Jingles for Paco- sound but still confused

[yellowbritches]

Paco came in a day or two ago quite a bit lame. In jogging him it was hard to tell at first where it was coming from. We kept our fingers crossed he was abscessing. This morning, it was obvious it was hind end, and we went over him yet again. The boss saw some swelling in his left stifle, and once I put my hand on him, it was evident that it has quite a bit of filling (for some reason I am much better at feeling filling in stifles than the boss....go figure). I'm assuming it took the 24 hrs. of stall rest for the swelling to really set in.

Dr. Johns is coming out on Tuesday to look at another horse, so she'll be looking at him, too. But it doesn't look very good. Very remencient of when the crazy chestnut tore his meniscus. :no: However, wondering if this has been on its way. He was having some behavioral issues in Aiken that we determined were physically brought on. He had his hocks injected, but that has really improved most of the issues (he doesn't look as "hocky" though).

Very, very frustrated and feeling bad for my guy. He doesn't do stall rest.

[Buffyblue]

Jingles for Paco! Stall rest is not fun! Wishing him a speedy recovery.

[deltawave]

Jingles for Paco!

[Gunnar]

Jingling for your Paco boy! Hopefully it is nothing serious!:sadsmile:

[sarapony]

Here's hoping that Paco just tweaked something is being a melo-dramatic wuss!:cool:

[annikak]

Jingles!!! We NEED Paco to be his great self!

[FoxChaser]

Many jingles! I don't like seeing "jingles" and "Paco" in the same title :(

[frugalannie]

Jingling for you and Paco.

[yellowbritches]

As swollen as it is, it is probably a pretty good "tweak", unless the TB in him is causing it to swell more than it really worth. :no: He's also not wild about us messing with it. I did just rub some Surpass on it, and he's been getting bute. Not looking forward to taking him off everything before Dr. Johns sees him. He's pretty ouchy on it all...:no:

At least, for now, the BFG (Big Fancy Grey) is still on stall rest, until he gets his fancy new shoes later this week, and the BFG is the LFG's (Paco) BFF. There stalls are right next to each other, so they've spent the last two days making faces and nipping noses through the bars. :lol:

Thanks for the jingles....keep em coming.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Sending lots of jingles. I lost one of my favorite horses to a torn mensicus in the stiffle.....really hope that isn't what you are dealing with.

Jingles he heals well!

[yellowbritches]

We HAVE dealt with that issue in the past, it can be tough knowing that if they come back, if they are going to stay sound enough to be major competitors. When Ruby did his, he went from being a Jr/AO jumper prospect to being a Children/AA jumper prospect...then he did his tuber icshi, and now we're not sure what he'll ever do.

BUT, I'm trying to think about all that too much. Just get through Tuesday and go from there.

[TB or not TB?]

Oh no! Many jingles from here!

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Way too soon to stress about what it is....just keep thinking positive. Sending more jingles. It could be something that heals quickly and he comes back 100% soon.

[AppJumpr08]

Oh Crap :(

Amanda, I'm sending LOTS and LOTS of jingles that Paco heal quickly and without issue!!!

[Beam Me Up]

Many jingles!
FWIW, I do know a (lower level) horse who came back from a stifle meniscus tear quite well.

[CookiePony]

Oh no! Sending many jingles. The waiting for the vet to come is the hardest...

[RunForIt]

I know part of the problem right now is that you've had this happen and know the signs - or think you do. Stay as busy as possible between now and vet visit - go laugh with Paco and his bff - I bet they're a hoot! :cool:

Best thoughts available are yours and Paco's - jingles everywhere! :)

[artienallie]

Holy cats! I'm glad Dr. Johns is coming out Tuesday.

I can't wait to see the faces the two greys are making at each other - I'm hoping to hobble out there tomorrow - I'm finally crutch-free!

Thinking positive thoughts for Paco!

[Xctrygirl]

Awww so sorry to hear this.

BIG jingles for Paco.

I hope its not too bad!!!

~Emily

[yellowbritches]

Andi, crutch-free, woohoo!!!! That is good news. Hopefully we will get to see you hobbling tomorrow.

BFG can get most of his face through LFG's little feeder whole thingy, and LFG can get most of his face out, so they sit one way or the other chewing on each others faces....when they aren't snarking at each other, or me, or the dog, or George and Harley. They are a riot together...just wish they were a riot together out in the field tormenting Neigh and the the B-Man. :(

Thanks, all, for the jingles. Paco, the ham that he is, will be happy to know he has so many people thinking happy thoughts for him. :yes:

[FLeckenAwesome]

awww, more happy thoughts for paco and his BFF.
hope it is a happy easy diagnosis on tuesday :)

[zagafi]

Jingling like crazy for Paco!

[mbj]

Jingling for your guy. God I hope it is something that heals well and quickly. Poor boy!

[oldbutnotdead]

Bueno suerte Paco.

[kookicat]

Jingles!

[riva1]

jingles - and sending positive, optimistic thoughts!

[LexInVA]

Jingles for Paco, hugs for Manda, and frothing disease to their enemies!

[yellowbritches]

Jingles for Paco, hugs for Manda, and frothing disease to their enemies!
Ha!!! This cracked me up! :lol: You always know JUST what to say! ;)

Nothing new to tell. He is going off bute tomorrow to get it out of his system for Tuesday...not looking forward to that. He's had a lot, and is still pretty ouchy. :no:

Thanks again! We are dealing with lock down pretty well. Only issues we have is when BFG gets recreation time out in the ring for a little while. Even with having Dunny on the other side, he gets mad that BFG is doing something with out him.

[KMErickson]

jingling for Paco! Hope everyone else is ok too - we miss you in Aiken!:)

Kate

[Eventcrazy]

Jingles for Paco!!!

[yellowbritches]

jingling for Paco! Hope everyone else is ok too - we miss you in Aiken!:)

Kate
Hey you! I'll send you an email...I miss you guys, too!

Nothing new to tell. Tomorrow, we'll know something.

[RunForIt]

fingers, toes, crossed - good thoughts, prayers, WHATEVER - headed your way. Keep us posted. :cool:

[Bensmom]

jingles from here too. Taz says that stall rest in an outdoor pen is the bestest, so he recommends that if the LFG has to stay up past the vet diagnosis on Tuesday. He had been trying to tell his mom that 12x12 inside and outside were the same, but outside was better, for a LONG time.

Mom finally listened.

Yay for electric tape, step in posts and good battery powered chargers!!! :D

Best wishes for only a minor owie for Paco!! :yes:

Libby & Taz (who is going on the 8th month of stall rest now. <sigh>)

[yellowbritches]

Well, I now officially doubt my ability to see which end lameness is coming from. :rolleyes: Paco jogged out for Dr. Johns this morning and she said it was left front (and I obviously don't know my right from my left as I SAID right stifle, but I was seeing his left stifle. And while she was sure it was left front and we believe her the boss, Andi and I swore up and down that we saw something on that stifle. She didn't NOT believe us, but she was far more concerned with the front end). However, he wasn't so bad, just a little off. We attempted to lunge him, but he spent most of that time being a total maniac, so it was hard to really see anything. Back up to the barn we went for flexions. Sound. He was fine. Absolutely nothing. We were perplexed. She told me she thought I needed to ride him to see if it would "rear its ugly head" again, but she what was going on. We threw him out in the field and we all watched him gallop around, sound, for a few minutes, then started on the next horse.

An hour or so later, as she was packing up her gear, she looked up, watched Paco jog across the field and said he was quite lame again. :eek: We brought him in, this time with him not quite right even at the walk, jogged him again, but could find nothing obvious. She HAD to go (she was late getting to us and had to get to the practice), so we're at square one again until tomorrow morning, when she'll come BACK out to do some blocks.

Arg. Major big arg. :mad:

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Bummer....but at least he did improve quite a bit by being locked up! So that at least is hopeful.

[annikak]

It is those moments where I seriously think I might have to give up horses. Ugh- so been there, done that, and hate that, UGH.

PACO! (Since it rhymes with Taco, I say that loudly often enough, it sometimes works. Try it. Then threaten Alpo!:lol: Then, Drink...a lot.)

[RunForIt]

It is those moments where I seriously think I might have to give up horses. Ugh- so been there, done that, and hate that, UGH.

PACO! (Since it rhymes with Taco, I say that loudly often enough, it sometimes works. Try it. Then threaten Alpo!:lol: Then, Drink...a lot.)

At first I thought to quote BFNE, but after ONE SECOND of thought, this was clearly the advice to offer you. :D

Keep us posted - WE'RE all jingling madly! :yes: :cool:

[RioTex]

At least that means it not the meniscus, right?

[Renn/aissance]

Keeping fingers crossed for Paco! I hope he at least decides on ONE leg to limp on to make this easier for you!

[yellowbritches]

Yes, at least it is not the meniscus, but I won't mention the things we were talking about on the way home from Yellow Rose's tonight. :no: We''l cross ALL these bridges when we get to them.

Alpo and glue have both been threatened. He refuses to listen.

While I did drink a wee bit tonight (yellow rose, by the way, has the gift of hospitality and a generous cooler ;)), the thing that made me think about Paco less was very good performances from the baby boys in their little jumper classes! :yes:

Paco, as always when the trailer leaves without him, was pissed. :(

[artienallie]

Waiting to hear the latest from Dr. Johns on the Paco-taco.

Hope the little chestnut mare didn't kill y'all in her rush to get OUT for the first time in over 24 hours this morning...

[Jazzy Lady]

Thinking about you and Paco today! Hope the diagnosis is good. I hate waiting around playing the guessing game as the mind always goes to the worst possible scenarios. Hopefully his soundness yesterday is sign of a minor problem! Good luck and hugs!

[yellowbritches]

Sorry, guys. I forgot to add last night that Dr. Johns won't be making it out until tomorrow morning...another day.... :no:

You can be jingling for the boss tomorrow morning, too. I have to send him, with BFG in tow, to the farrier god's shop in Round Hill BY HIMSELF. This requires jingles because the boss has no sense of direction, and he's terrified he'll get lost...I am his human GPS. You should see the very, very detailed directions I have made for him. :lol:

[RunForIt]

ye gods! Amanda! I was so scared to open this post when I saw your name....arrggghhh - more wait time, huh? Well at least the boss will give you some humor tomorrow - hope you don't have to go out in the middle of the night to find him! (or maybe he'll just climb on the BFG and let him find their way home :lol: )

[yellowbritches]

Well, radiographically, there's nothing wrong with him from his fetlock to his elbow. That's good and bad. :mad:

He came out this morning and jogged about a 4 out of 5, and is not happy at the walk. He IS weight baring, but he's an unhappy guy if he's asked to move around too much. We started at the bottom, with a block to his foot, but when that didn't block, she followed the practice's cardinal rule- when they are THAT lame and don't block to the foot, proceed with caution (as in, keep the moving exam to an absolute minimum).

So, we went in a started x-raying, terrified we would find some horrific spiral fracture somewhere (the boss lost his old advanced horse to a spiral fracture because that horse did a similar move Paco often makes out in the field). Many x-rays later and nothing of any significance. She said she would look at them at the office again, just to be sure.

So, we now have three options:

Stall rest and anti-inflammatories to see if he'll come sound (not a favored option, at least between Dr. Johns and I).
Bring him into the clinic and do a front end bonescan (very pricey with a possible unsound horse anyway).
Bring him into the clinic and use the big camera and x-ray his shoulder, where she is fairly certain the issue is coming from.And of course, it is typical Paco to not give us any other signs other than "I HURT!!!!!" No swelling, no heat, nothing. He doesn't love picking that leg up, but he'll stand on it if you pick the other up. He makes some funny moves when he turns, he is very obviously lame in the walk and trot. AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She has a bit of a theory for why he was lame, then got better, than rapidly went down hill, but it isn't anything to write home about, so I won't bother with details.

So, we'll make a plan when the boss gets back with the BFG...I assuming he's made it there safely.....

[yellowbritches]

Ironically, I just fussed at someone last night on the horse care board (I was tired and cranky) about why she was so sure her horse was lame on his shoulder....:eek: karma??? ;)

[AppJumpr08]

Oh BUMMER!!!

I hate not getting an answer one way or the other :mad:

I'm still jingling up here in NH that everything will be fine. (and that the Boss and the BFG make it to and from their appointment with no issues!)

[sarapony]

But did the Boss make it to Round Hill and home all by himself?:winkgrin:

[LexInVA]

Ironically, I just fussed at someone last night on the horse care board (I was tired and cranky) about why she was so sure her horse was lame on his shoulder....:eek: karma??? ;)

I think someone needs to unwind themselves with a four hour bike ride on the W&OD Trail followed by an intensive deep tissue massage.

[yellowbritches]

The appointment was at 9, so we'll see if he can actually make it BACK without me.

I didn't get any distress signals or calls, so I'm assuming he made it.

When I went over the directions with him, he admitted it all sounded very familiar (ummm...ya think? ;)), but also admitted that if I hadn't clarified which way to turn at the end of our road, he would have gone the wrong way. :lol: This is an ongoing joke in our barn. When we get to the end of our road, you go one way to go to Middleburg (which is at least a weekly trip, with swimming, etc) and you go the other way to go to points west, like the feed store (also a weekly trip), etc, etc, etc. No matter where we're going and how many times we go, I have to remind him which way to go. He SAYS it is to make me feel useful and give me something to live for...whatever. I often wonder how he gets to and from the barn on a daily basis :lol:

[yellowbritches]

I think someone needs to unwind themselves with a four hour bike ride on the W&OD Trail followed by an intensive deep tissue massage.
This sounds EXACTLY like what I need to do, and I am certain the reason I've been a little cranky all week is that I haven't been on a bike!!! I seem to need equal amounts of horses and bikes to keep my body and mind at peace.

I will have to settle with a date (;)) and copious amounts of tequila tonight! :lol:

[toeknee]

ewww how frustrating. When I have times like this I think I should start a new sport like tennis or something!(yeah right:)) If I were you I would def be taking part in this thirsty thursday, although the thought of tequila makes me squirm:eek:(man when did I become a light weight...)

[LexInVA]

This sounds EXACTLY like what I need to do, and I am certain the reason I've been a little cranky all week is that I haven't been on a bike!!! I seem to need equal amounts of horses and bikes to keep my body and mind at peace.

I will have to settle with a date (;)) and copious amounts of tequila tonight! :lol:

I know exactly how you feel. I'm doing the Spring maintenance on my Trek Navigator today so I can hit the trails and I'm gonna get a rack for my new vehicle. I haven't ridden in over a year. :cry:

[RioTex]

Not sure this will help, but a few years ago, I bought a horse off the track. Got him home about 10:30pm and stuck him in a stall. Put him out in the round pen the next morning, where he proceeded to do "something" and came up lame on the left front. I had owned him about 12 hours at this point. Bute and rest and cross the fingers. A couple weeks later, still no better, so drag him to the clinic where he becomes so lame coming off the trailer, they are certain it's an abscess. But no heat, no swelling, no tenderness to palpation ANYWHERE. Horse is dragging the leg at this point.

We block everything and x-ray a good bit. Can't find it. My vets are big advocates of turn-out, so we take him home and throw him out and he magically heals in a couple of months. Must have been a muscle pull high and not at the surface. Sometimes time is a great healer. Good luck with getting a diagnosis, it's sure easier to deal with when you at least know what's going on.

[IFG]

A friend of mine had a horse with a nerve injury in his shoulder. He presented lame, then was sound, then was very lame. He has recovered, but he was on extended stall rest. She did lots of PT with him over rails etc. to help him recover his muscle tone and range of motion.

[artienallie]

I will have to settle with a date (;)) and copious amounts of tequila tonight! :lol:

Hmmm.... this sounds like a really good idea. I am jealous.

I'm sorry to hear about the Paco-taco. The healing thoughts that AREN'T going toward my knee are headed towards him.

[yellowbritches]

Andi, I'm having a hard time deciding who should be getting the majority of my healing thoughts...you or the LFG. :no:

And, FYI, the boss and BFG made it home safe and sound with no detours. The BFG is out in his personal paddock showing off his dazzling new kicks, and is eagerly awaiting my first ride on him today....helped by modern living through chemistry. ;)

Paco is happy and buted up to his eyeballs at the moment. I think we decided he'll be getting the x-rays.

[artienallie]

Andi, I'm having a hard time deciding who should be getting the majority of my healing thoughts...you or the LFG. :no:

You focus the majority of your healing thoughts on the LFG, I'll focus the majority of mine on my damn knee. ;)

And, FYI, the boss and BFG made it home safe and sound with no detours. The BFG is out in his personal paddock showing off his dazzling new kicks, and is eagerly awaiting my first ride on him today....helped by modern living through chemistry. ;)

Excellent news on all points! :D

Paco is happy and buted up to his eyeballs at the moment. I think we decided he'll be getting the x-rays.

And more excellent news. Belive me, KNOWING what the heck is going on makes it so much easier to deal with. I'm way calmer about my own injury now that I know more than just "yeah, that's messed up". ;)

[TB or not TB?]

Awwh I'm so sorry YB :no: How terribly frustrating.

IFG - I also know of one that had a pinched nerve in his shoulder that caused intermittent, severe lameness. How odd. In his case it was a poorly fitting saddle, the poor horse.

[yellowbritches]

...from tearing my hair out.

Last Thurs. Paco was so lame Dr. Johns feared fracture. He's been stall bound for a week, only coming out of his stall twice. He came out today to go to VEI, and he was SOUND. Normally, I would be thrilled, in fact, I feel bad that I'm not, but he was SO lame. What happened. We had a feeling over the last couple of days that he was feeling better. He was moving in his stall better and he started to lay down again.

So, we arrive at VEI (side note: scariest thing when hauling a horse who is notorious for doing stupid stuff while standing in a parked trailer? Sitting, I mean PARKED for 20 minutes or more on 15 in a horrible traffic jam. I was just sure he was going to get himself over the chest bar again). We show Dr. Johns our SOUND horse. She was shocked. We lunged him. We jogged him. We flexed him. He jogged more. We lunged in the soft. We lunged on the hard. We poked. We prodded. Occasionally we'd get a funky step or two, but could never duplicate.

He proceeded to get the royal treatment. Dr. Allen poked and prodded and fiddled with him. Nothing. Everyone is baffled. Dr. Allen told us that he didn't see any point in doing radiographs, right now, and just thought he should go home to 30 days stall rest. We did do the rads, just in case. Yep. Nothing.

Soooooo, I think the general thought is that he might have a soft tissue issue. Dr. Allen did not want to do a bonescan (why I love him! He understands my budget). He wants to rest him, as the various soft tissue things they rambled off all do well with rest. So, he's on 30 days of stall rest. He can hand graze and walk "as long as he won't kill you" (Dr. Allen's words). If we can keep him quiet, he can go out in the hospital paddock. He will be on NSAIDs...first for 5-7 days, then as needed. After that, we'll start him back up and either have a sound horse, or not.

I think this is the most baffled I've ever seen the vets at VEI. He was impressively lame last week...almost non-weight bearing. Why is he so sound now?!?! I'm GLAD he's not in pain, but I would have liked some kind of conclusion today...this is the first time, I think, that we HAVEN'T had a real answer to a problem.

So, argh. :no:

[RunForIt]

...from tearing my hair out.

Last Thurs. Paco was so lame Dr. Johns feared fracture. He's been stall bound for a week, only coming out of his stall twice. He came out today to go to VEI, and he was SOUND. Normally, I would be thrilled, in fact, I feel bad that I'm not, but he was SO lame. What happened. We had a feeling over the last couple of days that he was feeling better. He was moving in his stall better and he started to lay down again.

So, we arrive at VEI (side note: scariest thing when hauling a horse who is notorious for doing stupid stuff while standing in a parked trailer? Sitting, I mean PARKED for 20 minutes or more on 15 in a horrible traffic jam. I was just sure he was going to get himself over the chest bar again). We show Dr. Johns our SOUND horse. She was shocked. We lunged him. We jogged him. We flexed him. He jogged more. We lunged in the soft. We lunged on the hard. We poked. We prodded. Occasionally we'd get a funky step or two, but could never duplicate.

He proceeded to get the royal treatment. Dr. Allen poked and prodded and fiddled with him. Nothing. Everyone is baffled. Dr. Allen told us that he didn't see any point in doing radiographs, right now, and just thought he should go home to 30 days stall rest. We did do the rads, just in case. Yep. Nothing.

Soooooo, I think the general thought is that he might have a soft tissue issue. Dr. Allen did not want to do a bonescan (why I love him! He understands my budget). He wants to rest him, as the various soft tissue things they rambled off all do well with rest. So, he's on 30 days of stall rest. He can hand graze and walk "as long as he won't kill you" (Dr. Allen's words). If we can keep him quiet, he can go out in the hospital paddock. He will be on NSAIDs...first for 5-7 days, then as needed. After that, we'll start him back up and either have a sound horse, or not.

I think this is the most baffled I've ever seen the vets at VEI. He was impressively lame last week...almost non-weight bearing. Why is he so sound now?!?! I'm GLAD he's not in pain, but I would have liked some kind of conclusion today...this is the first time, I think, that we HAVEN'T had a real answer to a problem.

So, argh. :no:

Soft tissue can fool you - which is the reason for rest...some of the surrounding tissue heals quickly enough so that you feel good - one bad twist or turn and WHAM - its torn again. :eek: (don't ask me how I know - yep, I'm a BAD patient)

It also occurred to me that maybe some sort of nerve crap might be involved...??????

I hate both you and Paco are going through this - but remember, Paco DOES rhyme with TACO!!!!! :cool: I'm thinking of you (and I guarantee the mother of the rhyme is too)

[LexInVA]

Very confusing indeed. Jingles for Paco and your beautiful hair!

[Merle]

Jingling like mad up here in Maine! :) Keep us posted. I read this thread avidly!

I just realized that, strangely enough, I consider some of you COTHers friends. ;) It's odd to have never met someone in person but feel like you know them! Well, I guess we are all peas in a pod over here in eventing land with our crazy youngsters who happen to injure themselves somehow.

[Hilary]

I know this is the OLDEST thing in the book, but could he have an abcess? A little one that thinks about going away, then changes it's mind and comes back with a vengence, then, oh, finds a new channel, so the pain abates etc etc.....?

My old mare had the abcess from hell last summer - the thing had more tracks than a set of slot cars. She'd feel better, then 3-legged, then ok, then 3-legged. When it finally decided to get close enough to the surface for us to do something about the farrier poked no less than 5 vents before she had any relief (each more stinky and squirty than the last)

[yellowbritches]

Definitely NOT an abscess. He has been hoof tested about a million times since this all started two weeks ago, as late as this afternoon. I WISH it was that simple, and we actually thought at first that was the issue. No heat, no digital pulse, pretty much zero reaction to hoof testers.

He does other things, too, that leads us further up the leg. Even today, as sound as he was, he doesn't love picking up the leg. Last week, he would try and wiggle away when we'd go to poke on him. He also had an out way of protecting it in the walk and when turning. Definitely not an abscess....grrrr....that would be SO easy. :no:

RFI- I wouldn't be surprised if there was some nerve issue going on, at least last week, considering how lame he was. We had a horse a few years ago come in from the field totally hobbling lame and unable to bend one leg. It was an obscure issue, he'd pinched a nerve in his knee. The vet put him on some sort of anti-inflammatory, and the next morning he was 90% better! Weird.

Lex- no worries. My hair is still safely attached to my scalp...for now....

[LexInVA]

Lex- no worries. My hair is still safely attached to my scalp...for now....

Good to know. I'd hate to see you sporting a self-inflicted cue ball. :)

[Jazzy Lady]

so sorry! Jingles and good wishes to Paco! why can't they be the lamest when they visit the vet?

[frugalannie]

I'm going to go out on an (all too familiar) limb here and ask if you did a Lyme test on him. We get LOTS of Lyme here (considered the East Coast epicenter) and it can present like your description of Paco: significantly lame, then not, repeatedly. Sometimes lameness sems to be in the same place, sometimes it "moves around". Anyway, might be worth a thought.

[artienallie]

Well, crap.

I'd hoped you would find an answer, and finally be able to treat whatever is going on. I'm sorry it's so frustrating!

[yellowbritches]

I'm going to go out on an (all too familiar) limb here and ask if you did a Lyme test on him. We get LOTS of Lyme here (considered the East Coast epicenter) and it can present like your description of Paco: significantly lame, then not, repeatedly. Sometimes lameness sems to be in the same place, sometimes it "moves around". Anyway, might be worth a thought.
hmmmm....excellent point.

I might call the regular vets out. Good point.

[yellowbritches]

Paco will see the general vet on Tuesday and have a lyme titre drawn.

Dr. Johns thought it was at least worth a shot. If he's negative, then he's negative and we're still dealing with whatever it is. If it positive, he goes on the doxy and it will either fix everything, or it won't (because the lyme isn't the issue). But there's no harm in giving the doxy, so it is worth a shot.

*sigh* We'll see....

In the mean time, he's had a big change in his life...BFG was released from captivity this afternoon and is spending the nights outside with Neigh and the B-Man (as long as he remains on good behavior and doesn't try to kill B-Man...he had to be removed from the other group yesterday because of bad behavior :no:). Paco seemed ok with the change...he can still SEE BFG and the girls come in at night, so at least he has company. We'll see. I'm going to get him a stuffed animal to mutilate, too :lol:

[frugalannie]

YB, you have a PM.

[CoolMeadows]

A Lyme titer is a great suggestion, and you may want to consider a cervical Xray set as well. This is pretty much exactly how my Wobbler first presented. You'd think that a general stifle or sacro-iliac or miniscus injury wouldn't come and go with stall rest, but sometimes these guys like to baffle us. Good luck with it and many jingles to Paco - he is absolutely adorable. Please give Zumba a treat for me (eek, not even sure if he's still there... is he?).

[Janet]

When Belle had intermittent lameness that went back and forth between 1-out-of-5 and 4-out-of-5 it was hard tissue. One was a hairline fracture that didn't show up on Xrays until it had started to calcify, and the other (we think, still not sure) was an injury to the horn of the hoof - near the heel, but high up (never responded to hoof testers, no pulse, nothing on Xrays, but 6 months later the hoof that is being trimmed has a "bad texture" in that area)

When both Music and Belle have had intermittent lameness related to Lyme, it has been more in the 1 or 2-out-of-5 range.

[IFG]

I kind of went through this last year with a severe heel bruise. Fine one day, holding his foot in the air after work the next. Vet opted not to X-ray. He said, that I could lay him up for a few months or do lots of work-up, and then lay him up for a few months. I elected the former.

[annikak]

Taco thinks Paco should be good. ;)

Mom of Taco is signing in to say...Heels are strange strange things. They hurt sometimes but not always. But hoof testers usually find things like this- or just putting pressure on the bulbs also do the trick. Just watch out- when it hurts, it hurts BAD and the reaction can be somewhat...strong. That being said, does not sound as if that could be missed.

I feel for you. Had a clinic this weekend with my young one, and Ah...lame. Yup...it's been well over a year since I have braved my checkbook and yup- checkbook works again as donation for the clinic- not for A to ride her lovely young horse. Grrr.

[yellowbritches]

Yeah, not a heel thing. He's been hoof tested so many times in the last two weeks and by so many people, everyone hoping that he'll finally jump through his skin. Nope. No luck. :no:

Mean time, Paco loves the jolly ball that I rescued from the girls' field. And he really didn't like it as I trotted around and around the barn on the naughty BFG today. He nearly jumped out his back door! :eek:

[KMErickson]

any news on the lyme titre yet? still jingling!

[yellowbritches]

Lyme titre won't be drawn until Tuesday :(

[yellowbritches]

Well, Paco had his Lyme titre done and it was basically useless. It is too low to really be positive, but high enough we could treat, if we wanted to. I will retest him in 4-6 weeks, as I've had several horses with titres in that range that doxy did nothing.

However, he is still sound (and happier now that we put front shoes back on him...he doesn't do well barefoot). We are now three weeks out, and I think I'm going to put him back out in the big field in the next couple of days, and barring any horrible outcome of that, I am going to start a six week walking program, much like I did with Ralph many moons ago. We'll see what that does for us.

Still very frustrated to have no real clue what was/is up with him. I am happy that he feels good...just wish I knew why he felt so bad. :(

[RunForIt]

Happy for you that nothing seems to be wrong...has Paco been in his stall all this time? how did you determine that he's sound? Walking sucks. The ipod was not invented for runners - no, it was for event riders with crappy, cement June footing and/or horses on walk only programs. :D :cool:

[yellowbritches]

We've been jogging him out every few days to see how he looks. At some point, just walking him down the barn aisle, you could tell he was lame.

He has been in his stall pretty much from the very first icky day (so, going on six weeks, I guess?). He has been going out for a couple of hours a day in the hospital paddock, which has helped his sanity. Amazingly, he hasn't been too bad in his stall! He has a couple of toys, and as long as I take some time to talk to him every day, he stays pretty happy...happier now that everyone is coming in during the day.

[cosmos mom]

Jingles YB! Hang in there!

[flyingchange]

Jingles YB! Hopefully the six weeks stall rest cured whatever needed curing. Very frustrating not to know exactly what it is, I am sure.

Hopefully this will have passed and you can have a late-summer/fall season with him. You sure do deserve to have a sound and sane horse.