Two very measly flakes of hay later, Gogo was severely miffed. She decided the best course of action was to punish me for my misdeeds. The best way she could think of to do this was to gallop the length of her tiny new paddock repeatedly, doing rollbacks that would make a reiner proud at either end, and galloping off in the other direction again. (This is the report I was given later.... great. Apparently she did it for some time too.)
When I arrived yesterday afternoon, both her wraps were around her ankles. She looked at me with nonchalance, as if to say, "Well, you deserved it. You MADE me do it." I removed the wraps to find that the right hind actually looked vaguely better than it had the day before. The left hind, on the other hand, was quite puffy and blisteringly hot in the area of her old injury. You know, the one from 2009. Oh, that's just great.
If you look at the left hind, you'll notice the puffiness around her fetlock as well at the neon pink sock, which indicates inflammation:
I wrapped her again last night with tighter, thinner, better fitting wraps in the hope that this was merely a bandage bow and that it would go away in a few days - and that she wouldn't pull them down again. She does not appear to be lame at all on the LH but admittedly it is hard to compare when you are looking at the hobbling lameness on the RH - I am bollocks at seeing bilateral lameness, for all I can see hind end lamenesses. Today of course she had left the right hind bandage up but the left hind was down around her ankle again. Today, the swelling and localized heat were quite a lot more dramatic and worse. Coldhosing didn't help either hind leg... I've been doing it every day regardless.
Again though, she doesn't appear to be lame on the LH. My hope is that this is just a bandage bow from yanking that wrap down twice. If the swelling and heat doesn't go away within the next few days though, I will have to have it looked at. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that because you all remember what my Red Light Means No list says about a new injury.
I've been trying a few homepathic remedies this week, and either I'm doing something wrong or they're just not doing anything. (Not that I thought they would.... I just figured it was cheap and worth a shot.) Every single person I've talked to had given me a different recommendation for dosage, all the way from giving one dose of one thing once only to giving four doses an hour followed by a dose every hour for a few following hours... I have no idea what proper protocol is. As it stands, I winged it and am doing a dose a day for a week. I've seen zero change but I'm not sure what I expected to happen anyway. If anything, she is worse. I'm trying Rhus tox, Ruta, and Calc fluor.... anyone know of the actual proper dosage one is supposed to give? Homeopathy fail!
Oh Gogo. I know I am starving you and giving you weird crap and it must not be a lot of fun but will you please just stop being a silly mare so you can stop teetering on death's doorstep?
Proving her heart of gold and guts of steel at the 2009 American Eventing Championships
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Encore H.T. 2008 - Gogo's first real event!
19 comments:
Hi Andrea. I've been following your blog for quite a while (the ups and downs :-( ) but never posted. I have a bit of experience with alternative medicine with horses, i.e. acupressure/acupuncture and also homeopathy. In case of an inflammation, I would actually also give arnica (just to confuse you even more :-) ) Let me know if you want to chat offline about the topic more. Oh, no, I am not a professional and no, I am not trying to make money with it, just trying to maybe help a little.
Yes Jumperoo please do! My e-mail is eventingagogo@gmail.com if you have any insight! Homeopathy is confusing!
There's a great holistic vet here in ATX, I don't know if that's the same as homeopathy (not very familiar with either hehe) named Madalyn Ward: http://www.holistichorsekeeping.com/
Oh GOGO!!!!
YIKES! If there's some horses on the other sides of the fences... she'll settle down eventually!
My mother has been administering homeopathic remedies to me all my life... and quite honestly, I think it's all placebo effect! They have never done a thing for me... but I admit I use them occasionally out of sheer superstition! ha ha
I'm a born skeptic... but there are people who swear by them. And my business partner uses them for the horses all the time.. particularly arnica.
You can use them worry-free because the they won't do any harm!
A note on homeopathic/natural remedies. Don't give up on them yet! So many people try them and give up when they do not work right away. Homeopathic remedies work more on cleansing and healing the area of the body, not masking it like many supplements on the market do these days. These remedies can take up to 60 days to see any affect. I give the rule give it a month for sure! I agree with Jumperoo. Arnica is the best thing EVER for any type of inflammation, bruising etc etc. I like the gel better than the creme though. It's one thing I go through the most in my first aid and the thing I will never, ever be without. I buy mine at wal-mart. I've never heard of it not helping in a case of inflammation really. I put it on me when I know I am going to get a bruise. The spot will hurt like a bruise but not be any funny colours its some amazing homeopathic stuff.
I have used homeopathy quite a bit on my family--never on animals. I can tell you that I have occasionally seen amazing results (such as a high fever disappearing in minutes --with no other drugs--just the homeopathic remedy) and also have used every remedy I could think of with no result. I agree with the others that arnica can be quite miraculous with injury/inflammation. Arnica topical creams are one way to apply it and given orally is another. In a person (orally), I would use the higher potencies (200 and up) in a situation this serious--ie if she doesn't get better it will be dire.
Oh, Gogo!
No experience here with homeopathy in anything other than myself, but I have had good results with arnica personally. I'm not sure how to even think about dosing for a horse, but I'm sure someone does.
Good luck!
Just an idea for making her measly two flakes of hay last longer... My horse is currently on stall rest with an injury to the deep digital flexor in the LH. :( He will walk circles in his stall all day long if he doesn't have things to munch on. I have a slow feeder hay net that I stuff full of hay to keep him busy. It really cuts down on the amount of circling and I think he thinks he's getting more food, even though he's not.
Might be worth a try...
Nibblenet nibblenet nibblenet! I can't say enough about them, truly. They have special nets that you can just topss out in the field too. Pirate will walk himself to death if he's kept inside (which he rarely is, but sometimes it can't be avoided) with nothing to do, so I bought a nibblenet. Between that and the Redmond Rock salt block, he's much better off.
Nibblenets can get pricey, but I honestly don't know any other hay net that can do the job that it does for a better price (and if anyone else does, please tell me, because I'd love not to spend $60 on a second net if I don't have to!).
http://www.thinaircanvas.com/nibblenet/nibblenetframe.htm
Give the homeopathy some time. Changing things around in a week doesn't give you time to see if anything is working. You can give arnica homeopathicly just like the others. I used homeopathic remedies on dogs and horses for years and years with good results. I figure they aren't reading the scientific studies that say it can't work.
Just posting to give you encouragement and that you are doing everything you can do within reason. I admire you.
Hey I gave Laz all of those too plus arnica...does the medicine look like tiny little balls? My dosage for him was 2x a day (which I did 1 dose every 4 days) b/w 10-15 little balls. I would make beet pulp and mix it into there last minute after bp soaked.
Well, that mare is determined not to make anything easy, isn't she?
I would definitely vote for a small hole hay net, very affordable and really slows them down. I use them in my trailer, it contains the mess nicely.
I don't do much homeopathy, do be careful because you CAN cause harm with some things, although I know you'll research the heck out of stuff! I do use Arnica on Solo's back though, it does seem to help with inflammation and soreness better than even bute does.
Another idea that I've seen used for horses that were over-weight... mix straw in with their hay so that they still have something to munch with little to no extra weight gain. It may take a little while for them to eat it, but I've seen great results with bored horses being given straw to eat in addition to their hay and supplements.
I know that with my dogs homeopathy worked wonders!
I've used arnica in then and myself with excellent results. With my dogs I use the 30 strength and give between 15 and 20 pellets three to four times a day.
The biggest thing to remember, and hardest thing to do, is to not touch the pellets at all when giving them. Touching them effects their potency. What I do is shake how many I need into the lid then pour them into an envelope. Take scissors and when your ready cut a corner of the envelope and give. You want to try and give them somewhere in/on her mucous membranes. They dissolve there beautifully and they don't have to swallow them. For a horse I might do two envelopes and split the pellets. My dogs I can hold their head so they can't shake the pellets out until they dissolve. Little harder to do that with a horse so maybe not all in one envelope.
I've worked with a great homeopathic vet for years if you have any questions I could ask. nicoleshope4ever@gmail.com
Don't worry, she's not getting only 2 flakes a day... she is getting more like 6 very thin flakes spread out over the day. 2 flakes of hay a day is the fast track to ulcers!
Why not come and post this interesting blog on a new Equine Blogging Network http://hay-net.co.uk/. We would love to feature your blog on there!
Poor pony! I hope he's doing alright, we have a horse at the barn with a very similar problem and it's just such a slow process. In order to cutdown on boredom we've built him a 'treat puzzle' by putting in some really tasty treats in a jigged together plastic milk carton. The horse has to push it around just the right way before he gets his treat. Keeps him busy and happy.
Good luck with everything.
Hi Andrea, I've been reading your blog for ages, and I have a mare like Gogo, my mare has lots going on with her RF-LH diagonal and she had done multiple tendon and suspensory injuries.
I use homoeopathy on my horses, and I have a homoeopathic vet. The dosage depends on the strength. If you can get 200c, that would be great, you have to get that from a homoeopath as that strength is not for sale. I don't give multiple tablets, on advice of my vet I dissolve 1 tablet in boiled water and syringe it into her mouth on the mucous membrames. It is really important to give it into a clean mouth (I rinse my mare's mouth out with a dosing gun with water) no food for half an hour before and after the remedy.
If you can't get 200c, use 30c dose, you give it 3 x per week for 6 weeks
My mare also gets 100ml of cider vinegar 1 x daily in her food and Devil's claw which is anti-inflammatory. Cider vinegar is also great as a compress to reduce swelling.
Anyway, I'm thinking of you, best of luck!
Sandra
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