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Discussion on A Happy Ending to Share
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Member:
Srobert
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Posted on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - 9:25 pm:
Last summer, in a fight he lost to the fence, our wonderful 5 year old TWH, Delight's Maximillian, severed his rear extensor tendon and chipped the bone. The injury was devastating - especially to my daughter.
However, in conjunction with an excellent vet, an outstanding farrier, and healthy doses of advise from this website we now have our Max back! I have attached a picture of him at a gaited horse clinic last weekend where he was picked out of the group as having the classic rocking horse canter and smoothest gait ("that's the horse I want to ride all day!"). We wondered if he would ever be able to gait again, and there he was looking better than ever.
Look at those four wonderfully healthy legs! And the smile on my daughter's face....
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Moral of the story - time (9 months), patience, knowledge, prayers, and perhaps a bit of luck can change what looks like a hopeless situation into something wonderful!! Did I mention pots of money??? That, too....but who cares??? Max is back!!
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Member:
Suzeb
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Posted on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - 9:45 pm:
Hi Shari,
I couldn't see the picture, but what the hell, congratulations! 
This ought to be a Mastercard commercial and maybe some royalties to boot.
You and Max go girl!
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - 9:50 pm:
Shari, can you try and post the picture again? I'd love to see Max. Congradulations! I'm so glad Max made it!
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Member:
Srobert
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Posted on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - 10:17 pm:
Okay, I'm going to try again. I am using the upload attachment button. Is there another way to do it? I'm also going to try using another format (picture quality will probably not be great, but maybe it will work!)
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Member:
Srobert
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Posted on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - 10:23 pm:
Okay, now that I have the hang of it....The day was grey and rainy - but we were beaming!!! P.S. This is NOT my barn in the background!!!
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 2:06 am:
Shari, where are you located? I'm looking at the greenery and budding trees and trying to guess.
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Member:
Srobert
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 6:50 am:
We are in western Pennsylvania. Usually it is gorgeous this time of year (only rivaled by our falls) but we have had a long stretch of cool, rainy days. Good for the greenery - not so great those of us who long for the sun!
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 8:31 am:
Thanks for the kudo's and congrats to you and your health team. He as handsome as could be only exceeded by your daughter's beauty!
DrO
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 10:42 am:
Shari-Thanks for redoing the pictures. Great photos! And, the smile on your daughter's face is priceless; well worth all the work and money spent. So glad Max recovered!
You're not the only one with a crummy wet spring. I feel like I've been teleported to the Alaskan sea coast. Saw the sun yesterday for the first time in weeks.
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Member:
Srobert
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 10:52 am:
SHe is so glad to be back on top of him again! She is only dressed up because they did a "parade of breeds" at the clinic and she was getting a special award that recognizes youth who show gaited breeds (just as a "thank you for hanging in there when the judges at your show have never seen a gaited horse before and think he's probably lame...."). You'l notice that Max is still wearing his winter coat on the back half of his body - kinda gives him a two-toned look!! (But he was warmer than we were that day..)
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Member:
Dyduroc
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 11:57 am:
Shari, Thanks for sharing your 'happy ending'! Wonderful pictures! Your daughther and Max look great together!
dyd
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 12:48 pm:
Had to laugh at your comment regarding showing gaited horses in open shows. I show Arabians in with all QH, Paints and occassional TB. You defenitly need a sense of humor to be the "odd" one!
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Member:
Lizv
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 1:08 pm:
Shari,
So nice to hear of your happy ending. I am going through a similar injury with my gelding and am devastated at the possibility that he may never be the same again. Stories like yours give me hope that there is still a chance.
Best wishes to Max and your daughter.
Liz
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Member:
Srobert
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 1:24 pm:
Sara: We also have an arabian (we tend to own what are considered "off" breeds here in Quarter Horse Country!). We know the drill!!!!!
Liz: Don't give up! Max's injury was pretty bad (I spent several minutes wretching in the bushes when I discovered it)- he spent three days at the vet's on IV anitbiotics in the beginning (read this as HUGE $$$$) and wore a specially built toe extender shoe for about 8 months. He was confined to his stall for about 3 months to start - DrOve him (and us) crazy - then handwalking a few minutes a day, gradually extending the time. It would have been easy to give up, but he is 100% back. In fact, he seems to have forgotten that he could only sidepass one direction - now he goes both ways!!! (kinda like "dr. will I be able to play the piano after my broken arm heals?!!)
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Member:
Chohler
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 6:07 pm:
Glad to hear the news on your boy! You and sara make me laugh also and smile, I show arabians and raise appaloosa mustangs that have the shuffler gait, plus I have a spotted saddle filly and I live in Quarterhorse land also. You have to have a sense of humor!
Take care.
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Member:
Brandi
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Posted on Monday, May 9, 2005 - 11:27 pm:
Yes, Shari, thanks for sharing a good story. You just don't know when someone might really need to hear something just like this. I did. For 9 months I had been doing an outstanding job of being optomistic and positive about my boy's DDF-tendon tear from July 04, and was really enjoying the rehab and the new component of our relationship more than I ever imagined....Then in March a stumble during the trotting phase of our rehab (we were up to 12 minutes!) sent us back 6 of our 9 months due to a new tear in the other foot's impar ligament. I was saddened, but not defeated, adjusted our rehab per DR instructions and forged ahead (again). Then, just a week ago, somehow his stall gate came unlatched (never happened before on this gate) and he was out with my rambunctious 21-year old herd boss for as much as 5 hours, and with access to uneven and steep terrain. He spent 3 days alternating significant pointing of each front foot anytime the banamine began to wane. Though I haven't re-ultrasounded these new injuries (at $507, and I just paid that 1 1/2 months ago), I know that the right thing to do is start him over at square one, with a bit of stall-rest and resume hand-walking, etc., etc....you all know the drill.
This time I felt defeated, and I'm struggling with the overwhelming feeling that I can't see the end of this, that I can no longer envision that I can get him healed. My goal in healing his original tendon injury was to heal it perfectly, or as perfectly as possible, because he is most likely facing neurectomy in the near future for his navicular disease, and I didn't want to have an 'iffy' tendon, more likely to injure and not know it due to the neurectomy.
So why bum everyone out with this sad story cloaked under such a warm and fuzzy post? Well, this is the first I've shared Apache's new situation with anyone other than my husband, because I just don't know how to deal with it. Reading your story for some reason made it okay to share and maybe that means I'm ready to accept things and move on. And hopefully, in 9 more months, I will have my own happy ending story. Wish me luck.
Thanks for the bit of inspiration, and congrats to you, your horse and your daughter.
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Member:
Zoe
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Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 7:12 am:
Hes really handsom and congrats! Glad to hear a happy ending!
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Member:
Eoeo
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Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 11:10 am:
Brandi, have you looked into Tom Iver's protocol on healing tendons? That might be something to try. It involves a tens unit and he will discuss your rehab as you go. Just a thought. EO
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Member:
Srobert
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Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 9:13 pm:
Brandi: I am sorry to hear of your continuing problems. I know how easy it is to lose heart. Two summers ago, we had some major problems with our young Arab. He developed abcess after abcess (he blew out his coronet bands over and over again) and a really nasty case of white line disease in all four feet. We did everything - kept him confined, trimmed, treated, mucked stalls every hour, etc etc etc. Everytime I thought I had him "fixed" I would come out to the barn to find him three legged lame again. I began to fear permanent lameness. One day I collapsed into a pile of straw and just bawled my eyes out. My husband found me out there in a little heap and basically hauled me up and reminded me that you just "KBO" (Keep Buggerin' On) until the job is done. That's the same philosophy we used with Max. In both cases, we ended up with outstanding results - and a better relationship with our horses as an added bonus. (But, I'm willing to forego this perk for a summer with no major horse health problems!)
Talking about it is the first step and you know that there are folks out here who truly care. Talk to us whenever you need to! Very best wishes to you and your boy and KBO!!!.
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Member:
Srobert
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Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 9:16 pm:
 Just so you know - the term used above was NOT intended to be "suggestive" (it occurred to me after I posted that some might interpret it that way!) It is a term we picked up from a history of Winston Churchill who apparently used it to keep those around him from losing heart. (But, since we did not know him first hand, I can't swear by it!!!)
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Member:
Brandi
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Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 9:46 pm:
Thanks Shari--boy do you ever know how I feel--I guess we're lucky we're women and it's okay to find us weeping in a stall once in a while when things get really bad--cuz I did just the same thing.
And EO, I'll check out the tens thing, not sure how effective it might be in the deep inside the hoof capsule where both of his tears are, but I'll definitely check it out.
Thanks to both of you.
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Member:
Frances
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Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - 7:32 am:
Shari - so glad to hear that you've got Max back.
And Brandi - I really really sympathise. As I'm just at the first month of rehabbing a suspensory injury, complicated by arthritic knees and, two days ago, a gouged hind coronary band, I can't bear to think how you must have felt to struggle through 9 whole months, almost BE there, and then have those two terrible setbacks.
I think KBO is advice which cannot be improved on! All the best,
Lynn
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Member:
Brandi
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Posted on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 7:24 pm:
Lynn, sorry to hear that about your complications to an already difficult situation. Best of luck to you, I wish I could help...
Thanks for the support, and you're right...it is exactly time for me to KBO----with a 20 minute hand-walking session right now. It's 78° and mostly sunny, so 20 minutes in the sun with the most handsome guy in the world (shhhhh, don't tell my hubby) can't be too bad of a situation.
Thanks again,
Brandi
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Member:
9193
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Posted on Tuesday, May 17, 2005 - 1:11 pm:
Hi Shari,
I have been following your story and also want to extend my congradulations for a happy ending!! Your daughter looks so happy and it looks like Max is proud to have his "job" back. Well done!!
To Lynn and Brandi:
I offer my support and sympathy to both of you since all three of us are rowing the same boat!
At our barn, there are about five of us with horses in various stages of lameness rehab and we informally call ourselves the "Save a horse, drag a Cowboy" club.. None of us are under 45 years old and we all dutifully, daily go "walk" our four legged helium balloons. We compare which linament works the best on our rotator cuffs, tweaked backs and where to get the best deals on heavy duty leather gloves.
It is really hard to watch others sail by on their sound horses. The hardest for me is not being able to have a gorgeous day and I can't let Justin wander loose in the pastures for a couple of hours and graze unencumbered for fear of reinjury..
I am finding that humor and support has helped with this journey and I am happy to offer mine to both of you..
"KBO" works for me!
Smiles,
Debra
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