all is well

Our farrier was out for another 4 week trim. That evening, Hope balked while I walked her up/into the barn. Very out of character. We didn't think too much of it. There is some grippy gravel on the incline. Perhaps she caught a stone. Inside the barn she walked in the weirdest way. Extending her back legs straight forward and pointed. We checked her out and found nothing out of the ordinary. 

The next morning, Hope walked out of her stall and down to the pasture pretty much the same odd way. She seemed fine grazing in the pasture. Her exaggerated gait had not improved much by evening chores. 

33 seconds

Incase you are wondering, the first comment was for me/my current mobility issues, not Hope. Our daughter and son were with us that night. They can be seen/heard in the video. 

We all thought her walk looked neurological. It was as if Hope couldn't figure out where to place her feet. Especially her back feet. Needless to say we called our vet clinic in the morning to see if they could fit us in. They did and we got a two-fer vet visit. One vet was a recent graduate who was getting acclimated and a newer vet who was in charge. Both very nice gals. As you may recall, our regular vet is semi-retired. When you make an "emergency" call, you get who you get.

The vets checked Hope out all over. They took her pulse, and temperature (a first) then watched her move. It became evident she struggled with leg placement the most with elevation change. The incline to/from pastures, the step out of the arena onto concrete etc were all done with unusual leg movement. 
 

I have (thankfully) never seen a neurological exam. The flex and balance test things they did were interesting. A walk in hand with a tail pull to check for balance was included. All signs pointed to a neurological issue. Her leg placement was not as dramatic once inside the arena. However, she was hesitant and awkward with all movement she normally does with ease. For example, backing. 

21 seconds

We discussed the possibility of Stringhalt, Wobbles and EPM. They sent the video's to our vet. He has the most experience and is the clinic lameness expert. Other attending vets at the clinic would also review the videos. Our clinic works together as a team on more challenging cases.

Everyone thought Hope has EPM :( most likely cause by ingesting opossum poop. Did you know possum are native to Australia and different than the opposum we have? Me either. Everyone I know calls our opossum, possum. 

Her blood sample was sent out for testing. While we waited for the results, Hope had three days of infused DMSO. An anti-inflammatory that stinks to high heaven. Our entire barn wreaked of rotten eggs/garlic. Pee-ew!! We have used DMSO in the past on other horses as a topical. She also had x-rays taken of her spine. 

hope getting back x-rays

Per our vet's recommendation, Hope was started on EPM medication. They said early EPM treatment is key, and it wouldn't hurt her. It was a hard decision to agree to treat for the unknown. 

Marquis is given with Corn Oil for better absorption 



corn oil, yum yum?

Our girl Hope took all of the above procedures with ease. Let me tell you it was a lot for any horse, let alone a two year old. The vet was impressed that they did not have to sedate her for the giant infusion needle insertion and standing still for the extended drip-drip-drip to happen.

My heart hurt as I watched Brads dream of raising/training/showing Cierra's off-spring fade away. He took all this better than I did and does not care about his dream. He just wants Hope to be okay. So do I. A reminder that things can change in an instance.

There was daily visible improvement with Hope's gait. Our vet rewatched the nero. exam video's the attending vets took. He changed his mind and is leaning more towards a weird short trim response vs EPM. I read trims can bring pre-existing conditions to the surface. Needless to say, we would be thrilled if this was all a result of a short trim. If so, the attending vet said this would be the most dramatic and unusual trim response any of them have ever seen.

Eight long days later, we got the call. Finally!! Waiting is hard. Hope tested negative for EPM and her spine xrays looked normal. Thank god. 

Our farrier will be stunned when he hears about all this. Before you think he did something wrong, know he is a highly respected farrier and did nothing wrong with Hope's feet. There have been many eyes on her hooves. Our farrier has been trimming Hope since she was a baby. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say about her response. We will most likely start trimming her every other 4 week visit.

All is well that ends well.

padame fall update

As you may know, we have been trying to figure out Padame's off/on lameness. In April 2024 she had an MRI. It came back inconclusive. I posted a lameness update in March 2025. As of this date, we are still trying to figure out how to best help Padame with her soreness. Lameness never seems to stop (r)evolving. 

Thankfully, she was able to be shown by her trainer last season. However, Padame required hock injections. If this horrifies you, know leg shots are very common for show horses to be able to repetitively do what they do. Not a big fan of injections in horses, or humans for that matter. It is what it is and comes with the territory. I am not going further into the variety or pro's/con's. I think of them as similar to human's who receive knee/back etc shots. They are intended to help movement be more pain free. No different with active horses. Horse hocks eventually fuze, and these shots are no longer needed. 

The problem is Padame's leg injections were not lasting. She presented sore in a short period of time. For whatever reason, she was not getting the normal length of expected relief from them. Which reveals her soreness is caused by something else.

Fast forward to the visit I mentioned at our trainers. Brad asked me to attend a meeting to discuss Padame's on/off lameness. Our meeting included a horse show friend from years ago. She is a retired small animal surgeon/vet who has been studying equine lameness under a mentor. Her home herd has multiple retired show horses. Some due to chronic lameness. 

Her equine vet mentor is well-known for treating lameness on high end sport horses. I am sure many equine readers have heard of DeClue Equine. The difference with this vets treatment vs traditional equine vets is that she treats with a whole body approach. Traditional equine vets tend to treat lameness legs down. Patching the problem, not rehabilitating the cause. 

Our friend enthusiastically shared what she is studying about equine lameness. The general message was that it often stems from weakness in areas other than the legs. Requiring a whole body treatment approach. She talked about the Iliopsoas (aka hip flexor) being a common weakness in chronic lame horses. Iliopsoas is a non-weight bearing muscle/tendon. Here is a brief article that explains the muscle/tendon. 

For those of you interested in horse movement, below are video's of Padame twirling.

September 2025 (1.33 seconds)

1.17 seconds

Iliopsoas Injuries is a podcast link that was shared with us. With all due respect, I couldn't get past the excessive steak reference. I might fast forward and retry listening. Then again, I cannot keep up with the endless podcast rabbit hole!! 

We, mostly Brad, had a lot to think about. Potential treatments mentioned included a muscle relaxer, Chiro and Body work and progressive light walk-n-trot in hand. Back imaging and a series of back injections were also discussed.
 

Decisions were made in Padame's best interest. Three of us were in agreement on not going the back injection route. Inserting needles between vertebrae sounds frightening. We don't know if Padame actually has Iliopsoas weakness. Chiro and Bodywork helped her improve and she eventually went back to being ridden lightly. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the soreness returned. We are once again back to square one (aka the unknown). 

The next step for Brad's blondee will be hauling her to a specialty equine clinic that provides Thermal imaging. Hopefully it will help figure out what is making her sore. 

Padame needs a new treatment plan. You can't keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. 

land of wonders ~ september 2/2

September feels like such a long time ago. Twenty three days to be exact. The second half of our ninth month continued hot and turned drier. I wore my head net walking in our woods for most of it. Eventually, flying pests and more unusual nature wonders slowed down. Except for magnificent clouds! They were plentiful. Floating above without a care. Luring me outside, to spend a few minutes pondering their wonder. Blink and clouds change shape. Especially as the sun dips below our Western tree line. Casting vibrant light on different parts of the airy fluff. 

9.16.25

Some cloud shapes instantly resemble one thing or another. I thought the above looked like Goofy riding a magic carpet. Shapes rarely last for long.

There are evening where cloud fascination can be enjoyed in all directions. I get instantly wide eyed. Stop whatever I am doing and hustle in/out our doors, in all directions. It happens so often, I no longer hear "what are you doing?".

facing West

flocks of Geese heard then seen, high in the Eastern sky

formations of various sizes kept a-honking, as they flew northwest

I noticed more fuzzy crawlers appearing in September. Always on their way to who knows where. I have no idea what most of them are. My Google search results have been wrong a lot lately. Proving, you cannot believe everything you read on the internet!

Yellow Woolly Bear Caterpillar 
9.17.25

Autumn Crocus

Large Maple Spanworm Moth

The little blue wildflowers found in our pines continued to captivate my attention. We have one plant/patch growing. I watched for blooms every day. I can tell you when they do flower, the bloom lasts longer than one day. Depending on weather.

Dayflower
9.18.25

I can't get over the color, as well as the tiny bright yellow perfectly formed orchid looking stamens. There is also conflicting online info when one tries to ID these. Grows by wetland, grows in dry locations...whatever.

All know for sure, is what I see with my own eyes.

more tree window frogs visited
9.19.25

Check out the wild sky outside my West windows. Squeal!!

Closer views:

Turkey feathers of all sizes could be seen just about everywhere. I used to collect the feathers I found. There are so many. Now I leave them where they lay.

9.21.25

sunset

close-up

Woolly Bear Caterpillars started appearing. Fork lore claims the width of their black and orange bands can predict the coming winter's severity. A wide orange or brown band is said to forecast a mild winter, while a wide black band predicts a harsh, cold, and snowy one. 

My prediction: 50/50

9.23.25

Tank is always happy

My Epi Cactus bloomed off/on all Summer outside on the front porch. Another round of blooms started in September. I recently moved the plant back inside. It requires long sleeves and gloves (and still getting poked). Many memories are attached to this special plant. It is currently blooming like crazy indoors. Again! 

9.24.25

pop of early color

not your mothers pearls

waterlily autumn crocus

I was so surprised to find more than one of these had popped up in my bird feeder bed: 

9.28.25

hocus pocus, excuse the focus

many more creepy crawlies were spotted

With September coming to a close, the anticipation of cooler Fall weather increased. Especially when Summer's heat decided to hang around f.o.r.e.v.e.r. At some point, I was able to stop wearing my head net and just swat. swat. What a relief! 

Our last day ended with a visit to see Brad's blondeee. Post to come. Eventually :)
 

Padame (at trainers) 9.30.25

Fall horse update

Our Fall Horse Wellness vet day came and went. Well, for most of our horses the vet visit was about wellness. Not so much for Koda. Everyone got Fall shots etc, taped weights (part of the package) and the girls got their teeth floated. Including Hope. Hope is a good place to start, and end with this post.

Hope: 932 lbs (821 in Spring). As usual, Hope was funny. "Pick me, pick me" Until it was her turn. She remembered the guy who poked her with needles last Spring. Regardless, her exam was uneventful and her first float went well.

Brad has increased his work with Hope. She is making him look good. It took about four short sessions for her to carry a cinched saddle while lunging at all three gaits. He started the first day walking in hand with just a pad. Next session was a cinched pad while twirling. Then pad & saddle in hand, and then cinched while lunging. Hope did not care or "go off" like the others did when introduced. They have been working on adding stirrup pressure etc. With teeth floated, he can introduce Hope to a bit. It should be a non issue as she still (still!!) wants to put everything in her mouth. Every day includes leading in hand, ground tying in some way shape or form, and leaving her dang lead line alone.

Cierra: 1117 lbs (1183 in Spring). There is not much to add about CeCee. Her allergies/breathing were re-discussed with the vet. Nothing different. Her breathing is improving with the weather and bites are less intense. Although the biters still seem to find just her. Must be because Cierra is so so sweet.

Harmony: 1117 lbs (1132 in Spring). Good ol' Harmony. She has great genes and does not look close to 25. Our daughter did mention to the vet, she still wishes Harmony could have been registered...long story. Yep, that was part of her plan that didn't happen.

Ironically, the day after our vet visit Harmony came in walking like this:

Harmony (10 secs)

Nemo: 1187 lbs (1217 in Spring). This big guy remembers our vet well. All the times he made him feel better. I can see it in Nemo's eyes and the way his demeanor softens. 

Our vet is easing into retirement and is now part time. He has helped us care for all our horses, since the day each one of them joined our family. 

Koda: 1257 lbs (1279 in Spring). What can I say about Koda. His lameness is going went the wrong direction. He recently got an abscess. A first for him. Our farrier found it had just opened. I felt like a bad owner. We do check Koda's legs and feet often! I just assumed his gimping was his new normal, chronic navicular/arthritis that we've been dealing with all along. We decided to stall Koda for a couple days. He improved. We tried half day turn out. Not helpful. He has been on full stall days ever since. 

Koda's daily routine includes twice a day solo arena turn out. It gives him a chance to stretch his legs/roll/change of scenery, while we clean his stall. Altho many times he just stands at the gate. He was getting to graze in hand a little as well. 

Our vet wanted to x-ray Koda's right foot. I was stunned with what I saw while he was getting the machine ready. Look at the difference in the back of his front feet! Jaw drop.

what is wrong with this picture

(right/white back foot is "straight-ish")

up on x ray blocks

Some where along the line, Koda tore a tendon. My heart sunk. Poor guy. There is *always* something wrong with him. At first, it felt like a death sentence. It isn't. Yet. Pretty sure his lameness will be his demise. We were asked to "keep doing what we are doing" with Koda, for a minimum of six months. Except for the hand grazing. The vet wants Koda to only move on his own, briefly.

Our vet is confident there is a tear. He is pretty sure it is where the Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon connects at the lowest point is detached/torn. Mostly because of the way Koda presents his foot. That tendon is the turquoise line (above) and attachment area is circled below. The yellow arrow I drew indicates where Koda's longer pastern bone should be more forward.

Koda's right foot

Our vet warned us there wasn't much we could do for Koda. At this point, his lameness will forever be off/on again. Apparently there is a plate surgery option that he does not recommended. We wouldn't do it anyways. As long as Koda doesn't tear more tendons/ligaments, there is a glimmer of hope that he can still have some quality of life as a pasture horse. After he heals.

Six months (to a year plus) of healing is a loong loong time to live in a stall. So far he is handling 23.5-ish hours of stalling surprisingly well. I hope this time Koda can maintain his sanity. 

We are still processing next steps and how we can best help Koda. We could haul him back to the MRI vet specialist. But I am not sure Koda can even haul comfortably or what it would gain us. Other than confirmation. We may try some alternative treatments. Even if for comfort. Koda will continue wearing his Streamz Bands part days. His four week trims will need to be medicated for now.

Two out of five horses at home have been in the barn all day/night lately. It makes for more work, and hopeful healing. 

nemo & cierra (9/2025)

If you are wondering about Padame, I will do a separate post on her when I have more details. She is currently not being ridden. We are actively also trying to figure out her on/off lameness issue(s). Sigh.

SO yah. Half of our horses are lame. There is hardness in this life we chose, yet there is hope.