Six Month Ultrasound

Well.... that wasn't quite as great as I had hoped it would be.

Today Gogo went in for her 6 month ultrasound (6 months from when we first turned her out 24/7). I cleaned her all up this morning, bath included... she of course rolled right before loading on the trailer. Typical.

By the way, want to know how to make me dance? Give me a bucket full of angry wasps. I will practically do backflips to get away from them. (There was a nest being built in the bucket I keep overturned on top of my hitch... I picked it up and was suddenly faced with an army of angry wasps. This is not the first time they've built a nest in my trailer... and certainly not the first time they've created a veritable hell for me otherwise.) I only wish I had been able to video my crazed antics as I attempted to breakdance around my trailer avoiding divebombing wasps while hooking up.



((Gogo waiting to be unloaded.))

Dr. H palpated and flexed both hinds, watching her trot on a straight line in the driveway. He also observed her turning - and commented on how she seemed more reluctant to pivot on the right hind than the left. I personally have noticed that she is less comfortable standing for her left hind to be trimmed, like it's not comfortable to stand for any length of time on the right. She was a little lamer today than she has been, although the last few times I've seen her trot it was on soft ground. On hard ground, it's a bit of a different story. She's not THAT lame, but she's not sound.

In the roundpen she was about the same:



Lamer than on soft ground for sure.



I'm not sure how we did it without Crisco and a crowbar, but we somehow managed to wedge her gigantic fat fanny into the stocks:


((Fat mare in a little stocks...))


Ultrasound showed what Dr. H suspected about her gigantic windpuffs: multiple stringy adhesions freeloading (some attached) in the tendon sheath of her right SDFT. It sort of looked like a pot of spaghetti. There was also some disorganization of the actual tendon, moreso than the last time we ultrasounded. Before, there was a definite little black hole of a focal lesion in one spot. Now, it's just sort of an offcolored area of mess. The left hind showed some very small degeneration in the area of the original injury as well, and a possible adhesion in the sheath, but given the fact that she is sound on the left we are just taking it as old healed tissue. The right hind is the real problem.

That was the risk we took in putting her in turnout... that's just sometimes how these things heal when they're not controlled.

The other problem is her annular ligament at the back of her fetlock. It appears to be doubled in size compared to how it should be, and it is possibly putting pressure on the SDFT, not allowing it to fully heal. (If it ever fully heals). We're not going to do anything about it right at the moment, but if there isn't improvement at her next ultrasound, we may need to cut it. I really, really don't want to do that... but we might not have a choice. It might really help.




Again, she's really not THAT lame. She's just a little off. Amazing how just 'a little off' can have such dramatic things behind it. You just never know.


Dr. H injected the tendon sheath with Kenalog, and got out what fluid he could through the needle pre-injection. He said he expects the excess fluid in leg to decrease over the next few days, at which time he wants me to sit on her again. Walk, trot, canter for about 15 minutes at a time, a couple times a week.... I can sure do that. It's not going to be hurting her at this point... this is a chronic injury now, and there are permanent changes in her SDFT. Which I expected... but still didn't really want to hear.


Will she do dressage? Probably. Will she jump again? Maybe not. Will she event again? Probably not. It's pretty unlikely. But it was a long shot in the first place.



I guess that's just how it goes. I will certainly enjoy getting on her bareback and loping around the field a few times a week for the next couple of months. We'll see what we have in 60-90 days.



Poo.