Sleeping it off

Dopey pony:

Rick treated Lance's strained suspensory with extracorporeal shockwave therapy today, followed by PRP (platelet-rich plasma, using the horse's own plasma). Lance then had to sleep off the standing anesthesia (he wasn't going to tolerate a needle poking in his sore suspensory) before he could go back to his mid-day hay snack.

Happy dance!

Rick checked Lance's eyes last night, and they are reacting to light! We celebrated by leaving the fly mask off last night; it was so nice to see Lance's beautiful eyes. We don't know if they are completely back to normal yet, so I'll continue to put the mask on during the day for now.

Lance is almost back to full hay rations again, too, and Rick said we'll probably be able to add back in his daily oats, vitamins and wormer tonight. Yesterday I took him out for some hand-grazing, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Today I took Oliver to Perrydale Trails to ride with my dressage chapter. Even though I would have MUCH preferred partnering with Lance, I still enjoyed being with friends on the back of a horse on a perfect fall day. Besides, it keeps my riding muscles tuned up! Photos tomorrow....

Ooooh, shiny!

Guess what's on its way? Lance's fancy new browband, with two interchangeable strands! Lance and I will have to put on a runway show when they arrive. ;-)

Beaver Nation

I think someone's hungry, bored – or both!

Update

Lance's GI tract is handling his tiny, frequent meals just fine, so we will stay that course, gradually adding more hay over the next several days.

This morning Rick ultrasounded Lance's right hind high suspensory ligament and found swelling, but no large tears or holes. That's good news for that area . . . but why then would he be so lame? Rick may do more investigation, as well as treating the high suspensory with extracorporeal shockwave therapy.

Why another injury? I'm suspicious, again, of the sand footing in our arena. I had schooled Lance there a few times recently to start preparing for our lesson and the Nov. 8 show, thinking it would be okay because we had gotten some rain. But there were areas that were drier, and Lance is used to the much harder ground and gravel roads we have been riding on through the summer. If I could, I would amend the sand with something to make it more stable – or replace it ALL!