Ymur/Vet update

[leen]

Well some of you know that Ymur has had a mysterious lameness for awhile now.  This is the same thing that was bothering him quite awhile ago, which seemed to go away and then come back.  After sitting down and thinking about what I'd learned way back in college, I came up with a diagnosis of Locking Stifle.  The vet confirmed that today, and pretty much the first word out of his mouth was "Surgery".  Blargh!  After much discussion with him, though, he put most of my worries to rest.  First we try conditioning, which means I get to ride.  Yay!  In fact, I have strict orders to ride 4 days a week, for 45 minutes each.  He said that I likely made things worse by NOT riding him (a rare thing is the lameness that is not made worse by riding), and that he should be turned out as much as possible.  The vet thought I would not like to hear that, but I'm one of the few who is all for horses getting to be out as much as possible in all kinds of weather.  They are horses, after all!  Only problem is that the boarding facility is not set up for that.  However, I've already gotten the ok to leave his in-and-out open overnight (at least until the weather starts getting really cold), and there has been talk of building a run-in shed in one of the paddocks for "those horses who would do better left out overnight".  Yippee!  This vet is also a chiropractor, so gave him an adjustment which Ymur enjoyed thoroughly.  Well, all accept for the neck-snapping part.  ;)  He was a little surprised by that.  Fortunately, this vet specializes in this particular surgery, it's a relatively cheap surgery as those go, and it can be done with the horse standing up.  Heck, he said he'd do it at the barn, but then remembered that he wasn't licensed to do surgery in Maine.  Only New Hampshire.  Poo!  So we shall see how the next couple of months go.  Hopefully I'll be able to bring Ymur back to normal myself, and we won't have to face surgery.  If we do, though, it should be relatively minor.  Prayers are always appreciated, though.  He's a big part of our family, and means a lot to me.  I don't want him suffering at all, if I can help it.

On a happier note, there's a new kitten at the barn, and he had fun chasing me around the tack room, and playing with my whip... whips are kitty toys, apparently.  Couldn't help but put a smile on my face.  I shall have to get some kitty pics.  :)