Good News for Jackson

Yesterday, we drove Jackson down to Clements for his visit with Dr. Linda.  The magical wonder vet; sport horse specialist and competitive eventer.  Her husband is a stadium jumper -- you know the ones who jump those wicked high jumps.  The exam room and office are papered with fancy ribbons and pictures.  She isn't a large person; she's a petite bundle of lean muscle and energy.

She liked Jackson.  She thought he was cute.  Everybody loves Jackson.  Especially me.

Jackson got a full work up: x-rays, lab work (some of which she sent to Cornell), and hoof testers.  First, she had him trot walk on the lunge line.  He painfully picked his way around the circle.  When she touched the back of his heel with the tester, not even squeezing yet, he leaned all the way back and pulled. "I believe you." She said.

She blocked the nerve in his navicular to confirm the location of the pain.  And then he trotted sound.

X-rays revealed slight rotation of the coffin bone but nothing horrible.  His navicular are a mess, he has practically no sole and is... complicated.  She injected his coffin bone joint to see if that brings relief.

She can also inject his navicular if this doesn't work, but we are starting conservative.  Injecting the navicular is complicated.  He's on some anti-inflammatory medications and may be put on more meds, pending the results of his metabolic and insulin tests.  He had those panels done a number of years ago, and they were negative, but we are going to see if there are changes.  He might be borderline on the tests; she suspects that he is.

She also gave us very specific directions for shoes on his fronts; to relief the pressure on his heels and navicular.

She believes we can get him comfortable and, if the shoes stay on (he has thin hooves that don't hold a nail well), he might even be sound enough for light work.  All the stars have to align for that: the injections, the medications and the shoeing.