Long story but I only did 2 months of handwalking rehab after the surgery because it became apparent there were bigger issues. There’s a whole thread about his DSLD but hopefully you don’t need to worry about that!
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To anyone interested: I went through with the surgery.
I had his grain transitioning. A date picked to retire him. A hauler lined up. And I was heartbroken. I would lie awake at night crying thinking about not seeing him every day. So, I last minute changed my decision.
The surgery cost was $2200-2600 (still waiting on the final bill) + $500 for hauling roundtrip. The procedure itself was only a couple of hours. I dropped him off Tuesday morning and picked him up Thursday morning. His right hind was done but not his left.
His prognosis is “fair”. The surgeon believes he’ll come back to work… it’s just a question about how long he’ll stay sound since he’s had the injury so long. If you don’t know, the nerve regenerates in about 2 years.
Recovery is 2 weeks stall rest with easy occasional walks. 4 bandage changes at 4 days changing intervals. 2 grams of bute for 3 days, 1 gram of bute for 4 days. 2 hand walks a day after 2 weeks that gradually increase by 5 minutes. Once the bandage is off we can tack walk. 6 week re-check by my local vet. Once he’s cleared we can begin trotting under saddle.
Fingers crossed!
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There is a helpful facebook group for PSD with lots of support, experience sharing, ideas, etc.
It does seem that many of the horses do come back to at least be happy trail horses for several years. Some go back to competing and of course there are those for who the surgery doesn’t work. May be a good resource to check out as you go through rehab and rebuild.
Fingers crossed for you and your boy! Sounds like you’re doing everything right by him and he’s lucky to have you!
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Hi! Just wondering how your horse did after the rehab?
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Hi! He is doing OK! It’s now been a year and a half and we struggled a bit cantering under saddle. A solo turnout for him to go wild and re-learn how to canter proved to be all he needed. The only big setback we had was a pretty gnarly stifle kick… but that was totally unrelated and I think some of his issues stem from that.
He’s honestly very similar to how he rode pre-surgery some days – a bit crooked and stiff – but other days he feels great. He does not push as hard with his RH and it’s visible when we do an extended trot, for example.
But I ride him 3 or 4 times a week for about 45 minutes, with 20-25 of that being WORKING. We have been doing trot poles and “jumping” poles on the ground.
I think I just have to accept that “serviceably sound” is the best I’ll get. He’s definitely better than he was right before the surgery, but he’s not as good as he was say the year before he needed the surgery.
Overall, I am happy with my decision. We just celebrated 7 years together and I’m glad to have my best buddy still in working order. Maybe not competitive order, but I don’t think that was ever in the cards.
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To anyone in a similar boat to the one I found myself in 2 years ago:
Kota is doing just fine 2 years post op. In fact, I had the vet out for a lameness evaluation for some maintenance (he’s a bit stiff, crooked and sucked back) and my vet said his suspensory feels as good as she’s ever felt it. It’s cool and tight and completely healed, in her opinion. We did not do ultrasounds (and I haven’t since the surgery, honestly).
At this point, he’s going on 17 and I want to keep him running as long as possible. His hocks were sore and his stifles filled with fluid, so we opted to do a steroid injection on both. Historically I’ve been doing ONLY IRAP on his hocks and his stifles sometimes IRAP sometimes steroid (stifle injections began post op). My hope is to milk these injections for another year.
Work wise, we never got to competing. But I opted to preserve him vs push him over the last 5 years. We no longer take lessons (because we had to move farms) but I think he’d do just fine with a weekly lesson again as of now.
We can extend and collect. We do leg yields and shoulder ins. We don’t really jump, but we occasionally pop over a cavaletti and do a lot of trot poles. I ride 3 or 4 times a week for a working 25 minutes and another 20 of walking.
He’s a good boy, and I am glad to have done the surgery. I don’t regret the journey before the surgery either – I still encourage healing and treating in all ways before resorting to surgery.
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