Riyah Is Home Again

I picked Riyah up and brought her home yesterday. She looks good--perky and interested. Thin, though. She is eating her hay well, but I am going to add beet pulp and oil and a little kelp. She is actually walking much better than before the surgery. Getting that joint cleaned out must have helped. Of course, she is on Bute, too.

Written on the papers I brought home from the vet clinic:

Prognosis: "Guarded due to advanced cartilage damage."

Recommendations: Two weeks stall rest. Adequan at two weeks. Hand walk/ small turnout 4-6 weeks. One year rest with controlled exercise.

We can do this. The hardest part will be controlling her exercise when she starts feeling better! She is going to want to run as soon as her leg will let her if not before!

I am better today than I was on Monday. It's been rough, but I received a note from my very wise-beyond-her-years 19-year-old daughter that really nailed what I have been going through right on the head. She sent me a quote from C. S. Lewis that read:

There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. I believe that the most lawless and inordinate loves are less contrary to God's will than a self-invited and self-protective lovelessness...We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as a way in which they should break, so be it. What I know about love and believe about love and giving ones heart began in this.

I think that is a really true but really tough statement. Thank you, Hayley.

I took Keno out for a good ride this morning. We both needed it!

Not So Good

Oh man, oh man. Why, why, why do I so easily and freely give my heart to these animals who then have complete power to make devastate me? Dreams are so easily shattered and the pieces just dissolve and float away like the salt in my tears.

Riyah's surgery was this morning. They spent 40 minutes prepping her and the surgery lasted another 2 1/2 hours. I stayed and watched it all through the observation window. Dr. Cody called me in to see the screen before he finished up and gave me the bad news. Riyah has pretty significant damage to the cartilage in the joint even though he successfully removed the bone fragment, debris, and other gunk. The cartilage is eroded (actually it looked shredded to me); he thinks it was either injured somehow that day at the arena (hyper-extension type injury?) or it may have been going on for a while even before that. (Possibly due to the fact she was so malnourished during her first couple of years.) It's not good either way. Bone on bone is hard to fix.

Riyah will not have an endurance career after all. She may be ridable in 9-12 months, if her cartilage can fix itself. He told me that was a big if. Dr. Cody says realistically he gives her a 70% chance of being brood mare sound only. We talked about stem cell therapy and platelet rich plasma pros and cons. Extremely expensive and not scientifically proven to make a difference, but an option if I want it.

Anyway, by the time I left I was reeling from the blow. I had big dreams for this mare. I knew the risks going in, but I jumped in with both feet and fell in love with her anyway. I kept it together long enough to drive myself home, and then I fell apart for a little while. It's OK because I'll put myself back together tomorrow so I can go pick Riyah up and bring her home. It will be a long road to recovery. We'll take it a day at a time and see where the road leads. I can only make the decisions I need to make today. The rest will have to wait and see what the future brings.

Long Weekend

It's going to be a long weekend for me. Riyah is at the vet clinic in preparation for her surgery on Monday morning. They will start at 8am. I will be there, of course, and I may watch if I am able. If it was someone else's horse I would jump at the chance, but I don't know how I will feel about watching my own horse go through it. Anyway Riyah was very relaxed about settling in at their barn. Maybe she was bored stiff with the same view from our barn during the last three weeks of stall rest and was happy for a change! Or maybe she realizes that this is the place that can help her and she's just ready to get on with it!

I have sold the truck shell, Roger's saddle (he never used,) and my Freeform endurance saddle, so I can just about afford this procedure! Nothing like liquidating your assets! I still have my Aussie endurance saddle and my jumping saddle for Keno so they were extras, anyway.

I hope Riyah will be good and everything will go smoothly for her this week. I have talked to a couple of people who have been through this and I feel better about it than I did last week!

Surgery on Monday

The vet has scheduled Riyah's surgery for Monday morning. It is a three hour procedure. I will take her up to the hospital on Saturday afternoon so they can have her prepped and ready come 8am Monday. I am sick with worry even though I know it is necessary.

I asked if I could walk Riyah around a bit but he again advised me not to. The less she moves the better since the chip can cause further damage to surrounding cartilage with movement. Poor Riyah! She is bored. I'm glad she has company.

Riyah and the Babysitter seem to get along well. They can visit through the fence and seem pretty attached already. Riyah stays relaxed when I take Keno out. (Maybe she is relieved to have a break from his silliness!)

The Babysitter is a fat thing--cresty and all-over plump with overgrown hooves. I gave her the first trim, but there is more to come! She is on a restricted diet of grass hay in a doubled small mesh hay net. I may also start soaking her hay to reduce the carbs further. She is very sweet and quiet.

I will work in the barn today trimming hooves, braiding Riyah's mane, and getting Keno spiffed up for the parade this evening. Bathed, clipped, etc. Gotta get that free rodeo ticket!

I have sold the old truck shell and Roger's (unused) western saddle so far. That helps with the vet bills.

These pics show Babysitter's feet before and after the initial set-up trim. She still has too-long feet, but I didn't want to change her angles too much/too fast. I'll trim her again today. I'm trying to get the pressure off her toes--she has terrible flare from those overgrown long toes! (And wickedly high heels!) (Gobs of false sole.) (Totally passive frogs.) (Etc. etc.)

A Babysitter for Riyah

In preparation for a prolonged stall rest/recovery period for Riyah, I have brought in a babysitter. My hopes are that Riyah will be less stressed when I take Keno out to ride if she isn't left home alone. We'll see how that works. Anyway a very kind lady has agreed to let me borrow her section B Welsh pony mare. Gizzelle is a very quiet and relaxed girl. She settled in quickly when I brought her home this morning. Keno, on the other hand, is beside himself with excitement over having another girl on the place. He's being a complete idiot, trying to visit with Gizelle through the fence and charging at Riyah who is stalled in the barn aisle. Riyah is jealous and concerned about Keno's silly circus act. Sheesh. I hope they settle soon. The whole point was to keep Riyah quiet and calm! (Keno needs to go climb the biggest mountain I can find, which is in fact what I plan to do with him tomorrow. He has too much excess energy and I definitely want it burned off before I take him in the parade on Thursday!)

Riyah will be having surgery next week as the surgeon is out of town this week. Having decided this is the only way I can turn, I am ready to get on with it. In a well-meant effort to keep Riyah occupied and happy, and to keep her from dropping any more weight, I gave her an extra hay net (grass hay, of course) yesterday and the previous night. Just that small amount of extra carbs caused her to get really stocked up in both hinds last night. I know the fix for stocking up is exercise, but how do you exercise a lame horse who is on prescribed stall rest?? I did lead her two careful laps around the arena at 10pm last night in an effort to increase her circulation. It seemed to help some. She is still puffy but not as bad. No extra hay today, I guess. Maybe beet pulp and oil for weight? Any ideas out there? Has anyone dealt with a situation like this?

Surgery! (and a plea for help)

I spoke to to the vet this afternoon and he had already consulted with the surgical vet. They both agree that surgery to remove the bone chip is required. Without it Riyah will never be sound and will always be in pain. With surgery she has a good chance of being riding sound, but he can't really tell me with any kind of confidence that she will be sound enough to withstand the rigors of a competitive endurance horse. ("Only a certain percentage of horses will come back as good as before.") What percentage is that? Worst case scenario she will only be brood mare/pasture sound. I can only believe that she will be OK.

This evening I spoke to Dr. W again and got a few more details. Riyah's bone chip or fragment comes from an OCD lesion. It's not too uncommon apparently, has variable causes, and surgery is the only answer. Here is a link about this condition:

http://www.acvs.org/AnimalOwners/HealthConditions/LargeAnimalEquineTopics/OsteochondritisDissecans/

I do feel somewhat better about things today after talking to my husband and a couple of friends. This is not insurmountable. I will find a way to deal with this.

One of the biggest challenges will be how to pay for the surgery. Dr. W says sooner is better than later so that the joint cartilage is not damaged further. SO please read on.

I am selling some things to raise money to pay for the surgery. Please help me out, friends! Pass the link to this blog (www.gloryofthewind.blogspot.com) and my mosaic art blog (www.saltcreekmosaics.blogspot.com) to all the horse people you know. I have lots of mosaic artwork (mostly equine themed--go figure!) that I am willing to sell at greatly reduced prices to raise the money to pay for Riyah's surgery. If the links get passed around enough, I'm sure some of it will sell.

I also have two saddles for sale: a 16 1/2" well used (but not by me!)western saddle (www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=16304811&cat=449) and a black Freeform Classic treeless endurance saddle (listed today on Ebay for $750)

Thank you for your support, prayers, and messages. It's greatly appreciated!

Morning, Noon, and Night

Glass, mirror, and metal

Transom arch (fits over a doorway)

$175

My Mare Misty

$150

Horse of Color

12" plate

$75

Bottled Dreams

6" glass bottle

$75

High Mountain Country

Glass transom arch

$175

In the Quakies

12" plate

$145

Bad News

Two days ago I called the vet again. After a lengthy conversation, he agreed that Riyah was not improving like she should and he wanted to see her again. I had done the two weeks of stall rest, Bute, DMSO/Furazone, and cold hosing. (And that was in addition to celebrating my oldest daughter's wedding, hosting the reception, taking care of my two grandsons (ages 2 and 4) while she and her new hubby honeymooned in Hawaii, enjoying a house full of family staying, as well as dealing with the stress of my youngest daughter having gall bladder surgery four days ago. A busy two weeks to say the least.

Riyah did seem a bit better. She was walking on her bad leg. Limping badly, but walking. That was more than she had been willing to do the first week. I really just wanted reassurance from the vet that she was improving and I should just give her more time. But no, nothing so simple.

After keeping Riyah all day and conducting and in-depth nerve block study he found the source of her pain. Riyah has a bone chip or cartilage fragment in her hock. I am still trying to deal with the shock of this news. I can't understand how this could have happened. I have been crying for the last few hours. My husband, bless him, went with me to pick Riyah up. I just can't really grasp this news.

Dr. W said Riyah will need arthroscopic surgery to fix her hock. He with share the radiographs with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow and get back to me. He was reluctant to give me her real prognosis until he had consulted with him. I am going to have rough night. I don't know how I will pay for a procedure like this. I don't even know if her injury is fixable. Will she recover fully? These are things I am having a hard time thinking about right now and I can hardly even see to type.

Riyah is in the barn now and I held her sweet face in my arms and stared into the dark depths of her brown eyes through my tears. She trusts me to take care of her. She needs me to take care of her. You know, I wasn't going to fall in love with this horse. I was going to give her a year to see if she had what it takes to be an endurance competitor. That was the plan. In that I have failed miserably because we have already bonded and I love her dearly.

There was rainbow over the mountains as we drove home through a black thunderstorm. I pray it was a sign that there will be a rainbow in this storm, too. Tomorrow will tell.

My phone has rung a couple of times: friends calling to check on Riyah. I apologize for not answering. I just can't talk about this just yet. Thank you for calling and I promise to get back to you soon.

4th of July Weekend

Riyah is tired of being locked in the barn aisle! She wants out, but she is still quite lame. Somewhat better, but she is still on Bute. She's only getting a gram a day, and I will be out of Bute soon, so maybe my husband can pick some up on Tuesday when he goes up north.

I certainly wouldn't have been going riding this week anyway. We celebrated my oldest daughter's wedding yesterday, and I am keeping her two boys while she is honeymooning in Hawaii. My youngest daughter is home from college to have her gall bladder out on Tuesday, and my middle daughter is here visiting for a few days after the wedding. My mother is here also! Yay! But I certainly have not had time to ride! So Riyah should relax and concentrate on getting well so we can ride later when things calm down!