Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Happy 21st Birthday Houston
My wild, crazy, lovable Houston is 21! His birthday present arrived this week.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Bright Eyes
I realize this post is way out of order but the topic is often at the forefront of my mind.
In September of 2009 I experienced something all horse owners dread. Finding your horse in the pasture with an eye swollen shut. Houston approached the gate for his morning feeding and his left eye was the size of a softball. Of course it was on a weekend, he doesn't operate on a weekday injury schedule.
The vet came out and discovered an ulcer on Houston's eye. A lavage system was put in place and we began treatment four times a day with three different medications in hopes that the ulcer would dissolve.
A week later the lavage system was removed and the ulcer was still there with little improvement. Houston's patience with me, treatment and stall rest was phenomenal he was more patient than I was. Dr. Bradford decided to do a scrape to see if we could get some cells from the ulcer and determine what it was and why it wasn't healing. Watching a HUGE needle be plunged into my horses eye socket was a little unnerving to say the least.
Four days later the scrape showed nothing and Houston had little improvement. The referral to Virginia Tech came only a few days later and off we went to see the Ophthalmologist. Sounds crazy, but when you love your horses you see specialists :o).
Virginia Tech was a gift from God. The doctors were amazing, helpful, informative and determined to help Houston and me. Another scraping was done and we were sent home with 4 more medications to do 4 times a day. Daily phone calls came from the vet student assigned to Houston and 3 days after our appointment a fungus grew in their lab from the ulcer scraping.
The thought was he had poked himself with his hay and was growing a fungus as a result from a mold spore. While they were optimistic the fungus would die and Houston could go back to normal work they were not optimistic that the ulcer would dissipate and advised he would have a scar.
3 weeks of treatment 4 times a day, a very patient horse and with lots of family and friends support, Houston was treatment free. The ulcer receded and he was left scar-less and this beautiful eye is healthy once again. I are thankful everyday for all the Vets who worked together to heal Houston.
In September of 2009 I experienced something all horse owners dread. Finding your horse in the pasture with an eye swollen shut. Houston approached the gate for his morning feeding and his left eye was the size of a softball. Of course it was on a weekend, he doesn't operate on a weekday injury schedule.
The vet came out and discovered an ulcer on Houston's eye. A lavage system was put in place and we began treatment four times a day with three different medications in hopes that the ulcer would dissolve.
A week later the lavage system was removed and the ulcer was still there with little improvement. Houston's patience with me, treatment and stall rest was phenomenal he was more patient than I was. Dr. Bradford decided to do a scrape to see if we could get some cells from the ulcer and determine what it was and why it wasn't healing. Watching a HUGE needle be plunged into my horses eye socket was a little unnerving to say the least.
Four days later the scrape showed nothing and Houston had little improvement. The referral to Virginia Tech came only a few days later and off we went to see the Ophthalmologist. Sounds crazy, but when you love your horses you see specialists :o).
Virginia Tech was a gift from God. The doctors were amazing, helpful, informative and determined to help Houston and me. Another scraping was done and we were sent home with 4 more medications to do 4 times a day. Daily phone calls came from the vet student assigned to Houston and 3 days after our appointment a fungus grew in their lab from the ulcer scraping.
The thought was he had poked himself with his hay and was growing a fungus as a result from a mold spore. While they were optimistic the fungus would die and Houston could go back to normal work they were not optimistic that the ulcer would dissipate and advised he would have a scar.
3 weeks of treatment 4 times a day, a very patient horse and with lots of family and friends support, Houston was treatment free. The ulcer receded and he was left scar-less and this beautiful eye is healthy once again. I are thankful everyday for all the Vets who worked together to heal Houston.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Schooling
After a hiatus from our last event, we are ready for the next one a year later. With a lot of changes in my life and Houston getting older it took a year before we were both ready to compete again. We will be heading to the Carolina Horse Park May 5th for a low key starter horse trails.
Today we schooled cross-country for the first time in a very LONG time. Needless to say I have a champ! 21 years young and bucking all the way. Houston really spent more time playing then he did schooling, but the schooling was great for me he just thought it was a party.
Today we schooled cross-country for the first time in a very LONG time. Needless to say I have a champ! 21 years young and bucking all the way. Houston really spent more time playing then he did schooling, but the schooling was great for me he just thought it was a party.
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