio tamsyn covers where we live I shall be able to do this at home.  He will also need his saddle checking before we start any ridden work to make sure that that's not going to pinch or hurt him anywhere now he has changed shape from the surgery and rehab.

I'm really looking forward to getting him home and whilst I'm obviously keen to crack on with his ridden work and see if the surgery has been a success I am mindful that I need to take things slowly.  The 4weeks of rehab pretty much replaces the 6weeks of lunging in a Pessoa that a lot of people do for strengthening the back muscles ready for taking a saddle and rider again.  Hydrotherapy is a much more effective at building the muscle and much less strain on their joints than lunging.  It also helps prevent one sidedness as they have to work pretty much straight in the treadmill.  So while I don't now need to do a lot of lunging I shall begin with a few short lunging and long reining sessions with saddle on and using trotting poles and some hacking on the long reins to keep things interesting.  He has not had a saddle on his back in 4months let alone a rider so I plan on taking things nice and slow so he has plenty of time to adjust to being a working horse again and realise that these things are no longer hurting him.  Just before he had the surgery if I tried to ride him he was dangerous, he would plant himself and stamp his feet refusing to move and throwing his head up, if I insisted he go forwards he would mostly rear then plung forwards all crooked!  It could be pretty frightening and we both need to gain confidence back in each other after such a long time having problems.  He could well still have what's called memory pain, where he remembers the discomfort and pain he was in before and reacts as if he is still feeling that pain out of habit.  I'm hoping by taking things nice and slowly, with lots of variety and nothing too serious or strenuous Jack will gain in confidence and begin to enjoy his work again.

One day hopefully we can get back to this

Recovery week 10 - Hydrotherapy rehab 13/4/15

 On Saturday I made the trip over to Tutbury to see Jack working for the second time on the aqua treadmill at Bennett Equine.

I arrived in the afternoon and he had just come in from his turnout and was a bit muddy so I gave him a groom and lots of cuddles and a few mints.  Seeing him with his rug off I was impressed with the continued improvement to his muscle development, his hind quarters are rounder and firmer, there is less of a dip behind his wither and he neck is looking thicker and stronger.  This is all after just 12 daily sessions on the aqua treadmill.  Tim came to talk over what they have been up to with him and how he has been getting on, there have been no issues and the area he had some heat in his foreleg has now gone.  Tim felt he would now benefit from a physio session as he is working harder on the treadmill, so he will be having that in the next day or 2.  I had always found Jack a bit more difficult to the left and Tim too had noticed he was stiffer to the left so the hope is a physio session will be able to loosen that up and allow him to work more evenly on each rein.  I was happy to use their regular physio as I was quite unhappy that my usual physio and EBW had both missed jacks back pain and had lost all confidence in them so i was wanting to use a different physio anyway although if I had wanted to use someone else I could have.  It turns out their physio covers my area too so we can continue to use her when Jack returns home which I think the consistency will be better for his treatment.

After our chat we then took him out of his box and down to the treadmill where he walk straight in and began warming up, after a 4 min warm up the water was added to fetlock level and then increased gradually throughout the half hour session.  Once it reached knee level I could really tell how hard Jack was having to work, he started to struggle and drop back but with a bit of encouragement from Tim he was soon marching through and really working from behind and over his back after a few minutes of this harder work Tim let some water out to make it easier for him.  He said every day Jack is able to do a bit longer and they will continue to build it up everyday.
It is clearly having the right effect as Jack is putting muscle on in all the right places.

Having cooled down he was taken for a wash down in the wash box with a hot horse shower and dried under the solarium while we had a talk over a cuppa before putting him some hoof balm on and putting him away in his lovely clean stable with a fresh net of haylage.  He then had the pulse/magnetic therapy rug on for a bit to help his muscles recover from his workout.  He seems to enjoy it and stands snoozing while it works on relaxing his muscles.  I did have a look at buying something similar for when he comes home but the cost is rather out of my price range at the moment!  I've had to pay out rather a lot to his vet bills as the cost went above my claim limit and also had to pay up front for his stay at Bennett's, although at some point I will get most of it back from my insurance company.  Perhaps when the insurance co pay up I shall look at this again.

A little surprisingly they have had to up jacks feed a bit as with the harder work he had dropped a little weight.  At home he is usually out 24/7 so lives pretty much off the grass and being a good doer all I give him is a bit of hifi lite and speedibeet when he is worked.  I usually struggle to keep his weight down because we are very lucky to have very good grazing.  In the summer I have to muzzle him and bring him in during the day but as he was on 6weeks of box rest and he is only going out for a couple of hours a day at bennetts and working hard on the treadmill he is actually losing weight for the first time!

Next weekend I will not be visiting him as I'm off up to my parents in Scotland for a weeks break, I thought I would make the most of him being so well cared for to have a little holiday and see my family who I don't get to see very often with them so far away.  He is in great hands and being very pampered although having to work hard too!

I'm really looking forward to getting him home when I return and cracking on with the next stage of his rehab - ridden work!!!! Eek!!!!  He will need his saddle checking before that can begin so it maybe he has to do a few days of lunging in the pessoa first before that happens.

This was jack after 6weeks box rest and 2weeks paddock rest

This is now

 

It's not that easy to see the improvemt as my photography skills leave a bit to be desired but I think you get the idea!  He back end is rounder, less dip behind the wither and more top line neck muscle to be seen.  I'm thrilled!

Recovery week 9 - Rehabilitation 6/4/15

Jack is now into his second week at Bennett equine sports rehabilitation therapy centre and last weekend after 5days of being there i went and paid him a visit and to see him in action on the aqua treadmill.  They had kept me up to date with his progress and I was pleased to hear he was behaving himself!  I did have visions of him refusing to go into thevtreadmill!  I should have known he would prove me wrong because I'd told them he could be funny about water!
Anyhow I arrived on Saturday morning and he was happily taking in his surroundings, watching the girls sweeping the yard and munching on the lovely haylage he'd been given.  It was nice when I called his name he turned to me ears pricked and looked genuinely pleased to see me :)
After a bit of a cuddle and groom (not that he needed it as he was far cleaner than when I dropped him off the week before!) Tim brought him out for me to see him for the first time in 5days.  It's fair to say i was impressed with the difference in his muscle development already at this early stage.  There was clearly more muscle over his quarter with his spine looking less dipped at the wither also.  So happy with the progress so far we headed off to the treadmill for a demo and Jack walked straight in without a seconds worry or hesitation.  He started off with a short warm up just on the treadmill with no water and after 5minutes water was added to fetlock level.  It's amazing how just a few inches of water makes such a difference to their stride and its easy to see why this sort of work is building the correct muscles much quicker then other methods such as lunging.  It's a bit like they are stepping over raised trotting poles every stride which you just can't replicate at home.  Although they are only in a bridle the handler does encourage them to work in a long and low frame while they are on the treadmill.  The water level was then increased to mid cannon level for a while to make him work that bit harder before back down to fetlock and then no water for the cool down , the session lasted 30minutes in total and over the coming weeks the sessions will become progressively harder with the water level increasing and the speed too.  By the end of his 4week stay he will be doing 30 minutes sessions which could include walking with the water at elbow height and even trotting with the water at lower levels.  Each day is taken as it comes and the work increased only when they feel Jack is ready.  After the session he was taken to the solarium where his legs were hosed off with a hot horse shower and he was crossed tied to dry off under the lights. I don't think Jack has ever experience anything like that but he has taken to it all rather too well, I do hope he's not expecting such treatment back home!
I was impressed with the attention to detail of the staff they don't miss anything.  They had noticed the lump in the muscle at the base of his neck which I'd forgotten to tell them about and are laser treating it hoping to help break it down.  They also picked up on some heat in his off fore which they have been cold hosing.  I know that's what I'm paying them to do and I didn't not tell them these things to trip them up or test them but I am impressed with how quickly they picked up on them and let me know what they could do to treat them.  Now that his sessions are starting to ramp up on the treadmill he could start to become a bit sore as muscles that have not been used in a while are suddenly working again so with that in mind Jack will also now be having daily pulse and magnetic therapy in the form of the activo-med rug on in an afternoon to help his muscles relax and recover from his morning work.  He also gets a bit of chill out time in a paddock and a little spin on the walker to loosen off it really is 5* treatment there!  The place itself is also kept immaculate so clean and tidy its beautiful!
So it's safe to say I'm very pleased with progress so far and excited to see him again in a weeks time when hopefully there will be even bigger improvements to be seen.
In the mean time I've been doing the odd bit of riding on friends horses and I've booked a week off work to visit my parents in the highlands of Scotland too.  I thought while Jack is being so well cared for without me I'd make the most of the chance of a little r+r for myself before he's home and all the hard work starts for me!