Day 42: Bitter-Sweet Kind of Day

Morning vet check for Joker - nerve blocks

You know what's the most frustrating in equine veterinary medicine? Let me tell you - there are some amazing advances in diagnostic tools (at times at a price of an average monthly income, mind you, but there are available) yet treatment options are severely lacking in abundance.

It didn't come as a surprise to neither myself nor Helen that the improvement Jojo showed on his vet check was nowhere near good enough to warrant topping up of the work. His condition has been chronic for many years and with most likely diagnosis being osteoarthritis of multiple joints in both hind legs, the conclusion was that the best solution for Joker is to retire him to the life of a lawn mower. He is comfortable and happy to be out 24/7 which makes him an easy horse to retire even though he is only 8 and might potentially enjoy a large guinea pig lifestyle for another 15 years!

We were chatting through various options, however, and wondered whether he would make a good therapy horse for equine facilitated therapy sessions...he has a very interactive nature with clear wants, likes and dislikes as well as sure being able to teach what leadership means ;) I think he would make a grand "teacher" for some corporate training sessions. Do any of you dear readers have associations with equine facilitated programmes?

My late birthday coffee treat from Helen at
Maison Blanc, Henley-on-Thames

I will miss my sessions with Jojo but agree with Helen that it's the best solution for him. She tried everything she could to give him a healthy ridden life but sometimes due to a chronic nature of some issues, it is kinder not to pursue ambitions that simply harm the horse.

We popped Mr Joker out in his field with plenty of hay and set off to "celebrate" his early retirement and my late birthday treat at a little Cafe in Henley. You might notice that horses, books and coffee shops do and will feature rather often in these daily records of mine ;)

Indulgence experienced, we carried on few minutes down the road for my teaching day.
The grey ex-racehorse, Merehead, who two weeks ago had his first McTimoney treatment hasn't looked back since. There are levels of softness and bounce to his movement that he is showing us glimpses of and that make him very exciting to watch.  
Today he had his second re-check and was found by Sam from Back-In-Line to be improved greatly so we are on the right track with the schooling pattern. His next check up is in 4 weeks and if he works as he has had so far, I think we can make greater progress with his alignment and body comfort in that time.

The other little ex-racehorse machine, the bay boy, who has his first BE event coming up in March, worked yummy today too. He is a ball of tense energy so I focus his lessons on relaxation and obedience. He had his first check-up with Sam today which gave us some insight into his schooling challenges and it was really fascinating to hear about potential causes coming from skeletal point of view!

We have some exercises for both boys to add on to the schooling mix and the bay boy has his next appointment in 2 weeks.
The young girl with a little chestnut mare I started teaching recently did very well too - great end to a sadder start to the day.

Very proud of this rider, she has made some great improvements in her riding and works hard on her explosive, full blooded boys but don't you just love this guy's goofy face :-D Adore him :) 

Now, thanks to some re-scheduling of next two days of my work I have Thursday and Friday to catch up with my online projects and get stuck in my geeky tasks which I am very much looking forward to! Oh, and the lie in tomorrow ;)