When your team mate is injured.
So, you have spent days, weeks, months, maybe years preparing your horse for competition, or even just to go out for a nice adventure across the countryside, things are going well, you look after the animal as best as you physically can and then one day, they come in from the field, leg like a balloon and looking a bit sorry for themselves.
What do you do?…….Initially I thought if pony rested, he would self heal and all would be good again so we could carry on our summer adventures, he was not lame and showing no signs of pain. Things like this always seem to happen at the start of the summer! Last years summer sabbatical was as a result of some issues in pony’s back legs so he had to have steroid injections to help- thankfully that was successful.
After rest and care and so much love, there was little improvement in the swelling on the front leg. Diagnostic ultrasound showed significant inflammation and some thickening of one of the tendons, however nothing significant, but with a query of annular ligament damage or partial tendon damage, so we tried a course of anti-inflammatories which seemed to help. However on the next vet visit, pony was obviously lame trotting up (vet has since advised he is pasture sound which means he is able to mooch about in a small flat paddock allowing him to maintain some sanity) so we had to decide if surgery was the best route, try more non-surgical management or retire him so pony could be an expensive lawn mower and live out his carefree days eating grass, fertilizing said grass and being made a fuss of.
We decided that given his age and how much he has progressed with his learning and what an honest kind little pony he is, that surgery was worth a punt. I am going to document pony’s operation, recovery and hopefully return to sport. this is something that will help me see improvements and remind myself that we are giving this important little guy the best care possible. In the mean time, I am going to hang out with him as much as possible, enjoy the sun and get a tan!
The animals in your life are essentially family, you have a duty of care to do the best by them as they can’t tell you how they feel so you have to go by their behaviours, your own instinct and advice from the professionals you trust. The problem with the world of equestrian is that everyone has an opinion on how you should look after your animal, everyone know a good “back man” or some sort of supplement that can cure all the issues in the world. You have to make informed decisions as to what works best for you and stick with your gut feeling.