Whisper update

Well, I called the vet at 8 a.m. as he had suggested... and was told he’d call me back ‘as soon as he could’, which turned out to be 3 1/2 hours later. The x-rays show nothing major, just the beginnings of arthritis, hardly surprising in a 10 year old jumper. So the tentative verdict is what I had suspected, weakness in the stifle muscles. Treatment plans: ask the trimmer to put off working on her back hooves as long as possible while we get her back in shape... and then start riding, and build up that strength. Kidlet got to do a 10-minute test ride at the walk today; if Whisper is sound tomorrow, they can do 15 minutes, including some trotting, and continue to build that up at 5 minutes per day. There’s a week of school before spring break, so she’ll be able to do fairly normal rides by then. Trimming is scheduled for April 1, but I’m pretty sure the farrier will say we can do a quick trim on front hooves only, the back ones don’t look very long. We’ll also give her painkillers and muscle relaxants before trimming, to try to help avoid the muscle spasms.

A solid diagnosis would have been very comforting, but on the other hand the potential diagnoses were pretty scary stuff.... I just hope getting her stronger works. We’ll also have to ask if the arthritis is too severe for jumping. Actually, since jumping strengthens the back end, low jumps may be a good idea.... but it’s at least a month before we need to worry about that.