ONE POST AT A TIME

For the record, I do not think I can save the world, nor do I think that the world needs saving from me and, finally not a single person reached out and asked me to be that very person assigned to make the world a better place.  Not a single one...

You see, I've been posting again...  and, I don't mean the type of posting that is rhythmically timed to a horse's trot.  In the spirit of confessions, I must say that I've been commenting on internet horse boards... 

I wish I could tell you that I was congratulating someone on their most recent win, or helping them choose a name for their new horse and I would even be ok if I answered a question on whether or not the Black County saddle fits a narrow, high withered thoroughbred.

Nope!  I was not doing that...

I guess I could redeem myself and say that it wasn't about politics, religion or sex (because those wouldn't be polite).  Then again, maybe in the horse world it was the equivalent of talking about religion?  We horse folks feel pretty passionate about our beliefs, our treatments, our feeding regiment and well, all thing horsey!

This past week I had my fill of opinions and surprisingly, they all came from me!  In no special order, my horsey opinions (we would not have enough time or space to include all the gems I release into the world):

Supplements

• Who is monitoring contraindications for all the supplements we use?  I, for one, love good marketing... heck, I bought compression shorts in my basketball playing days because I was told (and convinced) that I would jump higher and run faster wearing them.  But, compression shorts under basketball shorts might have looked cool, they did no harm to my body when combing the two.
• Are we giving our horses way too much of a good thing?  I've seen some of your Smartpaks and I wonder, why all that?
• And are injectable joint meds causing some of these sudden deaths?  One vet told me that during the season, I could give Sugar weekly injections of Adequan.  I wondered, where are the studies looking at long term usage of these drugs.

Lyme

• Don't get me started on the diagnosis and treatment of lyme without validating test results. 
• And, treatment with Doxy only works once.  If the horse still has Lyme or "gets it again", Doxy does not work.  The organism developed an immunity to Doxy when you treated it the first time.  Any positive results are due to the anti-inflammatory affects which are a Doxy bonus.
• Treating with antibiotics should be carefully and completely done. 
• There is no Lyme vaccine approved for horses at this time.  Cornell is working on one but it is not available.  Canine vaccine is not approved for horses and isn't 100% effective in dogs.

Check your sources

Should let sleeping dogs lie...

• If you're going to post stuff on the internet as law.  You know, this is true and I know it to be true.   Dear god, check your sources.  Be sure that the data you're using isn't 15 years old and is statistically invalid. 
• Post them if you can...  (I can for the above and when I have a moment, will.)

Phew...  So glad I didn't go off on a rant... 

Note to self...  just stop!  No one wants to hear your ramblings...  And, if you even read this... will you still "love" me?  ;)

WINNING THE WHINING WAR...

Oh woe is me

It's a gray day.  The air is damp and the cold rain just adds to the bleakness.  The ground is sodden and the fields are a dull brown.  I have a cold, a sniffly, snorty, headachy cold.  And to add to the good cheer, I got the news yesterday that I lost a big sale.  Did I mention that its a gray, damp day?

It would be so easy to sink into the "Oh-woe-is-me's!"  'Cause it's so easy to drum up all that is wrong in my life and dump gasoline and then FIRE IT (the pity party) UP!  Oh yes I can...  It would be so easy... so, so easy! 

I won't!  It doesn't help!  It won't change anything AND it only brings more energy into the negative.  Did I mention that it won't change anything?

Sugar's visit to Tufts Veterinary Hospital was the right thing to do.  She is going to be fine and back to work in 2 weeks.  This GOOD news...  no, FABULOUS news.  I still have a jumping/eventing and dressage horse. She was thoroughly checked out from the tips of her nose to the end of her tail both neurologically and orthopedically. 

No gray day, no cold and no lost sale could replace the joy I have at that news...  unless, of course, I choose to...  just sayin'!

So what happened?  The vet believes that she must have had a "traumatic incident" that injured her neck (and possibly aggravated hind end issues) that caused inflammation of the branches of her spinal cord which caused the severe neurological symptoms.  My Vet's quick assessment and treatment, the subsequent rest resolved most of this problem.  There is no pinched nerve or compressed vertebrae that would cause future issues. 

Used with permission

The rest were "Sugar issues" which were most likely aggravated by the "traumatic incident".  The treatment of these issues will help her perform at her spookiest, strongest and most agile best.  So, we will either ace or fail all of our future events more dramatically and beautifully than we did in the past.

More good news...  Both Vets that treated her felt that her body tone/muscling was excellent - even and balanced and that her weight (1471) was good.  Her xrays were actually pretty good for a horse of her age and level of work.  (They did not xray her hocks.)  And, her feet were fine.

And, for the record, as "brave" and positive as I sounded through this process, I almost cried with relief when the Eventing Trainer showed up for the lameness evaluation.  And, ironically, the Bestest Eventing Buddy and Eventing Trainer were there having their horses evaluated/follow up when I arrived to pick her up.   What an awesome surprise!  Even better, we all took healthy horses home!

It is a gray day and I do have a cold...  So what?  I have a healthy, jumping horse, great friends and Da Boys who love me!