Diagnosis

Allie saw the vet today. After nerve blocks up to the hock and a bunch of radiographs the vet found something that made my stomach drop.

Allie has a stress fracture to the left hind cannon bone that is articulating with the tarsus (the hock).

Oh jeez.

We don't know how, probably just from stuffing around in the paddock like a mad thing. She is on 6 weeks stall rest (UGH) and will get another set of rads to see how it's healing at the other end of 6 weeks.

Because it's articular we are concerned that there may be complications depending on how it heals in the hock joint.

So, basically, my horse has a broken leg. I'M ALLOWED TO BE MELODRAMATIC. Shut up :(

:(((((((((

Allie Update

I spoke to the therapist and he said to ride Allie Monday and Tuesday to see if she would work out of it at all - below is a link to video (posting from phone so can't embed I'm sorry) to show how she went at the end of the two days of walk/trot work.

http://youtu.be/YOT6pVlbWlY

So - I think she is certainly not sound - but she is far less lame than last week.

I'm waiting to hear back from the therapist to see what is next.

Bush Fires

I live in Australia - Western Sydney to be precise.

Our winters are mild and our summers are hot, dry and windy.

It isn't even summer yet, and we have already lost over 200 homes to bush fires in NSW, the state I live in. While my home and my horse are not in immediate danger right now from fires, the whole of Sydney is covered in an eerie smoke haze.

I can smell smoke while sitting inside at my desk at work. I can smell smoke in my hair and on my clothes.

We had an amazing HUGE cloud of smoke billowing out over Sydney last Thursday, it reached over 100km (62 miles) away and dominated the skyline for hours and hours and into the night. The photos below were taken from over 60km away from the fire front.

This is Australia. This is summer. They call us the sunburnt country and it is for a very logical reason.

Trying to load a horse onto a float to escape from this is almost impossible. Natalie recently had a fire less than a km away from Gracie and luckily the wind was blowing it away from them because it took Nat and her boyfriend over 3 hours to get Gracie on the float with helicopters dropping water nearly over the top of them and flames reaching high into the sky, fire trucks and police screaming around the streets and thick black smoke around them. And Gracie is normally a self loader!

Above photo taken during the fires last Thursday across the valley from Springwood.

These are the risks we take to live in this lucky, wealthy, free and awesome country.

Hind End Lameness

My horse is still broken. :(((((

http://youtu.be/0uoDE9XtvwE

She has had two acupuncture treatments. Next step Vetsville I think. Ugh.

Basics

Last night, I went out to the horse and got her out, brought her up to the (deserted) barn, and groomed her. I haven't just hung out with her and groomed her in forever.

It was so lovely. She loves being groomed, and pointed out all her itchy spots to me. She especially loves having her mane combed out and I even combed out her tail (which I never do). While I was brushing her tail I felt like a 12 year old little girl brushing the tail of her first pony again, in the quiet of the barn, just my horse and me. It was lovely.

She was very light off my aids, she moved over from a light finger and an intention from me.

I finished up with a massage (of sorts). I ran my hands over her whole body with long, firm strokes.  She would turn her head and nuzzle me when she wanted me to stop and concentrate on an area and it was so cute to see her look at a muscle or an area when I finished with it like "oh, gosh that feels good now!". I will have to get a video of it.

She has shed out her (clipped) winter coat and has a glorious shine at the moment. I love how dark she is this time of year, before the sun bleaches her coat out.

Maybe, her being sore, me being sick is just a sign that I need to step back and just be with my horse again. I miss her like crazy and I LOVED just spending time with her last night.

Hopefully she gets better soon and we can start doing fun stuff together (like jumping!) but for the moment I think I can appreciate her for the miracle she is.

Poor Allie

Allie had a acupuncture/chiro appointment today. He thinks she is sore over the back from work which in transferring into her hips. :(

No work for her for a whole week, then he is back again to give her another treatment and see where she is at next Thursday.

Also, I think she got bit by a spider.

It's a huge lump with a long squiggly lump and smaller lumps dispersered through out. It's not sore and she doesn't react to palpation at all. It's been there for 4 or so days now. It's not going away any time soon!

God I hope she comes good again soon.