So I suppose you may be wondering why it's been about a MONTH since my last posting. Well. Where do I begin? (First off, everyone is alive and kicking still...although healthy is another question).
So, it all started pretty much a month ago. I was coming off my great spring show season, a great lesson, a great Parelli Clinic and then WHAM: Sudi rolled into a fence and chopped up all four of his legs. His legs pretty much looked like they'd been attacked by a werewolf with long scratches from stifle to fetlock. *sigh* Thankfully he didn't break or sprain anything though, so there was no need to call then vet. He seemed a little stiff, so I gave him some time off and Horsey - Aspirin "Bute" in the hopes that he'd get over this in a few days to a week.
Then WHAM: I come out to the barn and Sudi's hooves are crumbling to pieces. All of a sudden too. No warning - nothing. I opened his stall door, and there he stood: hooves with huge chunks missing. So Sud became a captive (and not a happy one, let me say) in his stall for a few days. I made many (probably too many) frantic calls to my farrier - who by the way was sick and dying. I think he thought I was totally over-reacting until he came out and saw how atrocious Sudi's hooves looked. He said they got so bad because they grew at an amazing rate. He said he'd never seen that type of hoof growth in an Arabian. (Maybe too much Fish Oil? That's one supplement I can cut back on then hehe :) ) At any rate, he trimmed Sudi's hooves way back to avoid any further cracking damage, and guess what? He was short/halfway lame. *sigh* More time off.
Then Wham: Sudi runs into a fence. He had just gotten back into work, and I was lunging him at liberty when he felt a bit too frisky and took off. Well he came up to a corner and was in a full out gallop. I saw the look in his eye like he thought about jumping it, but then got too close. Brakes were slammed on, his body careened into the corner, and boards were snapping and popping. Thankfully his shoulder landed on a post that held most of his weight and only the top board of the fence popped off. He was able to regain his balance, and of course then took off at a gallop again, tail flagging from his scare. So again, Sudi was all scratched up and stiff and had way too much energy. So now, more rest and a LOT less Fish Oil. *another HUGH sigh*
Then, just when I'd had a terrific ride bareback, I bring him in the following night and WHAM: he has a HUGE, hard, lump under his jaw and has a fever. Well, an emergency call was put into the vet on call, and it was determined that the vet needed to come out to test for a bacterial infection and the S word - Strangles. Well, the vet came out and said he was fairly certain it was Strangles. Sudi needed to be quarantined and watched very closely for any changing signs. He also took about $400 worth of lab tests to verify that it was/was not Strangles. Well then the waiting began. We had three days before we would know ANYTHING. Sudi's situation never changed, but he seemed content in his round pen (except for a thunderstorm I saved him from) and his attitude and appetite seemed OK. Finally we heard back from the vet - and we actually had GOOD news. Sudi did NOT have Strangles! YAY!!! Well my jubilation quickly ended. If he didn't have Strangles, what did he have??? All I know is that he has an abscess in his left lymph node. We've been giving him hot compresses and bute to try to reduce the abscess or get it to soften enough to either drain on it's own or be lanced. Jump to a week later.
I get a call from Tammy, my BO, and WHAM: Sudi has hives all over his body and seems to feel miserable. I rush out to the barn and verify that he does indeed have HUGE hives, so I dose him up with some Dex and Bute and then come to realize he has a fever again. ANOTHER emergency call to the vet. Well the vet didn't think it was necessary to come out, but said to watch him and keep giving him dex and bute. Well we think he might have gotten into some old/possibly moldy hay which caused the hives which caused the fever.
On a good note, Sudi is his same happy self, and is seeming to enjoy the hot compresses. This weekend will be lots more compresses and still no work. We're hoping with the intensive compresses, we can have something resolved by Monday. That's our prayer anyway. And, hopefully we'll be able to get back into the swing of riding.
In other news: My mom is riding Kehbir bareback! Yay! He is coming along so well. He's still such a child, but his gates are becoming way more consistent and the amount of bucking while be lunged is decreasing. YAY!!!
If all goes well, we'll be able to do some XC Schooling up in Aiken and head for a schooling HT up in Tryon the end of August.
Until then, hopefully you're getting in more riding than I am!
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