Mickey is improved!  His scope was markedly better than the previous one in July.  The swelling has been reduced in the airway.  The inflammation was also significantly better.  He did not seem to have any lower airway, lung or other respiratory issues (i.e a chronic pneumonia).  I believe the management of the allergens (removal of as many things as possible, change of feed, change of environment) has counted for some of the improvement.  The pythium is gone (adios-farewell) and with it, it’s symptoms have gone. 

Is Mickey still coughing?  The answer is still yes.  But we have another factor that may be playing a part.  Mickey’s pedigree includes the great but tragic Quarter Horse, Impressive.  Impressive was an Oklahoma bred (as was Mickey) World Champion Halter Horse.

Impressive was a much sought after stallion.  Everyone wanted to reproduce the traits that had made him successful.  Unfortunately, as more and more descendents came of age, so did a disease attributed to the great stallion.  A genetic mutation that has been implicated in the rare but burgeoning – and sometimes fatal – muscular disorder known as hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP). This particular defect is a dominant condition, meaning that at least half of the affected horses’ offspring will be affected as well. In the words of one prominent Quarter Horse trainer, this discovery was “one of the most devastating things that has ever hit the horse industry.”

I knew all about HYPP as a quarter horse owner, all my mares were tested to be sure they did not carry this disease.  I knew from Mickey’s pedigree that he was “Impressive-bred”.  Many people did.  We joked that Impressive’s less than stellar personality was a lot like Mickey’s.  But until I posted a recent picture of Mickey, after he has gained almost two hundred pounds and joked again about how he was channeling his inner “Impressive” did anyone think about Impressive-Mickey and HYPP.  No vet would have looked at Mickey (who traditionally has looked like a small thoroughbred not a bulky halter horse) and thought wow, he looks like Impressive. But Dr. Criner picked up the link.  So, Mickey is being tested.  He may carry one of the genes, both of the positive genes or none at all.  It is possible he has the heterozygous gene (the one gene).  In horses that carry only one gene, the HYPP may be dormant, sometimes not appearing until late in life.  But the stress of illness, can bring the gene to forefront.  It can cause paralysis and maybe causing the collapse we are seeing in his airway.  It may be what has caused his droopy lip all these years and the twitching we see from time to time.

We will wait for a confirmation.  We will start to build Mickey up on his work schedule.  Lauren and I wanted to show him Thursday (just over the low jumps-we were ready to go) but Dr. Hildreth said no.  If he is HYPP positive, we hope we can manage it with diet and medications. We are scheduling with Texas A&M Vet school, a dynamic endoscope that is done while Mickey is worked.  We should be able to do this in the next couple of weeks. We will be looking for a dorsal displacement of the soft palate.   If we find this, there is a surgery which is quite successful to fix it.  If nothing else, I see this little paint horse making quite a vet write-up one day.  A cough, with a history of a serious lung infection,  allergies,  a pythium diagnosis, to perhaps a HYPP diagnosis, to a potential surgery.  Don’t care about all that, I just want my Mickey back.

I am pretty sure Lauren had Mickey saddled up this afternoon.  We will see how he tolerates the work. In the meantime, we will make a run for finals.  We might just do it.

Tomorrow we pull out bright and early, to take Mickey for his return laryngoscope.  I don’t expect any real change, but would like to be surprised. Based upon his cough, I do not expect to be.  Dr. Criner also suggested the testing of another disease that could be causing these same problems so we won’t have all the answers tomorrow.

I sent about 25 strands of Mickey’s tail with the hair follicle overnight mail to the University of California.  They will be testing for a genetically inherited disease.  While not good news, if Mickey is positive for this, it will give us something to work with and perhaps get Mickey back in the show ring.  I will update tomorrow with results from the scope and later in the week as the genetic testing is concluded.

I took Mickey for a ride yesterday.  It was overcast and pretty dismal.  Lauren was at the boyfriend’s.  But it lifted my spirits to just be out on the back of this horse.  Feather and Mimi tried to follow along with us.  They got caught at the first fence and it took some work for them to figure out to go back to the barn and around to the pasture.  When they did, Feather came blasting out to find Mickey, full throttle.  I did not realize the mare had so much speed.  The poor little pony, Mimi,  was chugging faithfully along behind, not beginning to keep up but churning her short legs as fast as she could.  As Mickey and I disappeared from sight, the two girls ran back to the barn to see if he had magically appeared there.  When we came around the bend again, out to the back pasture they raced.  We played this fun game two or three times.  We would walk along the hay road and the girls would race to the barn and back.  Probably if we play the game again, I should put some splint boots on the girls to support their legs with the running.  Mickey just did some trotting and cantering but the girls got full cardio-vascular workouts.  I don’t understand why it takes Lauren so long to work the horses.  I managed to work all three of them, pretty hard in 45 minutes. 

I got Mick back to the barn, hosed down the girls, prepared their dinners and headed in a happier person.  Oh, what about Mr. Kid, you ask, well he just stood at the barn and watched the silly girls running up and down pasture.  He thought it was pretty dumb.

In mom news-I got her to let me call Jim yesterday.  They talked to each other for the first time since she left Denver at the end of August. Neither one could hear very well and were talking over each other but mom’s face lit up when Jim told her he loved her and missed her.  Hopefully, this will be a start of them talking to each other again.  It did my heart good to see her smile.

Lauren and Mickey hit the ground running winning their first class at .80 meter with a pretty good margin.  The next class was tougher.  Mickey was starting to get tired, day three class number 8.  That is a lot jumping and running.  Mickey jumps when Lauren guides him perfectly to each jump.  Second to the last jump of 13, Lauren had fallen out of position and Mickey-Stopped.  Dead stopped.  Lauren got him going again, donning the crop and spurs but was penalized by the clock and for the “refusal”.  Normally, it is very difficult for Lauren and Mick to come back after this type of issue.  I was afraid for them as they went in the ring for the first of their adult low jumper classes at 1.0 meter.  It was higher and harder and they were struggling.  They cleared all the fences and ended with a time of 41.04 seconds.  There were some fast horses in the class but they had problems and Lauren and Mick won their first Adult class!  Extremely proud of them doing so well and coming back after a refusal.

I had the last of my tests this morning so was there to see this round.  No more tests until Tuesday.

There are many forms of manipulation.  I have eagerly utilized many over the years to get my kids to do what I want them to do.  For instance, a two-year old is better with the choices “do you want a bath with bubbles or without?” because either answer gets them in the bathtub. 

I have manipulated my daughters with offers of clothing, dogs and horses (depending on my need for their compliance).  Certainly, I have been manipulated by them and others over the years.

 And then there is the actual physical manipulation.  Like when you visit the chiropractor.  I have gone a few times.  I have friends who swear by their chiropractor and relish a visit to get corrected.  I have had so many actual broken bones that I have somewhat shied away from chiropractor on the grounds that I need to protect my fragile bones.

Over the years, I have had my horses worked on by a chiropractor.  Seriously. The doctor (usually a people chiropractor that started working on horses) would come to the barn, stand on the back of his pick-up truck and proceed to snap, crackle,  and pop the horse into better form.  It made sense that the horse could suffer from the same issues we people do with their spines, necks, shoulders and hips.  I know many equestrians who have regular chiropractic visits for their mounts.  I had one dramatic time when my old horse Kid, had been lame on his front leg for months.  One visit with the chiropractor and he was good as new.  It makes you a believer.

We bought our horse Leo a year ago.  He did pretty well when he was doing the basic walk, trot or canter (or so I thought) but when jumping, he was a mess. He threw his body over the jump with no control over his limbs.  In horse shows, audible gasps could be heard from the crowd because of the way he jumped.  Unlike our horses, Mickey or Feather, who are lovely to watch over fences, Leo was all (if you will forgive the expression), asses and elbows, if that paints a good visual for you.  He showed an incredible ability to get over any jump we put in front him and he was always willing to try but it was not pretty to watch.  We had decided that while Leo was a great guy, he ate a lot, more than any other horse we own and he was not moving ahead with his training program.  He went to Camp Dev this winter.   This is a special time for the horses when they get the undivided attention of our trainer, Dev Branham.  They beg to come home to the easy life.  Dev didn’t have much to say for Leo except that he just couldn’t use his body and he tended to just fall apart when cantering or trotting.

We put Leo up for sale.  People would call about him but we would always find various reasons why they would not be a good owner for him. I think we made excuses to keep him.  While I have a sense of responsibility about my horses and do not want them ending up at an auction or dead as horse meat somewhere there have been some good potential owners that have come to see him and we have just rejected them.

My friend and veterinarian, Dr. Lynn Criner, had told me she was doing advanced studies in myofascial trigger point release and chiropractic equine medicine.  The word myofascial means muscle tissue (myo) and the connective tissue in and around it (fascia). When stressed or injured muscles form trigger points, like contacted knots, which can cause pain and tightness.  In addition to the usual horse chiropractor, she is also a hunter/jumper rider (so knows the body mechanics involved) and she is a vet so she intimately knows a horse’s anatomy.  I considered it a big step ahead of the regular chiropractor.

I figured I might as well book a visit and see if anything could be done for Leo.  I had nothing to lose and great horse to gain by giving it a shot.  When Dr. Criner first examined Leo he was immediately and obviously sore along his spine, pelvis and pole (the top of his head).  And just as obviously, when she did certain trigger points on him, you could just  visibly see him relax and if horse could sigh, he sighed.  Then Lauren rode him so Dr. Criner could observe him.  Looking at him from the rear, his tail hung sideways (not straight) and his hips were seriously uneven. 

Now comes the stupid part.  I thought the horse moved pretty well. I have photos where he looks pretty good.  But the minute she pointed out the errors in his movement, I clearly saw them.  His poor right side swung in and across his body to compensate for whatever issue he was having.  If and when he did move well, it would ultimately fall apart as he could not sustain it.

After seeing him ridden and jumped, Dr. Criner set out to correct Leo.  In a series of manipulations and trigger points, Leo stood before me, squarely on all four feet.  You are saying of course, he stood on all four feet-that’s what he has, but prior to this he would not stand square with his weight evenly distributed.  He would lean on hoof or another.  She worked on him over an hour.  There were the snaps and pops that I associate with chiropractic manipulation but there were also the huge and immediate relaxation of muscle and sighs of when something just felt right.  He was the best of patients for her (thank God it wasn’t Mickey because he would have never gone along with all the helpful therapy). 

Two things I would note-when Leo came to us, his chest had been hurt.  One side of his chest was clearly larger than the other.  As his injury healed, the disproportionate size of his chest did not change.  I assumed it was swollen and just never got better.  Dr. Criner said his sternum was out. She manipulated it back.  Immediately, and for the first time since I have owned him, his chest muscles were equal on each side.  Likewise, a lot of horse don’t like their ears or the top of their head touched.  Leo is vey tall and easily would stretch away from my touch.  Again the doctor said this area was in need of adjustment.  She stood above Leo on a four-foot step stool (I know I should have taken pictures) and manipulated him.  Down came his head, he started licking his lips and sighed loudly.  Today, I can easily touch his ears and his head.  It doesn’t hurt any more.

Although he is so much better, it will be awhile before we will see if we can re-train him to use his body correctly.  For so long he has compensated for his problem with poor body mechanics that it will take some time for him to learn it is not going to hurt if he does what nature intended for him to do. 

He worked as well today as he has ever worked.  Tomorrow we will start some exercises to teach him to jump right using his body.  And we will see.  In this case, a little manipulation may have a big pay-off.  Thanks, Dr. C!