Five Pillar Plan

On Sunday I very carefully watched and heard Raven moving. When she fully articulates the right hock joint it clicks, but she is not articulating it as much as the left. As a result she is pushing herself up high on the left fetlock to accommodate the slightly straighter right leg. This might explain why she looks sore on both hinds. I previously thought that the hock injury had somehow precipitated further degradation of the suspensory ligaments, but now I wonder if it is simply mechanical exacerbation of that weakness. Based on these observations I have formulated a plan.

Pillar 1: Joint Maintenance
This needs to happen with support from Kerstin, but I would like to try nutritional supplementation with MSM or glucosamine before jumping straight to something like Adequan or Legend. Any recommendations on good supplements are welcome -- there are about a million to choose from.

Pillar 2: Consistent Work
Joints are supported by the muscles around them, so we need to work on building up her legs and her quarters. On days when the footing in the pasture is good I will probably lunge her (she was fine after Sunday's session) to encourage more flexing of the joint by working in a circle. On days when it's wet I will hand walk her through some of the uneven parts of the pasture to encourage use of the leg under more varied conditions than she gets in the paddock. We'll do something every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (when I am not in the office).

Pillar 3: Weight Loss
Thanks to everyone who commented on how good Raven looks. Because she came to me in such poor condition I take pride in keeping weight on her, but this isn't about my ego. Leaner is always better when it comes to joint injuries, and it wouldn't be unhealthy for Raven to lose 50lbs. I have started by dropping the high-fat pelleted feed from her diet, which accounts for about 1000 calories daily.

Pillar 4: Pain Management
No pain, no gain? More work might mean more pain for Raven, and I need to accept that using bute might be a short-term evil necessary for achieving our long term goal. Bute is dangerous because it can mask a real problem, but half a gram after a lunging session can also offer real relief.

Pillar 5: Attitude Adjustment
Mine, not Raven's. When I'm honest with myself I can admit that I have been pessismistic about Raven's recovery, which is unusual because I am hopelessly optimistic about most things. Am I just lazy? Or looking for a reason to feel sorry for myself? Or an excuse to avoid ever riding my crazy horse again because I'm skeered? Whatever. It ends here and now.

Coon Foot and Fancy Free

Three posts back I mentioned that Raven is moderately affected by DSLD (degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis). This anecdotal diagnoses was independently made by both Christina and Kerstin not long after Raven arrived. To be absolutely sure we would need to have a tissue test done to assess the degree to which collagen has been replaced with cartilage in her ligaments. The results of a veterinary flex test and ultrasound have been inconclusive.

From my perspective Raven has three symptoms of DSLD -- she (1) is coon-footed on the hinds, (2) is uncomfortable holding them up to be picked/trimmed, and (3) will sometimes dig holes so that she can stand with her toes pointed into them. Raven does not:

• have a particularly post-legged conformation
• trip or stumble with any regularity
• spend an unusual amount of time lying down
• have lumpy wind-puffy "sweet potato" fetlock joints
• lean on fences or rock when standing
• drop weight quickly or have unusually loose skin
• refuse to canter (this is her preferred gait)
  
• come up lame after riding or refuse any gait under saddle

It's possible that Raven merely suffers from poor conformation -- coon-footed thoroughbreds are not uncommon. I believe that she probably does have DSLD (because of the hole-digging) but I do not believe that it is serious or degenerative at this time. So far we have seen nothing but improvement in symptoms (2) and (3), and it was almost a non-issue until the hock injury. Assuming that she recovers to her pre-injury condition it will continue to be a non-issue until I see further evidence of symptoms or a real deterioration in the quality of her joints.

Good News and Better News

Good news: David and I are off to Hawaii tomorrow for a week. We'll spend four days in Honolulu with some friends and three days in Hilo to do some volcano watching. It will be more expensive than we originally expected (the Canadian dollar was at par with the US dollar when we booked the tickets) but it won't be any less fun.

Better news: Kerstin can't see any smoking guns on Raven's x-rays. After walking and trotting her up and down the driveway Kerstin feels that Raven's moderate suspensory desmitis (a post for another day) is responsible for her unexpectedly slow recovery. Because Raven has always been sound on the hind fetlocks/pasterns I never worry much about those dropped tendons, but it makes sense that they would be bothering her now. Melissa will give her a gram of bute each day while we're gone, and we'll see where things stand in a week.