Looking into the future I am now wondering what kind of gear to ride in. I have always used a low port curb bit with a copper roller but with the arthritis in her jaw bone joint, I don't think that this is a good choice for the future.
I remember that right before this all happened, she wouldn't come straight over to get her bit in her mouth like she used to. I had to follow her around in her stall until she put her head in the corner. That was a sign that I didn't pick up. Chewing on her hoof and on her water barrel was a little out of character for her too. That was another sign. I have never been able to touch her ears so that wouldn't have told me anything, although I can rub all over her ears now and she doesn't care. I remember that she used to rub her eye gently on my shoulder in the past few weeks before everything went south. I don't think I realized that she was using my shoulder to help her to close her eye. You see, when I would look at her face I wouldn't have thought to check to see that she wasn't closing her eye. I also knew when I was riding that she had trouble setting her head and moving into the bit. She preferred to hold her head a little higher than she used to. I just attributed it to the lack of keeping her in show condition. I figured that as long as she was happy and enjoying the ride, that I could put up with a little imperfection in her headset. Who knew? All of this stuff by itself is nothing and altogether it is still nothing. There is no way I could see this coming. And who includes a skull x-ray in a vet check on a 4 year old horse. She is 16 now and no one would have ever seen this coming. The sad thing is that you never know if and why your horse may develop something like this. You can only treat it (or not) if it does happen. I am blessed to have a horse that I can ride again. I don't know if you will. I am told that I caught this early even though it was pretty devastating even in its early stages. Perhaps we will still be able to ride off into the sunset yet. I guess we are going to have to do it in a mechanical hackamore, though. ;)
Nanette,
ReplyDeleteI am so happy that you both made it through with flying colors. You, Truffels and Sarina deserve something special! Y'all worked very hard at keeping things going for your bud and she pulled through with flying colors because of it. I'm so very sorry you had to endure something of this nature but sure am glad that everything turned out so beautifully. Praise the Lord! I'll still pay for it if I can buy the winning lottery ticket :-)
Love ya sis,
J