A Happy Ben

Appointment day has arrived for Ben. He pretty much does what he pleases all the time but every 4 weeks I must interrupt with back to back appointments. He had his farrier visit & massage. His farrier visit was up first this morning. Ben was very behaved with only minor game playing. His toes are neat & tidy & improving with concavity every visit! His farrier & I both agree that his behavior has gotten so much better since his ucers have been treated. He did misbehave prior to treatment & even the beginning of treatments. Anyone who has been around Ben while he was going through everything have all noticed a major change in him for the better. He is so calm & relaxed with a happy look in his eye that I haven't seen before. It's bizarre to think how much ulcers effected every aspect of him from the inside out. Hoping to keep them a thing of the past!

His massage went really well also. He had a few areas which are his usual spots that need some minor work. His knees once again felt really good which I attribute to his 24/7 turnout & newer joint supplement Steadfast. Keeping him awake for his massage & energy work is always a struggle. With his narcolepsy plus feeling super relaxed & zoned he literally falls asleep & even came to his knees at one point during one of his previous massage sessions. He is proof that energy work when you have a skilled person doing it that has the gift truly does work! Horses are athletes & pull/strain/over work their muscles. I am a full believer that all horses regardless of discipline or retired can highly benefit from a massage. The proof is in the pudding with it.

So overall Both Ben's appointments went very well. He adores being outside 24/7 regardless of the weather & it has made such a big change in him. Seeing him so happy just makes my heart sing. He may be spoiled but he has earned every bit of it. Someone once told me that Ben has such a big personalitiy & that I allow him to show every aspect of it & that not every owner allows them to show who they are. Sometimes we get so busy wanting them to do what we want that we forget they are a living, breathing, intelligent animal with a soul. They have emotions & opinions maybe not to our level but enough where we can respect & listen to them. I'm not saying let them push you around but realize what your asking & who they are as a species. Work with them not against them. Ben always makes his opinions very clear & I do my best to listen.

Look Beyond The Surface

It's easy to ignore what you don't see with your eyes sometimes. What you cant see wont hurt right? Wrong. Sometimes we need to look beyond the surface because that's where most probems lie.

I'm not trying to say that every probem with every horse is a result of ulcers, nor am I saying how you manage your horse is wrong. To each his own. I am simply sharing what I have learned & my personnel experience with a GI injury I feel needs more awareness brought to it. If it's driving you crazy to constantly hear or read about it then don't. Simple as that. To those that truly are interested & want to know our story I thank you for the support.

During my search in regards to ulcers I came across a page someone had written & they described everything so perfectly so I wanted to share that with you. I did not write the next two paragraphs nor will I try to take any credit for it. I found it on a website lunatunesfreestyles.com/ulcers. Another person who shared their experience with ulcers & wanted to raise awareness.  

"Does your horse spook, bolt, rear, buck, or kick while riding?  Is your horse “girthy”?  Is your horse nervous or does it worry?  Do you ride a mare, stallion, or sensitive gelding?  Do you believe your horse is not happy? Does your horse always seem to be crooked to the right? Does it not want to pick up the right canter lead or do flying changes in that direction?  Does your horse have a hard time holding weight? Is it a picky eater? Does it have a dull coat? Has your horse just experienced a recent trauma in their life?  Have they been recently imported, moved to a new barn, or their buddy has left? Has your horse's behavior gotten worse as your training proceeds where as it should be getting better? Does your horse colic or stress when the weather changes, either hot, cold, or both? "

"If you answered “yes” to even one of these questions, your horse could have ulcers. Even if you answered “no”, your horse still could have stomach and/or hind gut ulcers. The only sure thing about ulcer symptoms is that all horses react differently to stomach ulcers. "

Take the above into some serious consideration before it becomes an even bigger probem. I learned the hard way & I never want Ben to have to go through this again. Treating takes time & full manangment changes not the 28 day course of Gastrogard & your cured. Sure your improved but as I have said before you need to slowly & carefully decrease medications as time & response is noted. Ben is on his 6 month of treatment. Sounds crazy long for those that aren't aware just how serious it can be. For those that have experienced it first hand fully understand.

 This is a photo of Ben's gastroscopy. The left side is the before photos of his initial diagnosis. The photos on the right side are one month later of 3 different medications being thrown at him. Major improvments but as seen on the bottom 2 photos not full resolution. It takes time & change to heal.

Recheck Number 6

Well we finally reached this point. Ben had his 30 day recheck for the Succeed Fecal Blood Test & the results are fully negative. I have been crying off & on like a baby at the joy of finally reaching this point. This is going into month 6 since he was first officially diagnosed in February. I am so beyond proud of Ben for getting here after everything he has been through. I feel so thankful to everyone who has helped us throughout this whirlwind of a journey. I had to change everything for Ben to get to this point. I changed his feed, his living arrangements, his activity schedule, & every supplement he had previously been on. He was so sick for so long. Colicing every week sometimes twice in the same week, stall walking himself until lathered in sweat, not eating all his feed, an attitude that wasn't him, not drinking enough, & those are just what I saw slowly creep in overtime until it was out of control. I was to my breaking point in trying to help fix him in any way that I could but it never lasted he went straight back to being sick. When I was told that this is just going to be something I would have to manage myself his colic well anyone that knows me knows that it was the turning point. I would not I could not accept that if I could do something about it. The phone call to my regular vet where she recommended he go to the hospital to be thoroughly checked saved his life. Those days where he was bad still haunt me. Its like a dark place locked in the back of my mind. Until that day we went to the hospital a small light started to flicker. A flicker of hope that maybe just maybe we can get through this. I have people tell me that if I hadn't done what I did when I did they didn't know how much longer he could have gone through. It shatters my heart & breaks my soul to even grasp that. It's the truth though as much as it pains me. I will never ever give up without giving it my entire self. So I didn't & here we are.

I had someone say wow that's a long time to treat ulcers, but in reality ulcers can be that bad & he was that sick. Most horses go around with ulcers & they show you signs but you may not think that ulcers are the cause. It's not an easy or fun injury to deal with. Its expensive, time consuming, you have to change everything from what you are doing because its not working. You either put your heart into it or you will never fully heal them. Don't let it get to the point that it did for us. I was blindsided & felt like I was smacked in the face with a bat. I had a feeling he had ulcers but no one agreed with me for awhile & I began treating him but it was too severe at that point. He needed a major intervention.

For this months medications he will be continuing his Sucralfate for another 30 days & is now able to stop the Misoprostol. I know your probably wondering if he's better then why are you still medicating? That is an easy answer. You cannot I repeat cannot just stop medications cold turkey with ulcers you have to slowly wean them off everything. Reoccurrence rate is very high for horses who have ulcers if you stop medications too soon, do not find the secondary cause as to why they happened in the first place, & do not make some serious management reevaluations. I still remember another comment I got when Ben was first diagnosed. It was oh well that's easy enough to treat.... people are very ill informed about how badly ulcers can effect horses & just how complicated treating them really is. I am speaking from experience & for everyone who has a horse with ulcers & going through this roller coaster of a ride. One of my main reasons in starting this blog is to raise more awareness about ulcers. They are there whether you see them or not. I bet if you called up a hospital & asked just how many they diagnose in a week you would turn pale. Stop turning a blind eye & start listening to what your horses are telling you. They speak in words we should learn to understand.

Again thank you to everyone for your help. We are not finished this journey we are simply closing a chapter to start a new one. I can only hope he continues improving & inspiring me & anyone who he touches.

 

What Other People Think

Not everyone is going to agree on care & management of their horse & that's ok. You may read this blog & not agree with some of the things I do whether that be feeding or management. Really its ok though. I don't need any one persons approval. The only approval that really matters & should always come first is the horses. I have never been one to follow a crowd or fit in with a certain "group". I tend to float through making my own opinions & assumptions on things especially the care of my son. I am a research crazed mother (of Ben) who tries to find the best solution to what arises. I'm not perfect nor will I ever be, but I will do what I feel is right by my son whether one agrees or not. I have a lot of respect (as one should) for all Ben's Dr.'s & caregivers. I take what is given to me & implicate a plan that will best fit Ben for who he is. Ben pretty much told me what he wanted the only thing I had to do was start listening better. Now that I have he is one very happy guy!

Some may not agree with the alfalfa that Ben gets because alfalfa has such a "bad" reputation. Guess what? His Dr. at the hospital specifically wrote that he is to have alfalfa added to his diet in the form of hay or soaked hay cubes. I originally tried the soaked cubes & while he ate them he didn't love them. Cubes are easier than bales of hay to store & lug around. After talking to a friend & buying a bale of high quality western alfalfa to give a try it was all history. Cubes were not on Bens list anymore now that he had a taste of the really good stuff & so he now gets 1-2 fakes of the hay a day. It's not easy lugging a bale that's over 100 pounds but he whispered & I listened. He also has free choice orchard/timothy mixture (pretty sure that's what it is).

Turnout.....a touchy subject for some. More is better, all the time is best. I am extremely lucky that my barn has agreed to let Ben be outside all the time. My barn has always had great turnout (best I have seen honestly) but it was his request to be fully out & he wasn't budging on it. He will stall walk into a merry-go-round until he's out of the box.... What about when it rains some may say I just say he will either get a bath or go to shelter. He's a very intelligent horse anyone who has taken the time to get to know him even just a little picks up on it straight away. It was more of an adjustment for me to not be a helicopter mom when he started living outside. Ben thrived with this change its like he had been trying to tell me for years & it took him shouting at me for me to wake up & realize he needed this. Lets be real horses are outdoor animals we choose to keep them in for various reasons.

It has taken a lot of trial & error to figure out what Ben needed. Turns out what he really needed was to be more like a horse. To be treated as such as well. Diet & turnout have been his major lifestyle changes. With both these changes he has transformed into a different horse & probably gives a sigh of relief that after so many years he has found someone who listened. He has had 2 really good owners that I know of in his many homes that took great care of him, but somewhere in between many things happened & changed & not for the better until he came to me. He has always stall walked since I have owned him so why did I stall him? That's what everyone else did & at the time I didn't know much in regards to horse care. Had I known what I do now I would have never stalled him. You live & learn I suppose.

I often find myself thinking about decisions I have made in the past. Wondering if I had made a different choice would he have come to this point? Alas I chose a different path & have gone through (still am) such a learning journey with him. I can't say I regret things because then I wouldn't be where I am now. What I do regret is that it has all made an impact on Ben be small or large. I am doing my best at choosing what is best for him & respecting his request all at the same time.

Take home message is do what you feel is right for your horse & their needs. You can by all means listen to others but don't let it interfere with your instinct & your horses voice. Research , read, & research even more! Don't be afraid to try something new that others may not agree upon. If you have done your research & your horse is whispering choose what is right.

Oh side note nothing happened that prompted me to write this either its just a random thought as usual that sails through my mind like a shift In the wind.

Wonder what he thinks

Ben had a very busy day yesterday filled with appointments! He began his day with his toe trim! He had a very good report from his farrier which is always great. His toes are holding strong & for the first time his front toes have concavity! His hind toes have always had great concavity to them but he has always had somewhat of flatter fronts in comparison. After going on 4 yrs now barefoot his fronts have finally decided to catch up. His farrier believes that with his new turnout schedule of being out all the time has played a big role in the improvement in his toes. After all toes need circulation for well being & movement is the best kind! After his toe trim he had some down time in between his next appointment which was his massage, so I gave him a nice flake of his alfalfa for him to munch on while he waited. Just as he finished his flake his massage therapist arrived for the next pamper session. His massage went very well with only very minor areas that needed some attention. His knees apparently are doing extremely well & felt great! Thank you to his new joint supplement. As a reminder he takes Steadfast by Arenus & started off at the loading dose for a full month but now on the maintenance dose. This is the only thing he takes for joint health so no pain medications given or any kind of injections. He is sound & comfortable! He used to take the Cosequin ASU Plus but I didn't feel it helped him the way it should have. After a lot of research & having tried many other joint supplements through the years the Steadfast is by far the most impressive. Arenus is a very good company that does a lot of research into the products they create. Another reason I'm a fan & he also takes the Assure Guard they make for stomach & hindgut support.

After his massage he had a few hours until his next appointment. So he had some relaxation & then it was time for his Vet visit. His vet visit was short & sweet just the way he prefers with minimal disruption to his routine. He was allowed to get a vaccine finally since the vet at the hospital was pleased with his progress. I also wanted to run some routine blood work to see how everything is functioning especially since he had been very sick for a while. I typically run blood work on him every 6 months in hopes to catch something early If it shall arise. The last time it was run was December 2 months before he became very ill & it was perfect. Now 6-7 months later the results are in & everything is again perfect just like it had been before. This was a huge relief for both of us. He has been on medications for a long time for his stomach & completely new diet so this shows that he is handling the medications & new lifestyle very well. For his vaccine he typically would receive a dose of Banamine to alleviate any residual soreness associated with being vaccinated but this year due to his ulcers both his vet & I agreed to not do it this year. He is out day & night so that should help prevent any soreness since he will be constantly able to freely move about. He seemed like nothing happened today a day after so thank you 24/7 turnout!

So overall Ben had great visits with mild sassiness (he likes his opinion known) & narcoleptic moments! I often find myself just watching him wondering what he thinks about everything. He has been through so much seen so much more than most people will ever see. Wouldn't it be great if we could ask them what they think about something or what is bothering them. That would certainly make it easier if we spoke the same language, but we don't & they have a special & unique language of there own. It is our job to learn & listen. Horses are very expressive & let their feelings known in subtle or strong ways. A whisper to a scream. It is our jobs to hear the whisper before it becomes the scream.