| 8/10/01 |
OSU evaluation- muscle atrophy on right side, right hind
worst
Walking slightly crooked, not as responsive, but walks unusually
fast
Small paddock turnout and indoor hand walking recommended.
I turned him out free and let him do as he felt he would like
for a bit too.
|
| 8/16/01 |
Fell Down outside while on a walk. Spooked and
lost his hind end under himself. |
| 8/17/01 |
Begins treatment on Marquis a nice $750 swipe
on the plastic |
| 8/18/01 |
 Standing
T-peed as shown here. I started taking pictures to look for
muscle atrophy, but after seeing the instability here I kept
it up. He is at an all time low about now sometimes tripping,
walking crooked and just being clumsy. |
| 8/20/01 |
unstable- walking crooked, leaning really far
over, still comfortable enough to lay down and get up |
| 8/21/01 |
Amazingly during his free turn out he chooses
to canter on his own |
| 8/22/01 |
He has been really sweaty compared to the other
horses in the barn so he got a fan to help keep him comfortable.
Has anyone else seen this as a side effect? Perhaps because
of the effort to stand balanced? |
| 8/23/01 |
Shoes pulled- opps farrier did him way too short
so he is sore and doesn't want to walk |
| 8/24/01 |
Doesn't want to walk especially on cement or
gravel |
| 8/25/01 |
Losing mane? not sure if this is a medical side
effect or not |
| 8/29/01 |
Trot 1 lap |
| 8/30/01 |
Begin Vitamin E supplement at 9000IU's a day *highly
recommended by vet- not sure why we waited till I felt he wasn't
doing any better. It cost me about $80 |
| 9/6/01 |
Canters during turnout |
| 9/8/01 |
Falls in indoor cantering around corner.
Cast against wall again, but gets up on own |
| 9/14/01 |
 Tracks
left freely for the first time in indoor
Last dose of Marquis given.
|
| 9/15/01 |
Stiff coming out of his stall and sensitive on
back right(fell on again), but remains so for future weeks |
| 9/23/01 |
Returns to OSU- evaluated as 'Little Improvement'
Plan to increase exercise as rehabilitation for 20 minutes
once a day working up to twice a day trotting on lounge line
|
| 9/25/01 |
 Turned
out in large pasture with the herd. Wasn't recommended by vet
in case of stampede or excessive running, but he is so much
happier with ample grass, buddies and room to explore. |
| 10/1/01 |
Worked full 20 min lounging outside. Cuts in to
the right, but moves pretty freely tracking left. |
| 10/3/01 |
Cut short today because he was hard to keep going
and seemed uncomfortable. I think he is getting exercise outside
too with the boys. |
| 10/4/01 |
Tried indoor ring to see if footing helped any,
but I didn't see any difference. Getting better to the right
though making a consistent circle. |
| 10/5/01 |
Increased lounging to 25 minutes. Circle is consistent,
but still not round to the right. |
| 10/6/01 |
In our boredom of lounging I jumped on bareback
to see how he felt. I trotted one lap each way. He felt much
worse to the right and even cut in with me on him. He didn't
seem bothered by the weight and ironically started spooking
even though he has been in the ring everyday for the last two
months. I guess it's different with someone on your back. |
| 10/7/01 |
Saddle Up! I couldn't resist the urge to get on
with a saddle today. I was on about 15 min and worked him both
directions. He is not in great shape, but I thought he did fine
with it. It's not a super enjoyable ride, but I miss it enough
that it I hope it is a great boost for both of us. |
|
10/8/01
|
Well Comet proved today that he can
feel good! When going to get him from the pasture he led the
crew like the old days on a romp from end to end. They did continue
on for twenty min and he would watch some laps and catch up
on others. This is the first time I have seen him cantering
freely. |
|
10/9/01
|
Today we went back outside and worked on the rolling
hills. He was really good going up the slope and was able to
get under himself, but looked like he was just using gravity
to come down the hill. Worked 20 min. |
| 10/10/01 |
I had Comet out for 45 min, 30 working. I challenged
him today with small circles and greater forward movement. He
was able to extend the trot, but never looked like he thought
about cantering. He was able to make smaller circles to the
right, but does that on the long line too. To the left he tries
to pull out and doesn't round around the circle. |
|
10/11/01
|
35 min out - 20 working, forward but nothing too
demanding. I walked him over a lot of poles, some elevated,
and he didn't seem to have trouble. At some points he didn't
look to be stepping up as much. |
| 10/12/01 |
Day off |
| 10/13/01 |
35 min lunge |
| 10/14/01 |
Today we lunged for 15 min in the am and then
I rode him for about 15 walking and trotting. He sometimes
looses his hind end in transitions and at the walk, but was
consistent (but off) at the trot. |
| 10/15/01 |
Canter! Today I lunged in our outdoor and
I was able to see his tracking hoof prints since no one has
been out there. The footing is a bit hard, but it had just rained
so there was some grip. He cantered both directions, much better
on the right lead. Worked another 15 min on small hills
trotting for a total of 30 mins |
| 10/16/01 |
40 minutes working today running free in the indoor.
Comet was able to canter several longsides |
| 10/17/01 |
 Today
we worked 20 min free in the indoor and then in the pm he was
a rascal about coming in from the pasture and played great galloping
games out in the pasture. I took this as a good sign that
he was willing enough to run away from me. Needless to say I
counted that as the rest of his daily workout |
| 10/18/01 |
25 min indoor Walk, Trot, Canter |
| 10/19/01 |
35 minute trotting ride. Falling in and cutting
corners hard to the right. |
| 10/20/01 |
20 min lunge |
| 10/21/01 |
15 min free trot in am, 20 min ride in pm. Our
ride today consisted mainly of walking. I was motivated by watching
dressage lessons over the weekend to work on bending, circling,
rounding etc. My idea behind these exercises is to increase
muscle and hope to bring back nerves faster. |
| 10/22/01 |
Today we only lunged 20 min. The ring was crazy
and he wasn't looking as good. He started dropping his right
hip like he used to do 2 weeks ago |
| 10/23/01 |
Only 20 min again today. Up till these past two
days almost everyday had been an improvement since we started
'rehab'. I know that the work did bring him this far so it's
a toss up whether to work him just as hard or not. He was a
lot harder to keep going and his circle was pretty bad. He was
like this for about 2 weeks after treatment commenced, but since
then every day has been a better day pretty much. |
| 10/25/01 |
Free lunge for 25 min. Work on stop and change
of directions on lunge line. Just keeping up our lunge training
and manners while we are at it. |
| 10/26/01 |
Walk 5 min and trot 5 laps(barn show that day) |
| 10/27/01 |
Free Run for 10 min AM and 20 min PM - Cantering
today |
| |
 
Well atleast you know I am not trying to show off by putting
pictures of him up:( He is throwing is front legs up and hitching
his hocks. He also seems to rotate in on his hocks pretty hard,
kinda twisting his toe out when he puts his foot on the ground.
|
| 10/28/01 |
10 min lunge and 25 min walk bareback for better
steering in crowded ring. Trot two laps on him |
| 10/29/01 |
20 min AM slow trot, 15 min PM mainly trot- moving
pretty good |
| 10/30/01 |
30 min lunge, really weak to the right, left ok
to fair. Cantered on Left lead in pasture |
| 10/31/01 |
Free lunge OVER POLE. Cantered. Only 20 min, but
was pretty worked up |
| 11/1/01 |
Same as yesterday- work 40 min- looks worse on
lunge than free |
| 11/2/01 |
RODE 40 min. 3 laps canter 20 min trot |
| 11/3-11/8 |
I was out of town. He was turned out daily and
lunged a couple times |
| 11/9/01 |
15 min AM W/T/C free
15 min PM lunge W/T and transitions |
| 11/10/01 |
15-20 min lunge on outdoor rolling hills. W/T
and some transitions. He did trip twice today... |
| 11/11/01 |
RODE for an hour- trot two ten minute intervals.
Still quirky and worse to the right, but moving freely |
| 11/12/01 |
Outdoor lunge for 20 min. Added transitions in
our routine. Cantered a lap or two on right lead looking good
and responding to cues to change gait. |
| 11/13/01 |
Weak and having a hard time with transitions from
trot to walk on lunge. Didn't want to go so cut it short at
15 min lunge outside |
| 11/14/01 |
Hard time with transitions again. Outdoor walk/ride.
Lunge 5 min trot on him 5 min. He kinda falls into a walk and
tries to plant his feet to slow the momentum, but then keeps
on going. |
| 11/16 |
Noticeably off, but moving freely. W/T (no canter
slippery) |
| 11/17 |
FALL- Comet was moving way too fast for his own
good and lost his footing and did quite a tumble in the indoor.
He raced a lot at all gaits in the beginning too. I don't know
if he doesn't realize how fast he is going? |
| 11/18-19 |
Bute and time off from the fall |
| 11/20 |
15 min trot- still off and swinging his back right
leg out |
| 11/21-24 |
Very easy time, turn out with minimal work testing
to see if he jogs better after a break |
| 11/25 |
STRUGGLING. Bute test. Today Comet was at an all
time low since his first week of Marquis. He was off both ways,
leaning both legs to the left when standing, very unmotivated,
little depressed, and ouchy looking. Gave him 3 grams bute to
see if this helps |
| 11/26 |
Neuro tests. Am- 3 grams bute. Walks with shoulder
out with back rt and front lft on a track. Halt hitched, rolled
ankle once when misplanted his back foot. Walk and trot over
a pole test: track left was ok- walked the first few times to
negotiate it, right- landed directly on pole after stopping
to negotiate it. Trot- planted both back legs in between and
pushed off...tight circle to the right crosses hind legs, not
to the left. Backs same- crooked and weak |
| 11/28 |
OSU TRIP 3: Comet was reevaluated today
at OSU. It was established that he has learned to compensate
for his problems which may cause other lameness issues. Also
he was evaluated as his left hind leg being the weaker one.
This is contrary to what I had thought all along. I think this
started about 3 weeks ago when he started having problems stopping
and I noticed this leg also stuck. Otherwise no improvement.
Actually on this day he was probably worse in some ways. Treat
with bute 1g am and PM for two weeks. hives |
| 12/1 |
Trotting noticeably sideways. No gait improvement.
Picking left leg up higher |
| 12/2 |
20 min walk trot two laps |
| 12/3 |
appears he went down on his right side in pasture
by mud up to his knees and hock on one side. |
| 12/4 |
Farrier- unable to get back legs up to trim. Turning
left hock unusually far in as pushes off- gave me the creeps
to see. Seeing he is so bad I was going to double his dose of
bute or take him off to see if he was better/worse. Since I
don't have unlimited bute I tried taking him off first....and |
| 12/5 |
Better- 10 min trot. Gait appears straighter and
less stressful(crazy how this works) |
| 12/6 |
No turnout today. Went out in indoor with his
buddy. Trotted around pretty well for good 10 min. Slightly
stressed by his buddy herding him and turning sharp(ok so it
stressed me out watching). |
| 12/7 |
10 min trot. still some random hives on him |
| 12/17 |
Turnout indoor with Scout. He got pushed around
a bit, but didn't look like he was enjoying himself much |
| 12/18 |
Off |
| 12/19 |
20 Min workout. 10 min free lunge to the right
and 10 on lunge to the left |
| 12/22 |
25 min trotting and cantering free and over a
pole on the ground. Mainly working to the right(his choice).
Got on bareback trying to see if I could make him WALK STRAIGHT.
This wasn't so successful and I think he was pretty frustrated
at my commands. He walks in a permanent shoulder out to the
right (whether he is traveling left or right). This hadn't bothered
me because I figured it would go away or I would be able to
tell him how to walk straight, but it was easier said than done.
|
| 12/23 |
20 Min lunge |
| 12/24-12/27 |
Out of Town
Turned Out Daily |
| 12/28 |
10 minute lunge including 10 small circles to
the left |
| 12/29 |
25 minute lunge including 15 small circles to
the left |
| 12/30-31 |
20 minutes including Cantering mainly to the right
and trotting on the lunge to the left |
| 1/1 |
Way to start the New Year but with a day off-
I think it was my holiday more than his |
| 1/2 |
40 min. Today was a big halt lesson day. He had
gotten kinda lax that he could stop for a second and the do
as he pleased. I also added RAILS on the ground which he had
great difficulty with. As he approached he would walk many times(no
big deal), but other times he would throw his head up trying
to jump it or something and then he would slide to a stop and
looked rather confused. This often happened at a lazy trot.
When he trotted more forward he could find his step better.
Sometime he would throw both legs over - guess you call it jumping,
but it wasn't very natural looking in conjunction with a head
toss. Cantered both directions |
| 1/3 |
30 minutes only on lunge line at the trot |
| 1/4 |
 30
min W/T/C and over a pole. Forced him to canter left off the
lunge line and he got pretty worked up about it. He doesn't
use his back end properly while doing this. He still pushes
off with both legs at the same time a bit. |
| 1/5 |
25 minutes on lunge to the left trotting, added
over 1 pole, cantered. Free to the right trotting and cantering.
Today Comet jumped a CROSS POLE... I know I shouldn't do it,
but I justified it by the fact that I was alongside him and
started to run and he followed me over it without any pressure...
3 times. What a good boy. He jumped it fairly normal actually.
I was surprised. |
| 1/6 |
He came in with an odd cut so I spent my time
with him babying it. |
| 1/7 |
 Well
today I had my friend re-eval him and she pretty much agreed
with me that he was no better than he was back in Oct when I
was riding, but better than he got the end of November. |
| 1/8 |
GOT ON today to try and straighten his gait out.
His back end felt a lot weaker than I expected |
| 1/9 |
Bareback ride today to try to straighten his gait
again. We only walked for 20 min mainly tracking left and bending
left. Then he ran free to the right trotting only today and
lunged to the left. He was unusually out of breath with the
lunging. |
| 1/15 |
Comet has seemed a little ouchy on his front right.
Not even beginning to guess if it is EPM related or if he did
something outside. |
| 1/17 |
Wormed with Panacur paste. No side affects seen |
| 1/19 |
Equine Massage. Didn't find this useful.
Comet enjoyed it and I was jealous, but all of the feedback
I got was he wasn't sore because he isn't girthed, working in
a frame, tugged on etc. I was surprised he noticed no difference
in his hind quarters, but I see no need to do this again just
to make Comet happy for an hour. |
| February |
During the month of February Comet continued going
out in the pasture daily. Some days he was alone and seemed
to hang by the gait a bit more. I randomly would lunge him and
turn him out in the indoor for more exercise. Usually at least
3 times a week. On the random sunny days we would go for walks
and jog around a bit too. He seemed to loose his impulsion on
the lunge line and would appear to walk to avoid the work. I
usually let him thinking it must be difficult for him. If no
one was around I would turn him free. He still lunged better
to the left, but was showing a bit of an offness in the front.
It is probably a compensation off, but it was more noticeable.
To the right he didn't seem to know where his back end was as
well. I began turning him out a couple times with a little pony,
Flyer. Flyer would run around a lot and it would encourage Comet
to run too. He picked on Comet a bit, but nothing that endangered
his stability. The height advantage was good and all and all
I think they had fun together. |
| 3/10/02 |
One very windy night Comet was found laying
stuck under his stall guard. He was centered (not on
his side) at this point. They removed the stall guard and he
was able to get to his feet. On his way up his slammed into
the side of the doorway and brought the front of the stall forward
almost a foot. Through all of this he only had two small scrapes
where he hit the wall. He didn't appear to be more lame from
this incident either. I had been out there about 2/3 hours earlier
and most of his hay was gone so we think he wasn't down very
long when he was found. He usually eats or hangs out his stall
and the wind blew down a door so presumably that spooked him
and his foot slipped and he went down. Amazing that he was smart
enough to wait for help and not break a leg getting up. He no
longer has a stall guard :( |
| 3/22/02 |
I took Comet out into a different pasture today
to see how he was with an electric fence. There is a small stream
in there though and he was very courageous to cross it with
me. He jumped over it, but did so pretty well. The back right
seemed to land in it most of the times, but that is the leg
he has the most problems controlling. He was acting like a proud
young colt on the other side. It was uplifting to see him so
happy. |
| 3/24/02 |
Got ON today. Comet was able to take the weight
and walked away before I was totally on him just as carefree
as before. He was however incredibly unstable, crooked and weak.
I let him pick the path and was on him for 5 min walking. It
was mainly a check since I hadn't been on in 3 months. |
| 3/26/02 |
Vaccinated for all shots including West Nile |
| April |
Well Comet didn't get the new home he thought
he might so we are still on the hunt. |
| May |
 Comet
had an ugly outbreak of hives. The cause is unknown. He got
them somewhat gradually. Previously he had small ones once in
awhile and they just went away, but these needed some veterinary
assistance. What more does he need :( |
| June |
Comet isn't finding the summer as much fun as
I was hoping. He does love the fresh grass and often doesn't
even bat an eye for the dinner whistle. He is out at night and
during the day if it's not miserable. It's made stall cleaning
easy though! |
| |
SWEATING: Comet has developed an unusual sweating
issue. He sweats on his left side, a lot and only on that side.
He does appreciate the fan when he is indoors! |
| |
 FLYS:
Yes he hates the flys. I have him on Freedom, but I don't know
if it is to make me feel better or him. He also acquired fly
leg wraps since he wasn't batting the flys away on his back
right very effectively. One theory is he doesn't feel them and
the other is he doesn't know how to get rid of them- poor guy.
|
| July 25 |
Today was one of those bad days. The summer campers
didn't lock the pasture gate and all the horses got out. Comet
frolicked into the barn too fast and fell down in the aisle
and couldn't get up. He was down for over a half hour and
finally got himself up. He stayed calm laying down being fed
treats until we unloaded stalls full of shavings around him.
He got up with a victorious neigh to let his buddies know he
was ok, but he was hurting. His gait was a greater degree sideways
and he even took a few steps without his back right leg. He
got bute for several days and had to stay inside and work his
way back up to the big pasture again. He had cuts all over,
but no punctures which I was thankful for. They are healing
fast, but some may leave a scar. I invested in an additional
rubber mat in front of his stall to prevent slipping on that
turn and it can also be moved to another area if he falls again.
|
| + + + + |
Well I have only been including the trouble spots
recently, but thought it was time to celebrate some positive
things. Comet has been doing carrot stretches and increasing
his range of motion for the treats, he is well trained
to come to the gait for ease in my catching him, he gets great
baths when it rains and he has stayed pretty white
for being an outdoor boy,he is fat and happy, he hasn't
had to have his feet trimmed in a year now and he nickers
for dinner. |
| August 15 |
Today when I went to get Comet he was standing
a ways from the gate so I pulled out my handy whistle to watch
him run to me. Well it didn't happen. He tossed his head in
acknowledgment of my presence, but made it clear to me in an
instant that he wasn't coming to me. I ran out to him and fortunately
had my cell phone on me to call OSU immediately. Comet was unable
to take a balanced step and was much worse than he had ever
been. I ran into the barn and when I came back he had moved
about half way to the gate. We stood in that spot for about
two hours waiting for the vet. Many friends came to help us
bringing treats, food, water, fly spray, and support. He was
at this point unable to even stand without nearly falling. He
pivoted in a circle to the left continuously as he would begin
to lean/fall and then replant his foot. His stance denied physics.
His back feet were planted off to the right while his hind end
leaned far left and he would lean on you with great force to
rest. He amazingly didn't not go down throughout this entire
ordeal and it was only heart that kept him up. The vet arrived
and gave him 4/5liters of fluids(he was dehydrated since he
hadn't made it to the trough)dmso and banamine. This was all
done in the pasture and for most of it the horses left us alone.
It was also noticed that he didn't want to bear weight on his
right front hoof like usual. He was pawing with it a bit and
showing it off. The vet investigated this foot for too long
in my opinion because it caused Comet great distress. I did
not find him very sympathetic to his weakened condition and
felt like he was testing his balance entirely too much. His
diagnosis was unclear and he just said I'll come back Monday.
He did not find an abscess, but thought maybe that was an issue
or he might be relapsing neither of which there was too much
we could do.
I stayed with Comet all night and he continued to do a circle
until 2am. At that point he was standing in one position and
eating hay. He was unable to sleep because each time he fell
asleep he woke himself up nearly falling. I let him lean on
me as much as I could, but he's a big boy. Anyway his spirits
remained fairly high in that he did eat and held his head up,
but I could see in his eye that he wasn't the same. I think
he was hurting now and aware that he didn't have as much control
over his body. |
| August 16 |
Well I guess all last night was august 16th too,
but at the start of the business day I reached Doctor Welker
first thing and he said he would come out to see Comet right
after a surgery. He was very kind to Comet as he had seen him
all along and didn't find it necessary to poke or pick up feet.
Of course this did mean that Dr. Welker felt that Comet's quality
of life had deteriorated. He helped me make the decision that
I felt was right and decided to trailer Comet down to OSU to
be put down. We were fortunate that Comet had improved slightly
so that he was able to make trip and avoid a worse situation
where he was found down in the field. OSU was also very very
understanding about Comet and allowed him to unload in a field
so he wouldn't fall in the cement aisle and they put him down
out eating grass. The ladies were very kind and made me feel
comfortable leaving him with them so I had good memories of
him. She promised to pet him and talk to him the whole time.
|
| THANKS |
I would like to thank many people that have made
a difference for Comet over the last year including: Nikki and
Dawn for being his morning mom, Emily and Karen for sharing
EPM knowledge, Carlsons for taking his needs into consideration
at your facility and trailering him, Dr. Welker, Dr. Reed, Dr.
Naut for treating him with your expertise and all other friends
and family for visiting him, asking about him, and listening
to me. He has required extra patience, but you guys were as
loving to him and I appreciate it. Thanks. |
| Necropsy Report |
Well this did prove some shocking information. About two
weeks after Comet passed they got some of his results back.
He tested positive for West Nile. After further analysis
this wasn't his only problem, but a combination of the two
was too much. Here is the Dr. Reed's summary:
"The post-mortem examination did not reveal any obvious
signs of spinal trauma. Rabies testing was negative. West
Nile virus testing revealed a low positive result. Microscopic
examination of the spinal cord revealed inflammatory lesions
of varying ages most consistent with chronic EPM infection.
The spinal cord had no evidence of West Nile virus infection
so it is likely that the positive test result represented
exposure only without active infection."
|
| Final Hours |
Here are Comet's final good-bye pictures. Some
do show his instability. He has had all his IV's almost 24 hours
ago now, but I'd like to think he looks like he does somewhat
because of drugs. Overall I do not find them very pleasing-
he just looks so unhappy, unhealthy, and weak, but that's why
we made the decision we did.
Click Here to View |
Biography:
Haley's Comet is a 16 year old, 16.2 hand, Thoroughbred gelding. I
received him for Christmas 7 years ago when I was in high school We
competed in Children's Adult Jumpers and blazed around many courses.
He did have a strong stop in him so that inhibited some performances,
but he was quite fast. He has led a healthy life with his biggest
maintenance being getting his stifle injected during show season.
Comet traveled back and forth with me to and from Notre Dame. We found
a great family farm that he had great buddies at and he was able to
be a horse and play in the hills. He was my greatest friend in college
giving me an opportunity to get away from all the books and computers.
Well it was time to move on and we were heading to Columbus.
