It’s been three weeks since Scottie was diagnosed with arthritis. Since the diagnosis he has been back out in the field with bute and has been looking better for it. I haven’t started working him yet, instead I wanted him to look a bit more comfortable first. But he has been hand walked on days they have come in early.
I have noticed he is much more comfortable on that leg. He doesn’t seem to be resting it as much and is resting his other leg now too. He has the occasional day where there has been a bit of heat in it, but on the whole it seems much better. He had his last bute Sunday morning so I could have an idea of where we were before steroids. First thing this morning I had a very quick look at him on the lunge. He is definitely stiff behind, but I do think he looks a bit better for being back out.
As always, Scottie was very good for the vet, standing perfectly still for his steroid injection without any need for sedative. He is staying in for the rest of the day and can go back out tomorrow, with a little sedalin just to stop him being too silly in the field. Then by Thursday/Friday we can start cracking back on and see how we get on.
While I am sure he will be good as gold, I won’t be getting straight on. I am going to do some more groundwork with him, probably long reining and maybe some pole work. Early next week we should have an idea of if the steriods have done the trick or not and then it will hopefully just be a case of keeping him going and seeing how long they last.
Scottie has lost quite a bit of muscle in his hindend. So my focus is really going to be on building him back up. The vet doesn’t think there are any exercises we should avoid or focus on, so that is positive and circles are okay. So that certainly makes things easier.
I’m also going to start researching some extra things I can do to help him. I am looking at some magnetic wraps what go over his hocks for when he is in the stable. I am also going to start looking at joint supplements too. Any recommendations for these would be really helpful!
I still think my goal of getting to an Intro Dressage test this year is pretty achievable!
Last Updated on 01/02/2022
