Marehaven Farm
Longmont, CO
Jigsaw
Jigsaw is doing remarkably well
December 20 / 2007 03:55 PM
Over the summer I had
been preparing myself for the likelihood that Jigsaw
would not be able to make it through the winter, but
she's been doing surprisingly well, despite the snow
and cold temperatures. I've started giving her 2g of
bute every night along with some Legacy and Red Cell,
and that seems to have made a big difference in how
much she limps and how she feels. I also keep one or
two blankets on her if it's cold at all.
When the other horses get the wind up their tails and prance around, she does her own special Jigsaw-version, which involves leaping in the air and twisting around while only using three legs. It's pretty impressive! She's also worked out how to lie down without using her left front leg: she sits down like a dog and then flops over on her right side. She can still roll all the way over and back over again, and when she's ready to get up, she sits up like a dog again and then stands without even putting weight on the left front leg.
When she walks, she has a noticeable limp, but the fact that she still likes to jump around and be silly on occasion tells me that she still enjoys life, despite the pain. And of course she still LOVES her cookies! So I think she might actually make it through the winter to enjoy another summer pasture. She'll be 21 in April. I know that's not that old for a sound horse, but it's pretty good for a horse with "end stage arthritis" in her knee. She begs to differ about the "end stage" part!
When the other horses get the wind up their tails and prance around, she does her own special Jigsaw-version, which involves leaping in the air and twisting around while only using three legs. It's pretty impressive! She's also worked out how to lie down without using her left front leg: she sits down like a dog and then flops over on her right side. She can still roll all the way over and back over again, and when she's ready to get up, she sits up like a dog again and then stands without even putting weight on the left front leg.
When she walks, she has a noticeable limp, but the fact that she still likes to jump around and be silly on occasion tells me that she still enjoys life, despite the pain. And of course she still LOVES her cookies! So I think she might actually make it through the winter to enjoy another summer pasture. She'll be 21 in April. I know that's not that old for a sound horse, but it's pretty good for a horse with "end stage arthritis" in her knee. She begs to differ about the "end stage" part!
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