Well today was annual vaccination and teeth day. A different vet, not been with the practice long.
Chunky was a superstar and didnt need to be sedated. Back teeth had a bit of a hook and some sharp edges. For 26 she said he has good teeth. However the vet feels that his front tooth that is protruding is now causing issues. She can wobble it physically albeit with a bit of force. She couldnt get the clamps to fit on very well because of how far it is protruding out either. There is also some small signs of some trauma to the gum above it. She has recommended that it be removed for his comfort.
i will take another photo when i can. I know i took one a while back so it will be interesting to see how far out it has now come.
Billy was sedated for his teeth. No chance i was prepared to try without. A few sharp edges but nothing major.
The down side, i asked her to check Billys lameness before we sedated and she has said severely lame on the back left leg. She doesnt feel i should be riding him and has suggested bute twice a day. I asked if she thought he was lame on the front too, as i have my suspicions. She said she thinks he is lame front left but difficult to say without nerve blocking the hock. He could be lame or just over compensating for the back leg.
I have to make some decisions about his future. As the vet said when i told her about his quirkyness is it worth investing more money into him. Hes been lame now for two years. The previous veterinary advice was to continue to ride him as injurys such as his do better to be worked. The hope that over time the hock fuses, and whilst he would be lacking movement he would not be in pain. But the vet today feels that he is in pain. This one says no riding without further investigation and treatment.
Whilst he didnt seem to be tripping like he was last year i think i was still trying to convince myself that the exercise was the right way to go based on vet advice but i have been questioning his reluctance to trot when we start out on a hack and just saying that he needs more time to warm up the muscles. When it suits him he squels and bucks with excitement and is wanting to canter and my arms are pulled out there sockets.
When i tried to give him time off before in the field, within two weeks he was becoming dangerous and would spin round and kick out in excitement when i went to the field. He didnt respect my space so if i was near him i was likely to cop it sooner or later. So again vet said work him to stop the shenanigans which could do more harm to his injury. Chunky also had a nick across his nose and bite marks so again i think he was bored and took it out on chunky. Work from the brain perspective was the right thing to do but for his injury it clearly hasnt been.
Now i feel that i have no choice but to long term turn him away in hope that he might one day come sound. I really dont see any point in giving him more steroid injections or osphos which were only of short term benefit before wearing off on the previous attempts. He is company for chunky but if he becomes dangerous for me and chunks then i dont think he has a future with me as a field ornament.
The vet has suggested more xrays and to try ethanol injection to try and fuse the hock. I have no idea about this currently so its its something i need to read up about. I know there is something else that others have used but it is expensive from what i read and previously discussed with my vet. Dont think it was ethanol, unless it goes under another name. This vet said i really needed to discuss more with the practice about further treatment and any costs. So im not sure how gend up she is. The guy that previously dealt with Billy is no longer at the practice and is now only doing small animals at his practice so im in the hands of complete strangers now. With no continuity of his injury. Last year i had another woman vet who saw him for annuals and whilst we did a lameness check then other than more steroids or the expensive injection there wasnt anything else.
Right now i obviously dont know what to do. If he wasnt so quirky then it might be worth treating the leg and giving it a go. His quirks are because he is lame as hes had some of them since the day he arrived. Although after describing him today to the vet, the vet did make the point that injury, headshaking flinchy, bridling issues from a safety aspect, throwing wobbles at vehicles, are not a good combination and could land me in hot water one day. He has such a retentive memory that it could make him dangerous.
I ask myself if i turn him away long term would i be happy trying to bring him back into work in the future. Personally i dont think ive got it in me. I havent been happy about his excitable bucking either. It is shattering my nerves steadily. So to get back on him after time off could be a disaster too.
My brother actually said tonight was it worth spending the money having his teeth done, would i not be better to have him put down. Save my pennies and look for another horse. 8 said he still needed his teeth doing if he was going to have time off, but i got what he was saying. I said it wasnt fair on chunky to out him down just like that. As he was no longer on a yard, and whilst they werent bossom pals i think chunky would be lonely. Okay he can see the sheep and very soon he will be able to have cows daily for company too. But he has learnt to live with Billy over the last 5 years and he is top dog over him. Whilst chunky has spent long periods on his own when he was at the yard, he has become accustomed to billy. Was it also fair to introduce another horse to chunky at his age. I really dont want 3 horses either.
I had in my mind previously worked on the theory that if chunky supposedly made it to 30 (another 4 years). Billy would by then be 14 and if i had a few more years of light hacking before billy became arthritic then when it was chunkys time i would call time on billy too. Obviously thats 4 more years and realistically i dont think billy will come sound as hes been lame now for 2 years. Billy was supposed to be chunkys replacement but it really hasnt worked out that way. So i have a huge quandry now. I would still like to ride and drive whilst im still young enough. If i dont ride for 4 years then by the time the boys go as i say working on chunky making 30, i think i will have lost my nerve to ride. I certainly couldnt entertain having another quirky horse. Family have suggested i dont spend the money on Billy and start looking for another horse.
Equally im so broken with all the recent goings on and billys lameness and chunkys question mark over his back. The other part of me doesnt ever want to have another horse or to ride. Then again i think just keep the two horses going as company and lawn mowers and because i like having a horse, and find somewhere to ride and have lessons to get my horse riding fix.
Ive also got the added issue that chunky has this new rider and i now cant hack out with them. I cant ride chunky myself. It simply wouldnt be right. I dont trust the girl to hack chunky out on her own. I think she will trot him here there and everywhere and he'd become lame in no time. He has also experienced some lameness already in the front which could be injury but almost certainly is arthritis. So not sure what to do there. Shes been good for chunky and i think hes quite enjoyed going out again. Im not able to run currently with my painful hip either. I was contemplating getting another mountain bike but i dont want to spend money on that to find it also plays havoc with the hip. I might look into borrowing one to try it. At least i could go out with her. I couldnt manage with my hip even walking out on our normal 4 mile hack route. Chunky can still walk faster than human walking pace and if she want to trot i couldnt keep up at all to keep an eye. So another hurdle to over come with chunkys exercise.
Life is never simple.
and there might even be an added bonus. Keeping 
so i dont jinx it. Thats it for now.