Getting Readjusted

Hot and humid continue to plague our area, but we learn to live with sweat dripping. The horses get that lovely white dried sweat that is oh so attractive. When they are dry, grooming is normal, but if they are  sweaty then we go to the great summer grooming tool: the hose. Roscoe was looking rough and sweaty so I gave him a shower before bringing him into the barn. As I worked on braiding his Shoo Fly tag back into his mane, I came to the decision to utilize the heat and work Roscoe. His reintroduction to the herd went smoothly, so it was time to see how he would be under saddle.

"Let's Go!"

Unfortunately his bridle did not fair well not seeing the light of day for two months and is not usable. I put on DaVinci's bridle thinking it would work for now. Well Roscoe has a wide head, but it is still not quite long enough. It was workable though so we headed to the arena. I shut the gate and hopped on. He turned and asked "Where's my Sugar?" Oh yeah, he was back. Roscoe set off with that huge, swinging walk and I just sighed. The bridle was okay for walking, but nothing more. But just walking was showing me my pony missed working. He was listening and moving off my leg better than he has before. Not sure where he learned that. I was pretty impressed and now know he has a ton of energy to burn. As I started to melt and began thinking about ending, he would move on as if saying "Uh no way, I am not ready to end the ride." My second ride went about the same, only we did a bit of trotting on straight sides. When I halted him to get off, he walked forward after I dropped my stirrups. He never does that. I hopped off and told him we had to be done. Then to pacify him, I had him trot with me. I did a little circle and he did a bigger one around me both ways. He is definitely ready for some serious work. Now I just have to be ready to handle it. I just found out I got a higher position at work, which will mean a little more pay. Hopefully, it will be enough to start some lessons.
While Roscoe is getting readjusted to being back at home, Comrade, Rosemary and Griffyn were literally getting readjusted by the chiropractor. They were over due and I could tell Rosemary was having some issues. Plus Comrade has had this mystery lameness. He has a head bob at the trot, but just barely, and is working great. The best we can see is it is in the left hind.

Griffyn, red at front, patrolling the barn

Griffyn, our corgi, has really maintained well and has so much less atrophy in his right leg. Even my Dad raves about how much better he is acting. Due to the severity of his injuries, he will never be 100%, but he is definitely in less pain.

Pony Ride Duty, such a pretty Cob

Rosemary did need readjustment in her neck and pelvis. I think she has a long standing issue that we will always have to deal with, but the chiropractor said she was still better than the first time. Mom said Rosemary practically fell asleep during the work. Can't wait to see how she feels now.
I asked Peggy if they found anything on Comrade that might explain the lameness. She said "Maybe." The question is whether the tilted pelvis (up instead of flat), is the cause of the lameness or the result of it. So that will be another wait and see.

One ride is NEVER enough, so Dottie was up

The chiropractor, who is a friend too, looked at the other horses and answered a long had question of Mom's. Dottie always carries her neck low and has some hard bumps. We massage and stretch, which helps her, but it is never gone. The chiropractor confirmed it is arthritis and Dottie most likely injured it in the past. Not too surprising since she used to be a fox hunter. I wish I could afford to get everyone a chiropractic visit since the results are so good. Ah well, we do what we can.

Chiropractic Show

2 more days left to get a chance to win an EIS shirt by answering CPEAP trivia.

Photo Credit: Bonnie Foster

5 years ago Griffyn was neutered and had to be on a leash. Unfortunately, said leash got caught up in Winston's legs and Griffyn became a puppy kite. One of the worst calls I ever got was hearing he was hurt. Turned out he had broken both back legs and required surgery. Since he has short corgi legs, he needed pins. With all the trauma, he did not pull out his stitches though.
He had a cast on the leg with a lower break, but none on the one with a high break. Amazing what science can do. As he hobbled along, we knew he would have issues long term. He has been on Corta flex or another type of joint medicine since that time. Griffyn has been very protective of his body and growls if he is bumped or jostled. Recently he has been very touchy about his ribs.
We have long promised him a chiropractic session, but other emergencies have kept us from keeping that promise...until today. Peggy made him an appointment with Comrade's chiropracter, Nikki. She is a vet who now focuses on chiropractic sessions. As sore as Griffyn is, I did not think she would get to do too much. Surprisingly Griffyn did really well. Nikki worked his neck area first to get him comfortable. All of us, including Winston, settled in to watch the show.
Nikki was great about being careful in is ouchy areas. We could see the progress by watching Griffyn's face. If she was in a problem area, he got bug eyed and had his mouth closed. As she worked, he relaxed and started panting. Many of the leg stretches we use on the horses, she used on him. She found that his spine is crooked from the years of compensating for his weak legs and his left rib cage is the problem area. She said there are nerves that cause sensitivity. Griffyn only protested when she had worked on him for 30 minutes or so. He said he was done.
Good timing too, because Comrade was trying to open the stall guard so he could get his turn. We asked Nikki if we should put him on some pain meds. She said at this time, no. If he was on pain meds he might actually do more than he should. So for now we will watch him and set up another appointment. Mom and Peggy both thought he stood straighter and seemed less tense the rest of the day.
Comrade got a thumbs up and only had a stiff butt. Maybe from getting rammed by a certain little boy ;)

Surgery Tomorrow

Three years ago Griffyn went through what most male dogs go through, getting neutered. No big deal. Well after the procedure the vet wanted him kept on a leash to protect the stitches.
At the barn a day a so after, disaster strikes.
I received a frantic call at work from Mom saying that some how Winston tangled with Griffyn's leash and took off dragging Griffyn. He was tossed around horribly. Poor Mom had to move him into a stall and go after Winston who was loose. Then she had to borrow a truck to bring him to the vets. I hurried to the vets to find Mom panicked that he may have broke his back, as he was not moving his hind end. We had to wait while they stabilized and xrayed him. It was a hard one, let me tell you.
The xrays showed that he did not break his back, thank God, but he did break both his back legs. One above the hock and the other below. Griffyn had to spend the night at a care center and then go to a specialist for surgery the next day. Dad transported him from our vets to the care center with an air cast.
He had a rough night, but the surgery went well. Because Corgi's have such short legs, they had to use pins in his legs. Since he was 6months old the vet told us that it was possible the bone would grow to cover the pins. There was a chance that a pin could move.

6 month old Griffyn  in his cast. The other leg was the higher break.

Recently, we noticed him licking a spot on his hind leg, the one that was in a cast. When we looked closer, there was a sore near one of his scars. Feeling around it felt like granulated tissue. He kept worrying it so we asked the vet to look at it when he got his annual shots.
And of course it was a pin pushing against his skin. Since it was the weekend we had to wait for the surgeon to look at the xrays to let us know if he could do the procedure or if we would need to go back to the specialist.
We received the call that yes he could and it would happen on Tuesday. So Griffyn is on his fasting period and early tomorrow we will drop him off. Keep your fingers crossed that the surgery goes smoothly.

And a funny note. After his injury we make the dogs go in a stall when the horses go out. We say "IN" and they go straight to their stall. Well yesterday, the farm owners had friends and other dogs causing Griffyn to bark and be annoying. For some peace I told him "IN" and he went to the stall. He and Kayla stayed in the stall the whole time Mom and I tacked the girls up. As we mounted and left the barn we had to call a couple times before they would leave the stall. They have trained themselves so well.