2010: Recap

Sorry I've been absent so much lately. Too much to focus on and not enough time to do it. I'd like to look back at the whirlwind that was 2010.

We started the year Jan 1 at the retirement farm, while Jimmy hung out on stall rest and patiently waited while we tried to decipher what was wrong with him. All through Jan & February he was totally stall-bound and we were stumped.He also got a big fancy new blankey to help keep him warm.

Jimmy, February 2010. New Blankey.

We thought it might be insulin resistance, but when all the tests and bloodwork came back negative, we had to keep thinking. For a few weeks he seemed to improve and I started riding again, only to discover that he would come up dead lame without a moment's notice and I'd be sitting back at square one.

In April Dr. John & I decided to flex & block him & when that was still inconclusive, we went ahead and did radiographs. This was when we realized my life and Jimmy's was about to change - we found OCD chips in both front fetlocks, which would require surgery to remove.

May 7th, 2010 Mom & I rented a trailer & Jimmy went to Morrie Waud Equine Clinic for OCD Removal Surgery. It went off without a hitch and he was on the trailer to come home two hours later.

Jimmy Choo in surgery, May 7, 2010 at Morrie Waud Equine Clinic

Over a long, hot, and painfully slow summer Jimmy Choo and I bonded while he recovered. It took much longer than anticipated. At one point I had made the decision that if he didn't make a full recovery I would put him down, because his life is too beautiful to waste if he were suffering. He wasn't himself anymore, he stood in his stall sulking all day every day since Christmas of 2009, he wasn't rambunctious even when he got to go for walks, and his personality was fading.

And just like a switch, he was back. Big, bold, beautiful and rambunctious as ever. He felt better, and let EVERYONE know it!!! Jimmy was soon again under saddle. In late October we moved barns so we could spend this winter working and growing together to get back where we left off – comfortably in an indoor arena!!!

More rapidly than I could have imagined, Jimmy is back, full-force, jumping regularly and in a full working program. He's stronger, more agile, and more responsive than he has ever been and I'd be lying if I didn't admit I never thought he'd be the same – let alone BETTER!! I am so grateful of this whirlwind of a year Jimmy and I have had together, it is definitely one for the books!

Jimmy Choo – November, 2010. Back in action.

Wishing you & yours a happy & healthy New Year! Celebrate with too many carrots :-)
God Bless.

Happy Horse

Jimmy and I had another great hack last night. He trotted very beautifully - minimal "hopping". Since his recovery he really loves to trot with his head in a hunter frame naturally, and if I pick up the slack in my reins he's gone from doing "hoppy" trot to just moving upward into the bridle so he's in more of a "dressage" frame. It's very relaxed and very fluid. He's such a pleasure to ride, I could just trot around on him all day long. I love that now I actually can!

How Jimmy is hacking without contact.

How Jimmy is hacking with contact.

Hopefully soon I can get ACTUAL pictures of us hacking!! He cantered some more last night also, and I decided it's time to build upwards instead of just forward, so I slowly would collect him and sit in the saddle, asking him to come up under me. He really doesn't like this much, but that's just too bad. Being a jumper, he needs to be as elastic as possible. ESPECIALLY with his small stature - he needs to be able to move from a regular stride (for him, about 11' instead of the standard 12') to a LONG stride, to a short stride if need be.

After our ride I felt his fetlocks, and I was concerned to realize that they were warm and puffy. Before the ride I always feel them and they were cold and solid, so I was really concerned. I gave him a gram of bute and called my mom on my way home. STUPID, JESS! I didn't think about WHY he would be swelling, so my mom explained it to me. Giving him a gram was the wrong thing to do and here's why: His cartilage was severely damaged from the bone chips, so it's still healing, even though the flesh and bone around the incision sites are fully healed. Because the body's natural reaction to healing is to promote blood flow to the area - blood filled the cartilage to help it heal and caused the swelling. He showed absolutely no signs of pain or discomfort the entire ride, so based on that alone, I should NOT have given him bute. I know now for the future - LAY OFF THE BUTE!!! It's such a habit that I have to (shamefully) admit I don't even think about it. Swelling? Gram of bute. It's naturally ingrained into my brain and last night I definitely should have stopped to THINK about why in the world that swelling and heat was there. His body is doing what it needs to be doing - HEALING THAT CARTILAGE! (With the help of Flax, Cosequin ASU, and Adequan IM, that is....) Next time I will think twice before dosing him up.

On an emotional note: I am very impressed with how quickly he adjusted to this new barn. He's very calm and relaxed and just seems happy all of the time. He always has his ears up in a comfortable way, not an "I'm new here WHAT'S THAT?!" type of way. I'm astounded with how fluid he's moving after a few days on that indoor arena to hack and every day I get a text update from the owner of the farm letting me know he's doing great. She loves him and says that they're snuggle buddies. Jimmy is reminiscent of a puppy in that regard - if someone is up for a snuggle, he's all in to be your buddy!!

Tomorrow I will be teaching Dori at the old farm and hacking Jimmy at the new farm at some point. I can't express how grateful I am that things are working out so beautifully. I am truly blessed that this transition has moved as gracefully as it has!!

Consistency Proves the Winner

Yesterday I went out alone and spent some time mono a mono with the Choo. He was very perky and upbeat while I brushed him, pretty animated and happy....until the Bute came out. I dosed him up with a gram before even looking at how he moved in the round pen so I wouldn't forget later.

Once the bute happened a carrot followed so he would swallow it all down...and one carrot went down, then he suddenly realized at the second carrot (while we were stretching) "AHH! THIS CARROT TASTES LIKE BUTE!! WTH?!?" and BLEH! out it went all over the aisle. From that point I tried and tried to get him to stretch, and he just looked at me out of the corner of his eye in the saddest, poutiest, mopiest way. Like a little toddler who folds his arms across his chest as the giant tears roll down his cheeks, feeling betrayed as ever that Mom put cough medicine in his apple sauce and he didn't notice until it was too late. Poor little Jimmy.

Somehow, taking out peppermint snacks that Lucy brought him changed his tune, and he was more than willing to show me 'what he's got' in his flexibility department. Thank goodness, I was starting to worry that now he's so stiff he can't even touch his elbow. Not the case, just needed a different flavor ;-) Yay.

After stretches we booted up and went to the round pen for the pain diagnosis. Since he can't answer "On a level of 1-10, how severe is your pain?" by stomping his hoof, I resort to lunging. His first few steps in the over reach boots were straight out of a comic strip, I swear. I was almost crying from laughing so hard. The whole walk down to the pen, he picked his toes up to his chest trying to figure out what the heck is on his feet. It. Was. Hilarious.

We got into the pen and he walked right out to the end of the line, put his head down, and went into a working trot. .....wait, what?! My horse, Jimmy Choo, hasn't 1. Gone to the end of the line willingly in months because 2. That means work, something that is a foreign concept and foul word to him entirely. So at this point I took a second and went, "Who are you?!"....then I saw what I had to blink a few times to comprehend. Sound?!.....my horse.....is sound?!?

He isn't quite 100%, but he's at least 85% improved. He is on the right path!! HE IS GETTING BETTER! In the videos below, you'll see that to the right he looks wonderful and the left he's still taking a short step every so often, as though he's "sore". I will take "Sore" over "LAME" any day!!!!

I think the consistency of bute daily, poultice, and wrapping the bulb of that left front heel has proved to be the best thing for him. Shoes were just a minor hiccup in the process, and he's proving MUCH happier without them. The over reach boots he will be wearing all the time. I'm going to watch to be sure they don't irritate his precious little hairs and skin over time, but this all seems to be the winning combination. Once he is really feeling all the way better for a few days I will wean him off the bute and the poultice. HOORAY! PROGRESS!!!!! Here's a snapshot of him from one of the videos. *drool* I love him.

The Barefoot Wonder

Well today I was filling up his new spray bottle with a fresh batch of fly spray while squatting on the ground and looked over to see how his feet looked today and noticed something.....

...He was barefoot. Left front (lame foot) he ripped off his shoe, clean. Just holes in his hoof wall where the nails once were. Oh Joy. What's miraculous is that his hoof last night was packed with poultice, wrapped in magazine papers, wrapped in duct tape...and wrapped in duct tape again. Yet, somehow he clean ripped off the whole shoe.

Upon further investigation I did not find the shoe in the field, but DID find that his right front shoe was loose enough that it was shifting sideways, which was enough for me to say "enough" and make him stay in the rest of tonight & tomorrow.

Soon as I got home I saw my amazing brother Dan was home and I went in to blubber to him about it, and his response was "How far is the barn? Let's go. I'll take the shoe off myself". Dan knows a little bit about absolutely everything there is to know about horses. He's incredible. So in the car we jumped, onward to Farm & Fleet in search of bell boots. We didn't find any, but we did get to the farm and pull off the shoe. Well, Dan did. I held Jimmy.

When Dan "pulled off the shoe" really all he had to do was wiggle out the nails. They were so loose, Dan just plucked them out like eyebrows. One by one. Pluck. Pluck. Pluck. Pluck. Pluck. Pluck...until the last one. He tried to wiggle the shoe a bit to loosen the nail and when he put any pressure on the hoof wall, Jimmy wiggled. He was obviously 1. Very uncomfortable from the get-go to have all of that weight on his left front and 2. Not at all happy having his hoof pinched at. Dan said he barely had any pressure on the "nippers" and Jimmy flinched at that. So, he's foot sore. Really foot sore.

I put him in the round pen to distinguish how sore really foot sore is....and found that he is, in fact, really body sore.

So here is my conclusion:

• Jimmy over-reaches and nicks himself in the heels with the front of his back hooves - leaving no scratches, scrapes or marks to the eye, but sufficiently bruising past the point of reasonable pain.
  
• This is what's made him foot sore in the left front, and from compensating with the right, consequently he is sore in both in the heels....from over reaching.
  
• The shoes only added to the whole "OUCH MY FEET ARE KILLING ME" thing, and he's got such a solid wall, he really doesn't need them for support. He's got it naturally.
  
• While playing today (which I'm thrilled he felt well enough to do) he probably torqued himself so hard while he got that shoe off, that his entire body is just aching. Not to mention the rest of the however-long he was out there, he was one-shoed and lopsided.
  
• I will not put shoes back on him.
  
• I will get over-reach boots (the nice Professional's Choice ones that don't flip around and have lots of support in the bulbs)
• I will pack and wrap his hooves/heels with poultice while I need to since he is so foot sore it hurts and he needs the soothing comfort to heal.
• I will give him a little swallow of bute at night before bedtime if he is hurting.
  
• I will wait 8 weeks until he needs another trim and have Trent or whomever come and take a look at his hooves, see how he's doing with the growth.
  
• Pending severity of discomfort throughout this process, I will talk to John. Really, regardless, I will talk to John.
  
• I will continue to search for abscesses and any degree of discomfort in his hooves, legs, shoulders, back.
  
• I will be the best damn mom I can possibly be - within reason. I love him, and I want him to feel better. And I'll do what I need to (again, within reason) to make that happen.
  

How's that for a plan?!? Please jump in with thoughts/experiences/opinions!

Tumbling Down

Well, here we are again. Square one. Let me explain:

Today I spent (too much) time online looking up rehabilitation from OCD surgery and pretty much everything says the same - one day they're just magically better. Frustrated, I called Dr. John after work. He instructed me to call the clinic to make sure we weren't missing any pieces of the puzzle before he said "I'm on my way".

Called the clinic and talked to JC's surgeon - Dr. Jacob Goodin. I told him what's going on: Jimmy is wonderfully sound and beautiful on the lunge line, but gimping, head-bobbing and falling over under saddle at the trot. He did the worst thing ever: "....Hmm..."

GASP! DON'T "HMMM" ME!!! I DON'T WANT "HMM!!" I WANT TO HEAR "YES, JESS, THAT'S EXTREMELY NORMAL AND ONCE I USE TELEPATHIC POWERS HE WILL MAGICALLY BE BETTER AND TODAY YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO START HIM OVER FENCES!!!" (okay, not really, but seriously...Hmm?!)

Once I was done panicking while I drove from his "Hmm" I tuned back in mentally and tried to catch up to the part where he said "He should be better in a few days" but that didn't happen. It was just silent. I did what I always do when I panic - I started to ramble off what I thought maybe we could possibly do to see if there was any chance it would help him....and he politely listened the finally (it was really only a few seconds) said have Dr. John out because it's very likely it's still those fetlocks bothering him, since it's the identical lameness he showed before surgery *Queue disappointed sigh* but he can't say for sure without an examination, so John should come out ASAP to check on Jimmy. That's what I love about surgeons, they always suggest to have everything done "as soon as possible". He's been lame since Christmas, you really think I'm paying for an emergency call for tonight? You're dreaming, babe. ASAP = Thursday for us. That's the great thing about John, we speak the same language.

So John will be coming out Thursday night, pending the day goes well for him, to do another lameness examination on Jimmy. He will flex him and see what's going on, if it's still in the fetlock, or where the heck he thinks the lameness is stemming from. You know what I wish? I wish he took one look at Jimmy's trot under saddle and said "Oh, his fetlocks look fine, the problem is in his back. Do some chiro once a month and he'll be good as new tomorrow." But, I am realistic, and I am aware that money doesn't grow on trees, so I will listen to what he says, whatever it is, and take it with a grain of salt.

If after the exam it's still a mystery, Jimmy will just live outside for the next full calendar year (daytime only, I'm not that mean) and next summer I'll pull him out again and tack him up, and hope all is well. Maybe two more years. Who knows. I might be popping out babies by then anyway.

Maybe last year was all we got, and now it's all come tumbling down for a reason. Maybe God has a different plan. Maybe this is just a test.....I'm hoping in hindsight this is all 20/20, but really, no one ever knows.

UNBELIEVABLE

Today Bill and I went out to see how Jimmy is doing outside. I couldn't believe what we saw. Bill took lots of pix of JC and I, and I took pix of JC when I put him out in the round pen. I wanted to see how he was moving so I threw him out there for a moment just to watch him move. MAN did he feel GOOOD!!!! And my jaw dropped when I watched him move. He's sounder now than he's ever been in his life. He took my breath away. It was stunning. Here are some photos from the day. Enjoy!

The back of his stall opens up to the pen he goes into all day, which he loves. He can go in and out all day.

Then I put him into the round pen, to see him move...and saw this:

HOLY SMOKES AM I A LUCKY GIRL OR WHAT?!??!??!???

Like a good boy, when I signaled by bending over that it was time to stop running around like a lunatic, he came right to me and posed for his picture to be taken :-)

Bill took a final photo of JC and I when we put him back in his dry lot before we said goodbye.

I am so so SOOOOOO unbelievably happy!!!!!!!! He's happy and healthy and SOUND!!! No swelling or heat in either ankle whatsoever. He looks incredible. I called Helen (Barn Owner) and told her to just leave him out all the time now. He's doing great and the fresh air is good for him! There's not enough space in the dry lot for him to go wild, just enough for him to move around. I am so thrilled.

Update on Injections

Sorry, last night I was watching Glee while blogging, so I didn't really get into the details. Dr. John pulled some of JC's joint fluid out before he injected him, and it should be an egg-like consistency. Sticky, and it should string itself when you dab your finger and "pull" it....Jimmy's was like water. It was completely liquid, almost no pull to it whatsoever. So, he said that's NOT good and luckily JC is on the Adequan so over time his joint fluid will improve, plus the injections will help him.

I asked John how often we will need to inject JC and he said if we're lucky, just this once, which is GREAT news! But he said, if need be, we will do it 1 or 2 times a year. Definitely something I can handle. My old horse Slim used to get done every 6 months like clockwork and he got EVERYTHING injected that could be injected! Then again, he was an ex grand prix horse who was still doing the 3'6" with me at age 17. He was a champ.

So that's the update on JC's joint juice! It sucks and he needs lots of fancy supplements to make him well. Lucky for me I listened to John months ago and put JC on Cosequin ASU (man, that loading dose was a $tinker. Thank God it's over and a mere $54 a month from now on!!!)

UPDATE: On my way in this morning I was listening to one of my favorite songs, "Chicken Fried" and a line stuck out to me, "There's no dollar sign on a piece of mind"...which I really translated in my "I really think I know the lyrics" mind to "There's no dollar sign on peace of mind" because that's how I feel about this whole experience with Jimmy. The vet bills are getting higher by the minute it seems, but knowing he's going to be all good makes me feel wonderful and at ease about it all. There's no dollar sign on peace of mind.

HA Injections

Yesterday John (my vet) and I discussed the fact that Jimmy needs HA injections to promote cartilage repair after this surgery. Since the chips were so pesky, they did quite a bit of damage in the cartilage to his fetlocks. Hence the Cosequin ASU, Adequan, etc.

The surgeon had told me that injections of HA were entirely optional, but the more John and I discussed them... I realized the option was plainly "get the injections, or else" HAHA. I love my vet, because he never sugar coats things like this for me. I was having a hard time making the financial decision to say "Yes, add it to my bill" (which is already creeping upwards of I-dont-wanna-admit-it-thousand) when I asked the same question I always ask him "What happens if I don't"...and he told me something that kind of hit me like a brick to the chest while running a marathon..."Jimmy's chances of being sound in the long run aren't very good without every bit of help you can give him. These injections will significantly improve his soundness, even in the long-run" So, crap. Tuesday night, we're getting injected.

When I first told Bill that Jimmy needed surgery, his reaction was priceless, "This is really going to put a damper on your Croc purchases." I love that boy more than anything in the world. Between him and Jimmy (even with all of his meds and shots and surgeries and bills), I'm pretty much as lucky as it gets :-)

It's Over!!! HOORAYY!!

The surgery went smooth as can be!!! Couldn't be happier. Jess documented the whole thing for me :-D God Bless her!!!! Here's the play-by-play in pix. Enjoy!!!

In his Pre-Op stall. Excited to be somewhere new!!


Prepping his fetlocks & cleaning them again...and again...and again....


Making the first incisions


Right leg


Left leg


All done Jimmy!!! Wrapping him up :)


All done! Bye bye sleepy Jimmy! On his way into his post-op stall with the padded floors and walls so he wakes up nice & comfy:)


Thanks again to Jess for taking the pix & to Mom for driving!! Couldn't have done it without you two!!!

Dr. Goodin says 30 days stall rest with 10 min hand walking a day (YIPPEE!!!) and then 30 days in a small paddock and he can go back to work!!!! WOOOOOO!!! 60 DAYS AND WE'RE BACK IN ACTION!!!

Injections with Dr. H in 30 days (HA) and Adequan starts tonight. Now is when the fun REALLY starts!! Haha.

Rented from Ed's

So yesterday I got a call from Dan, saying that he and his crew are too busy this week to schedule Jimmy. He instructed me to call Marlene, Tony's wife & see if she could hook me up with SOMEONE to bring Jimmy... but I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I called Ed's Rental in Crystal Lake and rented their 2H trailer for the day. It's cheaper than having anyone else take Jimmy anyway - so why not?! Jess is going to help, and Mom is going to tow for me. I don't really trust myself with the F250 as much as I did with the truck I used to tow Jimmy with. It's just a lot bigger than what I'm used to.

I e-mailed Morrie's yesterday to see if there are any restrictions to Jimmy's diet that I should know about before the surgery. Jacob replied to me that Jimmy can have dinner Thursday night, but no food at all Friday morning. We are leaving early enough - I don't think he will have gotten breakfast yet anyway.

Here are some pix that I took when I was out with him the other night. I am going out tonight to see him again, make sure he's feeling ok. I'm trying to save my gas and not go up a ton until Friday... bc once Friday hits, I will be there EVERY DAY for three months. Lol. Every mile counts!!

Enjoy the pix :-) Wish for a smooth and swift surgery, as well as recovery!!

Need a Ride

The surgery is Friday & I still haven't heard back from my brother to see if he or one of his crew can bring Jimmy and I up to the clinic...I might be renting a trailer from Ed's or borrowing someone's...or getting a ride with someone else!!!

So, if anyone is looking for some great company and a check on Friday... please e-mail or call me!!!!

XOXO
Jess
(jessrupsch@gmail.com or 847-344-4627)

It's In The Books!!!

HIP-HIP-HOORAY!!!!

Dr. Jacob Goodin called me last night at 5:05 PM and we chatted about The Choo! He said he thinks going into both ankles is a fine idea, although we might not find the right fragments, we can definitely try. HOORAY! He said it's a good thing we caught the left chip because it's so large, it is very close to the joint & basically moments away from doing permanent damage. Thank goodness we caught it in time :)

So because Bill and I have the Owl City concert this Friday (I have interesting priorities, I know...but we've been planning on this show for months) NEXT Friday, May 7, 2010 Jimmy will be going up to Delavan and getting his surgery :)

Send lots of love and prayers our way!!!

Waiting Game

Still no word back from Dr. Goodin.

...we'll see!

(I am so impatient)

WOW! SNAIL MAIL WAS FAST!!!

Got an e-mail from Dr. Goodin already! HE ALREADY GOT THE CD OF RADIOGRAPHS!!! HOOORAYYY!!!

Here's what he said:

Jess,
I was not able to open the link that you had emailed to Ashley, however,I recieved the CD with the radiographs on it today. There are definitely fragments in the left and right front fetlock joints. The left is quite large, but the ones in the right are pretty small. I would like to contact Dr. Hanover to discuss more about the case with him. I will be in touch as soon as I have spoken with him.

Jacob

Can't wait to hear back from him this afternoon/evening.

No Word Yet

Still waiting to hear from Dr. Goodin. I e-mailed and snail mailed up Xrays yesterday. We'll wait to see how regularly they check e-mail. Ashley said I can e-mail up Xrays, but we'll see how quickly they view them. I'm so ready to get on with this whole process.

I'm already antsy and missing riding him. It's going to be a long few months :-/

Called Morrie's

Jimmy will be going to Morrie Waud Equine Center for his surgery. I mailed the CD of X-rays in this morning & hopefully they will get them by Saturday & call me once they've been reviewed. I put three $.42 stamps on there... so hopefully it's a speedy delivery! I wasn't sure how much postage is now, or how much I should put on a CD, so I just put three on there.

I talked with a friend last night & she said her track horses had this surgery in the past & they always gave each horse at least 6 months before putting them back into a program because the surgery is so invasive.

When I talked to the surgeon that will be doing Jimmy's surgery yesterday, Dr. Goodin (I love that name), he said recovery time is typically 1 month stall rest, then 1 month stall rest + hand walking + 1 more month restricted turn out before they can "go back to work". I hope it's more along the lines of what Dr. Goodin said, but only time will tell. I will give Jimmy as long as he needs.

HOWEVER: that said... Let's live hypothetically for a few minutes. Say The surgeon calls to review Jimmy's x-rays Monday, and says they can't fit him in until May 30th. We schedule it, a month from now. Now let's say Jimmy recovers at the longer length...6 months post-surgery until ridability. That puts us into November, at a barn with no indoor and terrible, frozen footing in the out door, which essentially means no riding Jimmy until NEXT SPRING if he doesn't heal quickly from surgery. BUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT, like I said. I will be giving him as long as possible, and praying that this is a smooth and swift process. I don't mind paying off the surgery for months and months... but waiting for him to heal for over a year just breaks my heart.

On the "break my heart" note... today I found the original e-mail I received from the woman who originally rescued Jimmy. Here it is:

"So glad to hear he is doing good. We did rescue him along with his three 1/2 brother and sisters. We did not get to see his mother and not sure what breed she was, but the mother did not die. His father was a sorrel and white paint. The man we got him from was disabled and could not care for them and his wife had just left him. I am not a rescue but I do love horses. I saw the add in the paper and went to pick out one. When I got there I had to take all four because they looked so bad and starved. They were kept in a stall and there was no food that I could see. We kept a colt, my mom has one of the fillies and we keep in touch with the owners of the other filly. They are all doing good with their training. I do have a picture of him when we got him, he had never been touched. I will find the picture this week and send it to you. It is so neet to see him. Please send more pictures or e-mail them."

Pretty amazing. Friend of mine also suggested that these chips in his fetlocks are due to malnutrition at a young age. If this e-mail doesn't admit that, then I don't know what does. Pretty amazing.