Doc and Rehab

Today is six weeks from Doc's surgery.  I have been tack-walking him for the past two weeks for about thirty minutes a day.  Today he went to The Sanctuary which is a no-expense-spared rehab facility that opened this past year in Ocala.  Conveniently, it is right around the corner from our farm.  At The Sanctuary, Doc did twenty minutes on the aqua-tread and his knee was then lasered with a deep tissue cold laser.  For the next six weeks we will be doing this routine twice a week.  My treating vet down here, Dr. Ted Oroski, has warned me of the severity of Doc's condition due to the damage to his knee cartilage during the infection.  Despite this, though, he is progressing well.  I am remaining optimistic.  What Doc would most like for Christmas this year is fresh grass!

The other boys are looking fabulous.  Rivi has a dressage show in a few weeks and Jet is just back in work again after his holiday.  My five-year-old Monte is going to show this winter for the first time.  I am excited about him.  He is a much bigger and more powerful horse than what I typically like, but he is very talented.  He will begin eventing this winter.  I am also working with my mom's five-year-old Gavin.  He is showing promise as an event horse too.  In just a few weeks Holley Russell will arrive with Ida and Towanda and the barn will be full for the winter!

On a more somber note, Bruce Davidson's wife Susie Tuckerman had a bad fall while schooling at home last week and broke several vertebrae in her neck area.  Brian and I spoke with her in the hospital last night and we are going to go to see her this weekend.  Her spirits seem up, but I know this must be a terribly difficult time for her.  Thinking of what she is going through saddens me a bit every day.   

I hope you all have a wonderful time with your loved ones, two legged and four, over the next ten days.

Ashley

Old Pony Club Friends

Last night I had dinner with my old Pony Club friends Susie and Sharon.  We spent many a hot and sweaty rally together!

Doc has progressed to paddock turn out.

This past Thursday, 28 days post surgery, we were able to start turning Doc out in a small paddock during the day.  This will be his turnout space for the next four weeks.  This week I will begin to tack walk him.  The critical idea for his knee recovery is to bring the joint back to full mobility in a slow progression.  The infection is gone.  We are now doing physical therapy. 

Doc's progress

These are pictures of Doc's knee taken 19 days post surgery (the indoor pictures), including a breakdown of the full-leg bandage that Doc had to wear for approximately three weeks, and then photos taken today (the outdoor pictures), 26 days post surgery.  Doc is still on stall rest, though he will be allowed turnout in a small paddock starting later this week.  In about ten days I will begin tack-walking him.  He is sound at the walk, but his joint still needs to be kept quiet for another six to eight weeks.  He will not be allowed back into a normal sized turnout until he is sound at the trot.  He is handling his malady pretty well.  He would really like to be able to run around in a field, but I know he realizes that he is hurt.  

Florida Sunrise

Taken out our back door, Sunday morning, November 30th.

Pictures from the trip to Florida

These were taken "on the road."  I took a couple of pictures of Mo's house where we stay overnight with the horses in South Carolina.  She has seven pugs.  I could only get three in the frame at once.  They absolutely love Jada because she is terrified of them and they torment her.  It was a long evening of holding a water spritzer in hand to fend them off!

Return to PA

Here are two pictures my mom took of Jet yesterday.  Today I am back in PA!  I apologize for not blogging yesterday.  I left the horse show and drove back to Pennsylvania and my computer battery died.  I had to wait until I got here today to plug it in.  

Jet jumped a really nice round yesterday in show jumping.  We had one rail which landed us in 16th place overall out of 33 starters.  I could feel him grow in maturity as the weekend progressed and I'm really looking forward to competing him this winter.  When I came out of the show jumping ring a spectator said to me, "He looks like he's been doing this his whole life!"  Amazingly, he has only been doing this for about a year and a half.  In fact, last year at this time he had never even competed in a recognized horse trials and he had only done two unrecognized horse trials -- one at beginner novice and one at novice.  It is a real testament to his sensibility and talent that he was able to easily move from green novice to one star level in less than a year.  He may not be the flashiest mover, but I definitely think Jet is a special horse. 

In other good news, Gina was able to pick Doc up today from Mid Atlantic.  His knee joint needs to be kept very quiet for a period so he will be on stall rest for about thirty days and then we will proceed to gradually bring him back to full work over a period of three months.  He looks perky and we can tell that he is very happy to be home, even though he's not terribly happy about the stall rest.  It was good to see him today.

Ashley