Walk to canter, won't trot: not lame but not happy?

[IPEsq]

@blacksheep

My patient would love to practice noncompliance! I often wear a helmet around her as after I sustained a concussion a couple years ago, she took up the habit of giving me little bops on the head with her teeth. She also bangs the stable door when my husband and I speak to each other too long and enjoys raking her teeth across anything expensive. She’s very special

I will absolutely take your advice if I decide to go with a bone scan after the next visit. That makes total sense. Thank you!

Yeah she must be related to mine! He was on stall rest for a period and would be like heeeeyyy mom look at me putting my foot in my hay bag…oh hi! Thank you for the attention! And I could never linger in the aisle and have a conversation without involving him. So I totally understand!

I also found out when I took him in for a standing MRI that sometimes the people present for the bone scan were not as practiced with patients like these. I took him to a different clinic for the MRI on the recommendation of the first clinic, partially because of the difference in equipment they had, and also their staff were more likely to get him to stand still between different handling skills and modulating sedation.

So, when getting a referral/making an appointment for a bone scan, don’t be shy about letting them know that the patient isn’t the easiest in the world so hopefully they can accommodate. It is for sure frustrating to spend all that money, put the horse through that, and then be told oh well we couldn’t really get all that we wanted to…

[blacksheep]

Well, this is embarrassing. I feel like I should keep this to myself, because it’s really yikes, but everyone was so kind with advice. So, in case there are ever any other fellow fools: After two vet visits and many hundreds spent with no conclusive answer, I’ve found the cause.

It’s a girth gall.

A very small, not open or raised but undeniably irritated rub.In truth, she has never gone all winter without a body clip and was furry like a little bear. She’s difficult to clip, and until the day I took her schooling, she had yet to break a sweat, so I hadn’t bothered. That outing would have been the first sweaty day since coming back into work and must have been the start of it. She nearly took a chunk out of me yesterday when I clipped around her girth area and today, from the moment we started walking, she was clearly trying to move away from the girth.

So, I’m honestly ashamed and have managed my poor horse poorly. She now gets a holiday until her skin heals.

[JB]

Wow, that is so interesting!

I wouldn’t be ashamed of that at all - 2 vets and all that $$ and you didn’t have an answer until YOU found it.

Not that I’m blaming the vets at all. Thanks for telling us! That is a great little tidbit to tuck away.

[blacksheep]

I would never have guessed one little rub could cause such drama. Then again, every blanket is an adversary, saddle pads must be pristine, and a stern reprimand is an unimaginable offense. Thin-skinned in every sense and more dramatic than I am!

[Postandrails]

That’s nothing to be embarrassed about! Just celebrate the good news and count your blessings.