When you think your horse has a broken back, it’s bound to be not much of anything.

So I had the vet out yesterday afternoon and was prepared to do hock injections and hoped my horse didn’t have a rare degenerative spinal disease. You know, the normal fears.

When the vet called, he said that he lunged Simon on the hard ground and the ring.  He was ouchy on the hard ground, and responded positively to hoof testers in his front feet.  No digital pulse.  Diagnosis:  hoof soreness.

Hoof soreness?

I asked about the hind/back, and he said he thought his hocks looked pretty good.  I had sent over the x-rays my previous vet took last April (when we injected), and his response was “That right hock is ugly.  Not really another good word for it.”  This lines up with my previous vet’s diagnosis of “nasty” hock.

When I asked about injecting, he said he didn’t think it was necessary now.  My bank account says yay, although I was so sure that it was his hocks that my brain is a little confused.  But hey – what’s the point in having the vet out if you aren’t going to listen to their advice?

So the plan is to do 5 days of bute, and paint his feet with Durasole.  Easy peasy.  I am also going to keep an eye on his hocks, and if we need to do them closer to April (the exact 1 year mark) then we’ll do them then.  Additionally, I am going to get the Chiro out to have Simon adjusted.  It can only help, and after so many months with a progressively more ill fitting saddle… he could probably use it.

Hopefully this ends the weirdness!

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The Weirdness Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Stifle The Lame Game The Skinny on Simon’s Lameness Fishing Expedition