Wilbur Pre MRI

There's some news and it's not good news but I'm going to wait to hear back from the MRI specialist on treatment options and continue to think happy thoughts. Articular cartilage damage which is chronic and degenerative but can be managed if treated aggressively. Plus a couple of other issues thrown in for good measure. It certainly validates the decision to bring him in and put him through the diagnostic wringer and I'm glad that it's no longer a "mystery" lameness.
A silly video before his MRI yesterday....

MRI

After today I can understand why the vets don't encourage the owners to stay for surgery or MRIs. 

I arrived at Pioneer around 11am in time to visit with Wilbur a bit before the ordeal got started at noon.
What a handsome fellow still sporting his matching blue bandage from the night before.

Wilbur headed into the clinic to start blood work at around 11:45 and I settled in to wait.
My office for the day in the Pioneer lounge.

One thing I really appreciated about the staff at Pioneer were the frequent updates. I learned that they thought Wilbs had a nail in his hoof which delayed the procedure for a bit (it was just a stone), that several hours in they were using what little bit of time was left to look at the pastern, that he was out of the MRI but still asleep, and that he had finally woken up but was still a bit groggy.

I was concerned about the waking up process. When my cat, Linus, was put under general anesthesia for dental work (never again) he woke up and kept falling over. A horse is quite a bit bigger than a cat.
The MRI tech stayed with Wilbur throughout his recovery. When he started to wake up the respiratory tubing was removed and it was Kendra's job to hold him down for as long as possible. But I guess once they're up and standing they're pretty steady. Kendra said he got up in a "smart way"- which made me oddly proud.

Wilbur was back in his stall by 5:15 and I had worn a hole in the floor waiting to say "hi." As a horse Mom, my mind naturally had resolved itself for the worst possible outcome and I was happy that I had made the decision to wait it out in person rather than wait for a phone call. I wanted him to know his person was there.
That being said- when I got to visit-  I wanted to both stay with him all night and run away quickly. Wilbur was still in recovery mode when I saw him- covered in sweat, shaking, and disoriented. I stayed for a while but it became obvious it was best to let him be.

The MRI results are sent to Florida to be reviewed and we should have back tomorrow or Friday. For now Wilbur has an indefinite stay at Pioneer until we know what's going on and have an action plan in place for treatment.

Proud of Wilbur for being so brave today!

Mystery Lameness

Where to start? I arrived at Pioneer Equine Hospital at 10 even though the appointment wasn't until 11. I wanted to make sure I got there on time and before Wilbur arrived. I stopped at Wendy's to use the bathroom and it was one of those odd situations where I was the only person there an the gal behind the counter greeted me when I came in. So I decided to get breakfast until I found out that they don't actually serve breakfast so I got a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger. At 9:30 in the morning.

To kill time in the Pioneer lounge I watched a surgery.

Marlene, the saint that she is, drove three hours this morning to deliver Wilbur promptly for his appointment and then waited until it looked like he was going to have to stay for a few days.
I guess I had hoped that he would hop out of the trailer and march around with no sign of any lameness. Instead the limp had gotten markedly worse on the front right.

So we started blocking- which is like injecting Novocaine into various parts of the hoof and leg to identify where the pain is occurring. In the video below we had blocked up to his pastern on the right and lower on the left. He needed to be injected again above the pastern to present without lameness.

Just taking his mind of the shots!

I'm not going to look cute for this!

Then we moved onto radiographs. Dr. Natasha grabbed me to review the X-rays, and while there was a slight degeneration of the navicular bone she didn't feel that it was enough to warrant his lameness. Everything else in his hoof and leg looked completely normal.

Moving on to the final trouble shooting phase, we found Wilbur in the Ultrasound room (which was dark so I don't have any pics). He had been such a brave boy all day but being in a stock with all the noise had worried him so when I found him he was drugged with his little head resting on a chair.
Dr. Suze was working on his suspensory (as the block could have traveled upwards and numbed pain in that area). He wanted to be such a good guy and stand still for us but there was quite a bit of shifting him to and fro to get the images needed.
It ended up being a great time to chat with Dr. Natasha and I found out that she rides with a coworker of mine. Claire is going to be tickled!

I had the chance to spend a while with Wilbur at the end of the day giving him a nice grooming and a few slices of Honey Crisp.

And that was it. We tried everything to identify the problem without having to do an MRI. It's scheduled for noon tomorrow so please keep my sweet boy in your thoughts.

Horse = Porsche

Paul and I took a cruise in my brother-in-law's Porsche while we were visiting for Thanksgiving.

The highlight of Paul's life

When we got home I lamented to Paul that suddenly my Honda Civic didn't seem quite so glamourous. With a deep sigh (and slight roll of his eyes) he dutifully reminded me that I actually drive two sports cars. And they both poop. 

Polly can be the Porsche and Wilbur can be the Mercedes

Although neither of them are actually very fast and have poor pickup

Black Friday Mayhem

I thought I was being an incredibly responsible horse Holiday shopper this year. I had created my Smartpak shopping cart and was waiting for their Holiday promotion to place my order.
It was full of things I ACTUALLY needed for once including:

• Horseman's One Step
• Hairnets
• Dressage Whip (the tail of mine had broken)
• Happy Mouth (I understand Polly likes to chew her bit but these things are pricey!)

Turns out that in order to receive the 10% discount promo code I needed to spend $150+. I was a little bit annoyed because I find most solid brands are excluded from sales but ended up being pleasantly surprised that the Back on Track Quick Wraps that I had been coveting were included in the discount. 

They've gotten great reviews on Smartpak (a slave to the reviews) and since we already know that I am a total failure at wrapping anything.....

I got them! And feeling totally un-guilty since I would have ordered them anyway when Wilbur came home- this is just an advanced purchase at a discount! So ha! 

Clearly slightly guilty. Don't worry- it gets worse. 

I am a fan of the Back on Track product line for no other reason that the concept makes sense to me. Employing thermal therapy (using the subject as a heat source) as a way to bring down inflammation and loosen muscles seems like an added bonus to the average standing wraps. 

Imagine my excitement on Black Friday when I saw what was on Tack of the Day (a daily discount site for horse lovers)! While my sister-in-law shopped for deals on Express.com- I happily added to my BOT collection- purchasing the polo wraps, no bow wraps, and saddle pad.
WTF. How did a totally frugal Black Friday turn into a massive shopping spree? And what is going to happen tomorrow? I also love that I no longer even scan my JCrew or Madewell emails- it's all about Dover, Smartpak, Farmhouse (15% off all breeches)!