Well, I wanted to give the final update to my horse’s injury…unfortunately I am now horseless.
Requested a different, more experienced vet from the same clinic. Vet came out in January, the meniscus had healed (I was told there was a tear) but was looking good with some inflammation remaining. Horse was completely sound and vet was really happy with his progress and said that turning him out was the right thing to do. Rehab plan was given to start walking the horse under saddle, leading up to a trot. My heart sank when the horse could barely trot under saddle. Over 6 months rest and still lame. On the longe line, he was pretty sound-- just slightly off.
Feeling defeated, I contacted someone who had been interested in him at a barn I was boarded at and offered him to her as a giveaway. She was on board to spend the money on diagnostics to see if she could fix him and is willing to turn him out for a long time and wait on him if needed. Her vet came out (racehorse vet) and said that he’s lame on the left hind…not the right. Remarked that he was always lame on the left when I showed his original lameness video. Now I’m questioning the whole right stifle diagnosis at this point…
Blocked the horse to rule out the leg, became much more sound when the stifle was blocked. Vet wanted to x-ray and inject stifle next visit to see if he would come sound with that. If no improvement, vet said to send him for a bone scan.
I decided to cut my losses and pretty much gave up, even though I had major medical insurance on him. It had been nothing but a battle with this horse, between him and I clashing in personalities and the ongoing lameness. It’s been a year of nothing but disappointment and heartbreak and thousands of dollars in vet bills. I started to feel that I couldn’t develop a connection to him for a reason. I still cried putting him on her trailer though.
If I had absolutely loved the horse, if he was accomplished, or he was older, I would have gone further with diagnostics/ treatment and trying to get an answer. Something was telling me in my head to just stop and let this person have him. He’s in a GREAT home, and I know I will never have to worry about him ending up in a bad spot. To me, that’s more important than getting any money out of him. New owner is going to keep me updated with the vet’s findings. She feels terrible for me and was hoping it was an easy answer so I could keep him and kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to give him away.
The truth is that for a resale horse, a 4 year old gelding with stifle issues is going to be a hard sell…especially one that has essentially done nothing. I ride western events, and a lot of what we do is engaging the hind end, turns and circles. I don’t want to ride a horse and have to worry if certain maneuvers might make him lame. I know I would pass on a young horse that needed stifle injections to potentially stay sound.
More vet bills, plus board…and a lot of “will he come/ stay sound?” was the deciding factor in the end. At first I felt like I gave up too easily, especially when he was insured, but now I feel better with my decision. I knew a day would come where I would end up with a dud and sadly I took a 20k loss. I am taking a year to save up for my next one, I just know that my dumb ass can’t give up horses!
