Last we left off, my vet had done spring shots and teeth on both, and a lameness exam on Jet. Cruz had terrible looking edges and hooks that got fixed and he will be rechecked in 6 months. Jet came up mildly positive on the left stifle and right hock, with the vet thinking there might be some back issues as well.
The chiropractor is pretty busy, so it took a week or so to get him out to the farm. And the finding were kind of unexpected.
Basically, Cruz was out all over the place and had quite a few major adjustments. The chiropractor wants me to keep doing what I am doing with him and recheck in 8 weeks to see where Cruz is alignment wise. Post adjustments he has been more forward under saddle which is interesting.
Jet had very little on the hind end and a few mild things on the front end. This sort of negates my theory that his hind end lameness originated with a back issue.
The funny thing though, is I rode Jet lightly right before the chiropractor visit to get a baseline and he felt fine. After talking with the good Dr. I think I am just going to put Jet back in every other day work and see what happens. If he stays serviceability sound, then I have a decision to make. Do I keep him at this level of work with no showing but no joint injections or do I push to show one more year and do more medical interventions? Not sure how it will all pan out, but at least I have a plan and a baseline.
What have you done as your older show horses start to need more maintenance? Drop them back in work or do all the interventions to keep them going as long as possible? It is a tough decision.
I'm sure Cruiser is happy to be all fixed up and Jet too.
ReplyDeleteThankfully my little guy has been pretty sound up to this point, with exception of the hoof issue last year. Knock on wood! He's 22 and now that the hoof issues have been resolved for the most part, I'm bringing him back into work slowly. Wouldn't you know- he can be trucking along on the lunge or in long lines, doesn't break a sweat or even breathes hard. I'm so jealous of him for this. Lol
Kat was on Glucosamine 5000 and MSM supplements over the winter thinking this last little stretch of soreness in his left hind was the beginnings of arthritis in the hock, stifle, hip or combo of the three. Of course the cold weather would bother it. Now that the weather has warmed up and I took his hooves back down to where they belong (even the new guy was leaving them longer than they should be) Kat is back to traveling like he should and off the joint supplements.
I guess this fall will be time to re-evaluate and see if he needs the supplements again or not. If he needs injections or rads to get an idea what's going on inside that body of his.... Aging is a bitch on all of us! Lol
It's tough, isn't it? Jet is on injectable Glucosamine but I am not sure I want to go the route of frequent joint injections. We shall see.
DeleteI read all of the reviews on the two supplements and from the sounds of things- everybody was having good results. Him being a small pony the supplements last us much longer so that's a bonus and makes it cheaper than going thru Smart Pak. I'm hoping we can stay with the feed thru for a while and delay the need for the injectables. Whatever keeps them comfortable though....
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