Update on Surgery, Friday, Grimsey, and the Mystery OTTB
Once again, I am months behind on updating. If I had any regular readers, those people would probably think I'd died in the OR. Not so! I am alive and well, and I shall detail my surgery later in this post. Firstly, I want to start out with some equine-related updates.

Friday
What you haven't heard is that Friday had an accident last fall. He cut his foot (pastern area) on my barn, though my parents argue that it was the gate he cut it on because there was more blood... I argue he put his foot under the metal siding and sliced it as such. Luckily, I happened to be standing by the trailer, and saw the accident. Had I not been there, or had my parents not been there with me, Friday would have bled to death. He severed the major vein, the artery, and the ligament in his foot; he also nicked the joint. It took about four months before Friday could start going out again, and so he spent a few hours in the arena every day, gradually getting longer until I could start turning him out with Bonc and Grimsey. Now, he still has quite a noticeable limp (I do not think the ligament has healed, or has healed well). X-rays revealed arthritic changes and a bone spur in the pastern joint. Doc thinks this is due to the instability of the ligament while it was healing (he was in a cast for a while). For a long time, I went back and forth on having him put to sleep, but he seems happy and still gallops around the field, so time will tell.

Grimsey:
After surgery, Grim had two-and-a-half months off from work. I had tried to find someone to ride him, but was unsuccessful (mostly, I feel, due to rumors about him being dangerous... did I write about that particular drama yet???). So he started back a few weeks ago, and has been stellar. I had his shoes pulled, and he's still a tad tender, but not nearly as bad as last time. He's currently being treated with Keratex Hoof Hardener, but we're only a week and a few days into treatment, so I can't speak for its efficacy. He's also getting SmartHoof (Farrier's Formula just didn't seem to be doing it, but I don't love SmartHoof, either) and just started on SmartSox (to increase blood flow to his hooves). I've also been treating him for ulcers, which I've suspected he's had for a long time. The SmartSox supposedly can cause stomach upset in horses with ulcers (because of the Turmeric Root Powder), so I'm keeping a close eye on his treatment. Most of what I've found indicates that this is an unlikely possibility. On the riding side of things, we've only cantered once (doctor's orders, I cannot canter/jump until November... I'll stick to the jumping limitation, but I've been cantering since day 1 back in the saddle... bad me), and it was pretty sorry, but his trot is as fantastic as ever, and I was actually able to sit it for several minutes at a time. His back is developing beautifully (he'll always look a little funny thanks to his withers).

Today promises to be an interesting day. I am going to look at a 5yo Thoroughbred gelding an hour away. He is (supposedly) 16.3 hands. Bay, star, sock. Pretty ordinary. He hasn't been ridden in 6-7 months, but it sounds like he's pretty quiet - the guy says his 2yo runs around the horse's legs (EEK!) and this OTTB is totally cool with it.


As far as horse-related news goes, that's pretty much it. I've been riding for a couple of months now, trying to get back into shape. After two months of sitting around doing nothing (couldn't even walk around the block for the first month), I was pretty out of shape.

  Regarding the surgery, everything went just fine. The entire tumor was removed; however, since the tumor was essentially invading my brain tissue, I did not get away from it unscathed. There's a chance everything will return to "normal," but unlikely. The hernia is still there, sadly. I don't know if it will ever go away. The surgery took place on a Tuesday, and I was home that Thursday night. Really amazing what they can do these days. The first week or so after surgery is a big blur. I remember little things, but mostly remember being very tired. I got worn out quickly, and moving around was quite a chore.

That's it for now. I'll probably have an update on this OTTB horse I'm going to look at, so stay tuned.




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