Pre-Show Woes

In my long absence, another thing I failed to mention is that Halo and I have our first show this Saturday! Of course, that's the perfect time for her to develop a mysterious cough. The past two times I've tried to exercise her, it was cut short by intense bouts of coughing in the arena. Now that the rain has stopped, it has become dusty out there. Either she is having a reaction to the arena dust, or she has some sort of other allergy.

I took her temperature yesterday and it was 100.4, so I don't think she's sick. Her lymph nodes under her jaw are slightly swollen, but that is not unusual for her this time of year. Every spring and fall she seems to get some random lymph node swelling. I did have the vet out to look at it once, but he said it was most likely allergies.

ARGH!

Please cross your fingers for me and pray that my horse doesn't have an illness, or even worse, heaves. Heaves is unusual in horses under six, and her breathing didn't look as bad as the youtube videos I checked out on the condition. Today I'm going out to check on her again, and I will take her temperature. If she seems okay otherwise, I'll try working her outside the arena, and see if being away from the dust makes a difference. If worst comes to worst, we'll scratch the show. I would not feel comfortable bringing her to a strange new environment if she's not at 100%.

Back on Track

Finally! Sunny skies, dry pastures, and a pony with four working legs. Our treatment for Halo's leg went quite well. Either the kick wasn't as severe as we feared, or early treatment prevented it from getting worse. I have more pictures from Day 2 of the injury (October 29). Even on this first day, I think the swelling looks much better.





The white goo is just Corona ointment I put on there to protect the hair in case of any drainage. Overall, there didn't seem to be too much drainage. Each time I went out, I hosed the leg, disinfected the wound with iodine, and then applied Corona. The barn owner took care of giving her bute and antibiotics with her feed.

By last weekend, the swelling had sunk into her knee. We did some walking that day to see if it helped with the swelling. It seemed to a little bit, but I didn't want to push her to do too much.

As of yesterday, she's swelling-free, and perfectly sound on the leg. I worked her lightly last night, and she was a very good girl! She's become great about saddling up, and there was no bucking with the saddle on the longe line last night. I think she likes her new saddle better - that or she's just getting used to wearing the saddle.

Speaking of saddles, now that things are looking up, hopefully I'll have some more under saddle reports soon! My dad was kind enough to get me a leather hole punch for my birthday, so I've now adjusted Halo's sidepull to fit much better.

Spunkiness and Setbacks

I worked Halo for the first time in a while last Sunday. We've had a lot of rain since I returned from my trip to Portland, and the barn has been a muddy mess. I saddled her up and took her to the round pen for a short longe lesson. The outdoor arena is so soaked it's impossible to even go out there right now, and about 1/4 of the round pen is also a mucky disaster. Despite the space restrictions, she was raring to go. Unfortunately she decided to have a buck-a-thon with the new saddle, so we got to work through that. I pushed her forward until she gave me a nice canter in each direction without crowhopping or bucking.

Today she was much better behaved, but when I pulled her out of her mud hole of a pasture, I noticed her off hind leg was a bit swollen. There wasn't a lot of heat in the leg, so I decided to take her up and see if she was lame. She wasn't off at all, but I didn't want to push her too much, so she got only the briefest of workouts. Fortunately she was very well behaved, so I did not have to drill her on anything. Here are some pictures from before and after I worked her. The swelling went down a bit after exercise. Unfortunately these are not the best pictures - it was so warm and humid outside that my camera lens kept fogging up, and the fussy filly didn't want to stand still!

Before:

After:

The pictures aren't all that clear, but I think she looks puffy around the fetlock in all the photos. Before I left, I treated her leg with liniment. The barn owner will keep an eye on it, and hopefully I'll be back out soon.

Quick Update

We saw Halo yesterday, and she was doing better. She got out of the hospital Friday night, but went back in on Saturday. Argh. The bills are definitely not good right now - I may be selling my vintage Circle Y show saddle to help recoup some of the costs. I don't need it as much as I need a healthy horse!

She came home again on Saturday night. Their theory is that she had colic on Wednesday, then the stress of being cooped up at the vet gave her some gastric ulcers that caused her discomfort on Saturday. So she's on horsey Maalox for a week. When I saw her yesterday, I was pretty alarmed by how much weight she'd lost. Not that she couldn't have stood to lose a pound or two, but it was a pronounced difference.

Overall she was her usual alert self. We gave her a bath to clean up some of the muck that accumulated in her tail from being at the vet (and all the oil they put in her). She also got about 1/3 flake of alfalfa. The vet wanted her started on alfalfa at first because it helps draw water into the gut to keep things moving through. She should be getting more food as the week progresses, and will hopefully be back to most of a normal diet by next weekend. I'll likely be out tomorrow again, so there will be more updates and pictures then.

Thank you to everyone for your good thoughts!

Good Thoughts Needed

Apparently summer is the season of trips to the vet. Halo is spending the night at the Elgin veterinary clinic tonight. She has gas colic, and we're very concerned about her. Unfortunately, I'm also still out of the country on my honeymoon. Please send your best thoughts to Elgin that the little girl will pull through just fine and be on her way home tomorrow. 

In the meantime, here are a couple of our wedding pictures. I'm on the left in both shots.

Agitation and Allergies

What a week! I apologize for the lack of updates. I'm leaving for Canada on Thursday to get married on Saturday, so things have been hectic to say the least. And, amidst all the chaos, Halo managed to get case #3 of random swollen lymph node syndrome.







These pictures are from last Monday, and it's clear that she's very swollen on the right hand side. I first noticed the swelling when I was out on Sunday.

As of last Thursday, the swelling had gone down a bit.





Last week I put warm compresses on her swelling every time I went to the barn in hopes of drawing out any infection that might be present. However, the lessening of the swelling makes me think that it's unlikely to blow out. I was a bad horse mom and didn't go to the barn this past weekend, but I checked in with the barn owner and she's about the same. Argh. Hopefully I will make it out before I leave on Thursday, and I have a friend who may check in on her while I'm gone.

The vet was out last week and said that he does not think it is Strangles, but to continue monitoring her condition and to call him if anything changes for the worst. Through it all she's still continued to act like her normal perky self, so I doubt it's anything severe. I feel confident that it may be an allergy to something growing in the pasture.

Under the Weather

Tonight I planned to have a liesurely evening at the barn, perhaps reading one of the books I just got from the library as Halo grazed serenely nearby. It was not to be so! When I pulled into the barn driveway I didn't see Halo in the field. I grabbed her halter and headed out to find this:

I've caught her lying in the pasture before, so I didn't think much of it until I got closer. I offered her a bite of the enormous apple I was eating. She refused. Strange. When I first got her she didn't like apples, but the last few times I'd brought them she enjoyed having a piece. She stood up, and meanwhile a couple of the other horses came up to investigate. While I was distracted by them, Halo ambled off a few steps and lay down again. That was decidedly odd. And then as I observed, she went flat out.

At this, I became worried. I got her on her feet and led her out of the pasture. I listened for gut sounds and didn't hear much, and also noticed that she seemed to have recently had some diarrhea. I walked her for a while and checked again for gut sounds. She seemed rather listless, walking slowly and not showing much interest in grass or anything else. Fortunately the barn owner was at home, so I let her know what was going on and then continued walking Halo. She did try to lie down on me at one point, in a very stupid place right next to the electric fence. Fortunately she stayed on her feet and we kept walking.

By the time the food wagon came by with everyone's nightly feed she seemed to be perking up. Her illness could be caused by several factors. Yesterday she had her wolf teeth pulled, and they were big damn teeth (pictures forthcoming). I'm sure I wouldn't feel that great with a sore mouth and possibly some after-effects from sedation. She also got her rabies and West Nile vaccinations yesterday since I couldn't order them from Valley Vet Supply. In addition, new round bales were put in the pasture on Wednesday, and apparently a couple of other horses haven't been feeling well either. 

Although she perked up, we chose to put her in the covered arena with another horse that was also not feeling well. She didn't poop while I was walking her, so we wanted to make sure she passed manure before feeding her anything else that might worsen an impaction. I think she's okay, but the barn owner will keep an eye on her tonight and call me if she starts acting strange again. I already had plans to go to the barn early tomorrow morning, so I'll get to check on her then as well. Horses!

Happy Birthday, Halo!

Today is Halo's 2-year-old birthday... though not exactly. When I bought her, they told me she was born sometime in April of 2007, probably around Easter weekend. So I just picked Easter as her birthday, and it's what I put on her registration papers. The breeder didn't offer me an alternate date of birth. Since he signed the breeder's certificate, it's pretty much official. There has to be a day to celebrate! For her birthday she got a beautiful Dale Chavez show halter, and a piece of carrot cake which she promptly spit out and proceeded to smear all over the hitching rail.

Poor Halo also got a swollen eye for her birthday, but the barn owner helped me treat it with some antibiotic/steroid ointment, and we also gave her some bute for the pain and swelling. Hopefully she will be better soon, but they'll medicate her in the meantime. 

 

She's come a long way from the scraggly little filly I bought last year!

Halo Health Update

Well, there's good news and bad news, neither dramatic. Bad news first - the vet doesn't know exactly what is causing Halo's lymph nodes to be so swollen. The good news is that he doesn't think it is serious, and it is likely either allergies, or just a baby "cold" of some kind. She seems fine, and is alert and happy. Unless her lymph nodes get very hot and large, he says she's cleared for her move this Thursday. Phew. I should be getting a report of some kind by email that I can show to the new barn owner.

This morning the current barn owner sent me this picture of my goofy little mare:


Silly filly!

Frankenfilly

My horse has a fat head. Well, mouth and esophagus, mostly.

Pictures first for readers with short attention spans:

Here is the worst of the swelling. This is the lymph nodes underneath her jaw, and some other lump pictured just below them. The asymmetry is what makes me especially nervous about this. The lymph nodes are soft to the touch, while the darker lump below is extremely firm.

Here I've drawn a circle around the area that concerns me most.

Although her off side was initially the most swollen, the only picture that really shows the swelling on her muzzle is the near side.

It's very difficult to see in photographs, and I also think it looks somewhat better than it did. But you can still see a peculiar notch in the middle of her upper lip where the swelling end. She's then swollen from that notch back to the corner of her mouth as outlined below.

The swelling around her mouth is extremely firm to the touch, and she also violently objects to any probing. She's usually a little bit cautious about hands around her mouth, but she has never been reactive like she's been since this swelling cropped up.

Here is the other side of her mouth for comparison. You can't tell from the picture, but it is swollen back at the corner of her mouth as well, fairly symmetrically. However, it doesn't have that funky notch in it like the other side.

Something else very noticeable in these pictures are Halo's lovely warts. She got them from the mustang filly she's out in the field with. To my knowledge, these are just regular juvenile warts and should drop off in 1-3 months.

The area she was very swollen in on Saturday that had me really alarmed was her right cheek. It looked fine to me tonight, but maybe one of my enlightened readers will see something odd that I wasn't able to distinguish. Honestly at this point I'm so paranoid I'm likely to hallucinate a hole in her head.

The picture below outlines the area that was formerly quite swollen.

She's had some or all of this swelling happening since last Wednesday. I was out of town the weekend before, so unfortunately I didn't see her then and don't know when it all started. The only thing that has changed since then is the warts. I wormed her last Wednesday with Panacur, but she was already swollen at that point. 

Her symptoms are limited:

- No temperature.

- Lymph node swelling.

- Jaw swelling.

- Muzzle swelling near the mouth.

- She's eating and drinking normally.

- No nasal discharge other than occasionally a little bit of clear (like in the wart picture).

- She did have some lymph node swelling when I first bought her, but she was put on antibiotics and nothing ever came of it.

- She's out on 24-7 turnout in a pasture that could have pretty much any sort of native central Texas plant in it. She gets 1/2 flake of alfalfa and 1/2 scoop of Equine Junior each day.

WTF is going on with my horse?!

My thoughts are:

a. Allergies.

b. A dental issue (probably would have been my first reaction if she were older).

c. Strangles or some other upper respiratory issue. (PLEASE GOD NO!)

d. Bee sting or other insect (seems like it would have gone down more by now).

 The vet is coming on Friday to take a look at her, but if anyone has thoughts or ideas, it always eases my mind to do some research. Okay, so "eases" may be the wrong word, but at least it gives me something to do with all my nervous energy!

Rough Weekend

I'll let the barn owner say it since she said it best:

Rest In Peace Henry Ray Magillicutty, awfully sweet and kinda smutty....my beautiful buckskin boy.

I am a heartbroken wreck.

On Wednesday, August 6th, Henry Ray went to the vet for elective cryptorchid surgery (gelding with a retained testicle~neuter for you non horsey folks)

Henry had to be put down this morning due to complications from this surgery. Williams opened him up, and the found a hole in the large bowel. He doesn't think he cut him with a scalpel, but thinks he had stitched the large intestine when closing him up. Henry suffered massive peritonitis. I am beyond grief. Williams was so sorry and felt bad. He didn't charge me for putting him down or for the final ride, and I know he didn't mean to do it. I know God has a reason, but today all I can think of is that I hauled him to his death, and that he had to suffer the last day of his life due to my choice. I had planned to take him to A&M and just didn't have the extra resources.

Henry can never be replaced, and nothing will bring him back. He was the affectionate one. The baby forever. The one who would run to me for protection, and would play the days away with anyone who would join him.

I searched for him for so many years. My buckskin boy with no white markings at all... just what I always wanted. So perfect. So kind. So loving. I will miss him more than words can express.

I can't help but feel cheated and angry, and I am struggling with acceptance today.

RIP my beautiful boy. Not a day will pass that I don't regret my choice. I hope you will forgive me in my ignorance. I will listen closer to my heart from here on out. It was a great privilege to have you in my life. I will call for you at the bridge. Please come running.

Henry was 4 yrs and 4 days old this morning. RIP Raymond. You will be missed.

I got this email on Friday morning, though a personal message from Steph preceded it by half an hour or so. It was a rough entry into the weekend. While Henry wasn't my horse, I had worked with him several times and looked forward to continuing that work after he was gelded. While cryptorchid surgery is certainly more complex than a regular gelding, it is not uncommon. There wasn't a good reason for him to die, and it certainly wasn't a likelihood.

It was a sad weekend at the barn. I went out on Friday evening, upset about Henry and about something that happened at work, and Halo whinnied and came running. She doesn't do that every day - I don't know if she just knew momma had treats or if she somehow knew I needed her. Good filly.

I remember Steph telling me about the night that Little Momma had her foal by Henry Raymond. She said even though Little Momma was up at the barn, it was like Raymond knew that it was his baby. He stayed by the gate of the lower pasture, his head raised and ears pricked toward the barn as the night wore on and the foal was born.

I wish he could have lived to see his babies grow up.