Sycha...*FILLY*

[Michelle Clarke]

Actually, she was bred specifically for the breeding program to outcross w/lusitano, so I am hoping she makes the cut for breeding after she has some saddle training.

[DianneC]

Cool, great horses are a gift and you're a lucky lady!

[DianneC]

How's Casey doing Michelle?

[Michelle Clarke]

Well, not so good. Long story short, our best guess is she had a trauma at birth and is very unsteady on her hindend. I missed being there when she was born, however she was still wet and just standing; she had swelling around her left eye. It was glassy, but never drained or got red or irritated...went away after a couple days.

Looking back at the pictures since her birth and plus some different videos I have of her, I can see shades of the issue as it grew into a problem. She did take a spill on her right hip at about five days old and I thought that was the problem, but now I see that her unsteadiness was the cause of the fall.

My regular vet came out and did a neuro test, which she felt it was not; and did a cbc, which was normal. No other ideas except to take her to A&M and exray. I was not ready to load this filly up in a trailer, being as unsteady as she was, and drive three hours away to put her through tests. Even if it is a break, there is nothing we can do but what we are and hope it heals well.

I called a gal that does Equine Touch locally and she came out last week and worked on her. Made some nice changes and Casey enjoyed the work. She gave me the name of another gal who is a human chiropractor plus a certified equine chiropractor...she also does other body work, including osteopathy; and has a terrific knowledge of cranial sacral work. She came out yesterday, after speaking with my vet and did some terrific work with Casey. Lots of issues with that left side of her head, along with her sacrum and hips. Even the last bone in her tail was bent in a "J" due to all the pulling stress from the rest of the spine.

She was able to do quite a bit, Casey was very cooperative and even would walk up after a break and put her little head back in her hands to be worked on some more. Last night, she was already standing square and her back legs were not held wide. If she lost her balance, she would catch herself much quicker than before. Her eyes have opened up and are bright and even her nostrils are larger.

The therapist is very optimistic and she'll continue to work on her; hopefully we'll continue to make progress. The hardest thing to do is to convince Casey she needs to be calm and not bounce around her stall, as she keeps falling or stumbling into the walls. She was doing great this morning, but late afternoon, we had some rain and she was jumping around the stall and I saw her fall a time or two. I'm hoping she did not regress too much.

I'm pretty heartbroken about it and am beating myself up for not being there. The therapist belives it may have happened in the birth canal even, so there would have been little to avoid. I am thinking that maybe since Sycha had retained so much of the amniotic sac, that maybe she had Casey standing up and she landed on that left side of her head. I guess I'll never know.

[mustangdara]

i am sorry to hear this news.
But it sounds like you are doing all the right things, and you are a very good horse woman and are taking the best of care for this lovely girl.

[angelsdream]

Gosh Michelle, I'm so sorry to hear that. I know she is one of your favorites. I really hope she's ok. Please keep us updated on her. She sure is a cutie.....

[Michelle Clarke]

The therapist was kind enough to come out early this morning before her appointments and work on Casey again. She made alot of progress with her and was able to get alot fixed up, however not as well as on the first visit so she really must have banged herself yesterday in the stall. Even though it is not optimum, we are going to keep her in the covered pen in the barn where she is able to play without bouncing off the walls and hurting herself. It would be best if she stayed quiet, but at least in the pen she just runs a few laps then naps and hangs out; the stall was too confining.

Hopefully she'll stabilize and we can improve on more during the next visit. There is a DVM nearby that is a classic homeopath that she suggested we bring into the picture, so I'll do that this weekend.

[DianneC]

That's a tough one Michelle, and I'm sure you'll see her through it. Sounds like you have good people in your area to help and that's so great.

[fantasykiger]

any new updates on Casey? She is such a darling gal, I know you guys are doing everything you can for her.

[Michelle Clarke]

Casey is stable for now, though still has balance issues. She is growing normally, getting big and strong! I've been keeping her in a large stall (well bedded for softness), so she is getting to be quite the handful to work on being that she is cooped up. She is in good spirits so I'm not giving up yet. Everyone belives this is an injury most likely from being born with Sycha standing up. That is the good news...the down side is that we don't know if there will be permanent nerve damage that will prevent this issue from resolving. My vet says to give it a good six months before I start thinking of anything drastic...

I was going to have Sycha AI'd this year, but have decided against is so we can focus on getting Casey well and not dealing with causing her more injury taking the mare to the vet. Sycha is handling it well so far, though she gets depressed not being able to go out with the other mommas and foals.

When Casey does pull out of this, she is going to have some training issues being as she is allowed to lean on me alot when getting adjusted and many times I hand feed her the holistic treatments. She bumps into me alot when I am in there cleaning and can be pretty sassy when she feels she is getting ignored. She's about one step up from an orphan foal at this point with not having learned many boundries!

[Michelle Clarke]

A few pictures of Casey before she got stall bound...

[fantasykiger]

I am glad to hear she is hanging in there and being her adorable self. Her situation brought to mind a filly I met with a broken neck shortly after it foaled, don't recall how it occured just meeting her in the pasture. It was obvious with a 45 degree kink with a lump sticking out the side and she walked like a drunk, for a very long time. She was a QH filly and cute as a button. They just let her be and let nature take it's course. Today she is a straight necked broodmare, you would never know she ever had a issue as a young filly, looking at her in the pasture. I don't recall if they ever put her under saddle or attempted to.

[Michelle Clarke]

Wow..that is encouraging to read. Casey is very sensitive up high on her neck between C2 and C3. She does not like the healing touches there, but lately I have been using her poll and upper neck to give her scratches, so she is getting more tolerant of being handled in that area. Being itchy is also a sign of low level pain. I know if it is an actual fracture, it could take months to heal and if it is a compression, it could take quite a bit of growing to work itself out. As long as she becomes stable enough not to hurt herself turned out, that is good enough for me. My concern is that she lives a low quality of life in a stall and that I won't do. I don't ever care about riding her...if she is breeding quality, then that would be great. If she can have a good quality of life and help raise the young fillies, then that is fine with me too...she'll always have a home.

[DianneC]

Thanks Tiffany, that is encouraging! When they are so young it seems like they can heal pretty well sometimes. I remember Rick saying that his mares would sometimes give birth standing. As the foal came out they would step sideways and lay the foal on the ground. She has the right home with you Michelle, that's for sure.

[fantasykiger]

Yes, I was amazed by that filly. But horses amaze me, their healing power and means to adapt, is quite fabulous.