October 8, 2011 - "Poop juice"

So Rory's been having poop juice trouble this year.  It started some time late winter or early spring, I'm not sure exactly.  I didn't think much of it at the time.  He has no other signs of anything amiss - no signs of ulcers, he's got a healthy coat, healthy appetite, willingness to work, no girthiness, nothing.  Just poop juice.

Anyway it's gotten pretty nasty at times this summer with some thick crusty streaks down his butt cheeks all the way over the points of his hocks and inside his hind legs to the fetlocks.  Nasty.  I felt he was a bit gassy too, and the gas was usually accompanied by several tablespoons (or more) of juice.  I took him off flax as an experiment and the gas does seem to be a lot less.  His poops have been normal, well hydrated though solid enough to retain the turd shapes on landing - not cow patties by any stretch but they are also accompanied by what seemed to be a lot of juice.

In August the vet was out and I mentioned it.  She gave me the "poop juice" term.  We were changing his feed that week too, and the juice dried up and his bum and legs were clean (apart from a very few individual drops).  I figured he'd been reacting to something in the old feed.  The juice started getting worse again about 10-12 days later, and got progressively worse to the point of being more than I'd ever seen before drying up again.  About 10-12 days messy.  I started him on yeast during this messy period, and he got worse for several days before getting better again.  Fortunately he was clean while we were at the Cup Qualifiers, but late last week he started again.

He did have a fecal done in August on one of his very juicy days - no significant egg load.

I discussed it with the vet again almost four weeks ago as it was getting bad again at that time and she said that a biopsy might be the next step as it would show encycsted worms  (or holes), and the white blood cells (types/counts) could indicate if there's an allergic reaction.  That was right after I started the yeast so we were going to see if that helped first.  It hasn't, he's juicing again and even had what appeared to be a mini gas colic one day (20 min and he was fine) after I rode, so we're going to the next step.  I just went through my notes and marked on a calendar his worst days and his clean days and it appears that it's about a three week cycle with 10-11 days clean and 11-12 days dirty.

One of the other vets at the clinic suggested trying a hindgut buffer before the biopsy.  He's had some success in putting horses on the buffer for six months, and then they've stayed healthy after coming off it.  He did say there were a couple that had to go back on the buffer, but it seems to work in most cases.  The buffer is EquiShure made by Kentucky Equine Research, and is a top dress powder added to the horse's feed.  Rory is starting on two scoops a day, and may be able to go back to half that in a couple of weeks (if it works).

October 1-5, 2011 - A blow, some hope - dashed

On the first of October Rory came in with a bump just below the hock on the front of his left hind leg.  I've seen similar injuries before and although I'm hoping it's just that he knocked himself on something, I suspect he's strained the extensor tendon.  A strained extensor is relatively mild, and they do tend to heal well so it wasn't the end of the world, but it would mean not going to the second Cup Qualifier next weekend.

I treated the bump with the usual cold therapy and poulticing, but it wasn't really responding and by October fourth I was losing hope.  Entries needed to be in by midnight on the fifth so I had to make the decision the next day.  I'm not too worried about the extensor tendon.  I've had to look after this injury several times before.  They heal well when given a little time and gentle return to work.  Rory's not lame, nor is he very sensitive or hot over the area so I think it is a minor strain.  Just enough to keep him out of the second Cup qualifiers.

I'm disappointed.  Even though the Cup classes weren't a major goal for Rory, I really felt he would do better at the next qualifier and was looking forward to it.  But it's not important enough to risk further injury.

September 26, 2011 - A sudden scare

We started with twenty minutes in the ring today.  It's nice to be able to skip the longeing and take that time for a little tour outside the ring after the "work".  Beginning at the walk I looked for Rory to give, bend, and walk exactly on the track I chose.  We repeated at the trot, having a little trouble with bending and giving inside jaw - mostly because Rroy wanted to look outside the ring.  He always failed to turn until last moment on the fourth quarter of his circles.  They got better with strong direct rein aids (short, then gone).  We cantered left first. Rory had a couple of good transitions, and managed almost three times round the ring without stopping or losing the lead.  On the right rein we repeated the walk work, then trot before going to canter.  Three times he picked up the wrong lead, and at least two more wrong leads I stifled before he actually cantered.  Finally Rory got the right lead and I did half circle and brought him back to trot to ask again.  He got the right lead and cantered twice round the ring, then dropped to trot.  I pushed back to canter and got the right lead.  Rory was a good boy and I was happy with him. 

We went out round the hay field, trotting a little over half of the long side going out.  At the end of the field we looked through trees at machinery and coils of tile drain pipe which didn't bother Rory at all.  We trotted partway back and he swerved towards the corn field at the gap in the brush line between fields.  I halted him, let him look, and then walked over to come back on corn field side of tree line.  We haven't gone that way before and Rory was very alert and looking but not spooky.  He wanted to keep going towards the cow barn and not back over to hay field and home.  Very good boy!

I hosed him off, fed him his snack, and took him back to the paddock.  Rory suddenly stopped taking carrots from me, and walked with his head low, not looking at the grass, slowing down.  In the paddock he still didn't want any carrots, but stood pawing with alternate feet.  I took his halter off and stayed to watch.  Totyo got bits of carrot so he wouldn't bother Rory.  Rory went out a little way, pawed, head low, had a poop with lots of juice and a little gas.  Went further, more pawing, turning around, pawing, another smaller poop with juice and gas.  He stood by the fence and looked at me again, then pawed a bit, before he went up to the shelter.  I followed, he whinnied for Totyo as we were coming to the side, but stayed inside.  Watched him in the shelter, still head low, occasional paw, and another tiny poop with more juice and little gas, plus a little squeal.  After a few more minutes Rory started looking around again, came over and checked for treats, licked my hands, got snuggled a bit.  He seemed okay so I left him and Totyo followed with Rory trailing behind.  Rory had a drink, then after I went back to the barn they wandered out to the hay.  It was scary - it seemed like a sudden onset of colic, though some of the classic colic signs were missing (no rolling or sweating).  I'm pretty sure it was a gas bubble working through even though he didn't seem to pass all that much gas.  I'm glad he's okay.

September 24, 2011 - The canter key

Rory and Totyo playing in the morning

Today we worked on canter transitions and cantering for longer.  Rory was better on both counts.  I discovered that if I can get Rory to lift his back and stretch forward before asking (relaxed jaw, light bend) he can easily step into the canter on the correct lead.  He doesn't always relax his jaw quickly, especially if he's distracted by something, but it's a good start.  After the ring work we went out into the hayfield for a few minutes again.

Sept 21, 2011 - Homework again

Today I rode in the ring for almost 20 min without longeing first.  Rory full of beans and went to canter very soon after I asked for trot.  He kept picking up the wrong lead (left).  Totyo was running along on the other side of the fence which didn't help, but Rory wasn't trying to play with him, he just wanted to go faster.  Rory tried to canter a couple more times before he settled.  The rest of the ride went well.  We managed a couple of good right lead canter transitions, and cantered around the ring twice without stopping.  On the left lead Rory managed almost three times around before he swapped a leg and broke.  I asked him to go right back to canter and he picked it up and cantered a circle well.

After the ring work we went out into the neighbour's hay field with no escort.  He was very good and we did some trot too.

Rory at dawn