OSU Visit: 1/31 Saturday - Arrival

Saturday was a whirlwind day. I picked up my mom, then we got gas and breakfast, then we picked up straw from the feed guy and headed to the barn.

We dropped off the straw, then were faced with the task of digging my trailer out of 8 inches of snow. After that, the wheel chalks were frozen to the ground and we had to use hot water to release them. Loads of fun.

Unloaded the trailer... we wouldn't be needing any of the horse show stuff... then loaded hay and feed. Loaded horse. It was strange that all I needed was hay, feed, no bows to come home in, and the horse.

Five hours later (!!!) we had finally arrived at OSU's Galbreath Equine Center. Talk about a freaking cool facility. If you ever get a chance to tour the place, do it no matter the drive. It is incredible.

The entrance.

My truck and trailer fit easily inside. I think almost any truck and trailer would fit. Five of me would have fit.

Stunning ceiling. The entry hall had weird orange lights. I thought they must be dimmed for the evening or something, but nope, they're always like that.

I took Mikey's boots and blanket layers off immediately after unloading him, before we went to his stall. One, because the building is heated to a normal building temperature and he'd start to sweat quickly (I sure did). Two, because I would have had to bring all those blankets back to the trailer! I did send his Rambo Whitney Fleece Cooler to his stall on the off chance he got cold. He didn't need it.

Our arrival seemed to draw every student out. Other than a couple emergencies that were there before us, I think we were the only ones that arrived over the weekend. They said several of the horses that were scheduled to arrive had cancelled their surgeries because of the impending snowstorm. It was why we came a day early. Mikey got rounds of "What a nice clip job!" and "What a handsome horse!"

Mikey was weighed (1,140 lbs) and then we took him to his stall to settle in. First thing he did was sample the straw in every corner. Second thing was to take a big pee. Good job Mikey.

After getting weighed. The scale is the dark rectangle on the right.

Comfy in his stall drinking water.

Stall front.

Visiting is never restricted for a horse's owner, but the veterinary hospital does have standard visiting hours so the techs and students can get their work done, so they ask that you try to respect those hours. However, there aren't visiting hours on the weekends because there isn't much going on; it's emergencies only. Standard hours are 9am-6pm. We really tried our best to stick to those hours, but a couple times we couldn't.

After he was settled in, my mom and I checked in to the hotel and got some dinner at Applebee's. We went back after to check on Mikey again. I was at a loss of what to do for him. We had traveled, stabled away from home, and I wasn't supposed to take care of him. Or ride. And no hand walking or grazing. All I could do was pet him and talk to him. For someone used to doing everything herself, and then sitting in front of the stall waiting for Mikey to need something, it was unbearable.

Mikey seemed happy, but he wasn't keen on them putting his hay in the back of the stall. His water was up front, and he likes to dunk and eat. His student caregiver figured it out the next day though. But I may have moved Mikey's hay Saturday night :-)

Cotton Sheeting Hell

So does anyone have a favorite cotton sheeting that they are dying to tell me about?

I am currently using Gamgee Highly Absorbent Padding, 12" x 11.5' from Tractor Supply. I am very happy with it, but at a price tag of $12.99 per roll, I am running out of money! We use one roll per bandage change (nice and thick- the incisions staying clean is too important).

I am having trouble getting it because Tractor Supply only gets like 4-5 in, and then people like me come in and buy it all. I just ordered 10 rolls from Smart Pak praying that it is the same thing in different packaging and will come in quickly.

Any cheaper human equivalent that I can buy in a CVS or Rite Aid or Walgreens or anywhere? Or cheaper equivalent in general?

More Updates

I'm slowly working on the posts that document our visit to OSU. I want to be thorough, partly to share, and partly so I have a written record of what happened because it was a very expensive and eventful week.

Mikey is home, and finally settled into his new routine where he stays in his stall at all times except to have his bandage changed. That is what his life is going to be like for the next 30 days. After that, he'll be allowed to handwalk for 15 min once a day for another 30. After that it looks like we can evaluate his soundness and comfort and start adding work back in. Somewhere in the second 30 days he'll have an APS treatment. That stands for autologus protein solution, which is a solution of plasma and white blood cell proteins that will help reduce inflammation.

Here's what his leg looked like Saturday morning. I wasn't thinking when I took these pics as you can barely see the stitches. He has two incisions on the inside of the hock, and two on the outside. The small one on the outside is the one that's still oozing, and the biggest is the other one on the outside that's on the widest part of the hock. Sorry for the poor descriptors!

I know the vets at OSU said there was a lot of swelling still, but we looked at it and almost cheered because there is less swelling than before the surgery. The back of his hock has some creasing, I'm guessing that's due to the amount of swelling he had that isn't there anymore and the hock wrap holding everything together. I hope it goes away, but if not, oh well. Yesterday he was climbing up his stall's walls and pacing and general panicky unhappiness. We weren't sure how he was going to make it until the stitches came out (7 more days), let alone another 3 weeks. Luckily today he seems to have settled in.

He got a shot of Exceed today because of the incision that is still oozing synovial fluid, and the OSU vets were concerned about infection. Our vet will see him on Wednesday and give him another dose if he's still oozing.

He chewed on the wall yesterday, so my job today was covering his wall in hot sauce to make it less appealing to chew on. Mikey thought it smelled funny!

Hot sauce tickles his nose!

Chillaxing in his doorway Sunday morning.

Nom nom time! Blue camo vet wrap (tractor supply sale) and you can see the shaved part under his jaw where they had some stuff hooked to him for surgery.

I hung around Sunday for a while and my trainer offered to let me ride her 3* event horse (3rd level dressage proficient) on the flat while she taught another lesson. Last time I rode Cody, we did not get along in the slightest. I was not a good enough rider to not piss him off, and he had a low tolerance of not perfect riding. He tolerated me for about ten minutes before threatening me, and since he's an athletic SOB and I was just getting him out and about while my trainer was away, I bailed on trying to do actual work and put him through his back in the walk and we went for a road walk. Last time I also didn't have a choice of sitting trot or posting. I was posting because he was too big a mover for me to be able to sit.

He's much more educated now, and has learned to be polite even when his rider makes mistakes. I am a much better rider now, and didn't piss him off as badly (anyone who's not my trainer is going to piss him off!). I could also sit his trot easily! I had a great time with him. He made my holes very obvious, and was patient with me and all my mistakes. I'd love to spend more time riding him, but he is aimed at Rolex in April and playing rides will not be in the cards really. I got to play with his extended trot and a single flying change because I couldn't keep my act together to get the other one. I'm too afraid of messing him up! His extended trot is awesome by the way. Little bit of driving seat bones, gentle working the bit and he gives shoulder popping goodness. Tilt your hips forward out of the driving seat and back to collected trot he goes. I giggled while I played with it!

My trainer didn't mind my mistakes, she said that he's going to be for sale after Rolex and needs to get used to someone else sitting on him, and she likes to see him go too. I know he can be difficult in the dressage ring, but I wouldn't pass on the chance to take him down centerline! He has a lot he could teach me.

I'll leave you with a quick picture of Cody!

Cody. The light makes his eye look funny, but it's really just the same as the other one.
He was happy to have a mint when we were done!

When it rains it pours...?

The truck brakes went today when we were on our way to the Columbus Zoo. I now have a rental and we can't go home until the truck is fixed.

But Mikey walked on his own in his stall today!

Mikey turned himself around on his own to get his dinner! 

Quick Update

I'm trying this from my phone, so I apologize if it comes out like crap. I'll fix it when I have access to a computer.

Mikey is not coming home today. Or tomorrow. Hopefully Thursday but we are prepared to wait until he's cleared for the five hour drive home.

The short story is Mikey did very well under anesthesia, the surgery was successful, but it is questionable if he'll be competition sound again. He was slightly off jogging on pavement, and almost crippled after a flex test before surgery.

Surgery was long (he was under for around 3 hours, from drop room to prep and surgery to wrapping and recovery room) and was very complicated.

He recovered well and stood up about 30 min after going to the recovery room. The surgeon said it was one of the most complicated surgeries she has ever done and I am eternally grateful to her for changing strategies mid surgery and persisting on finding the chips.

After surgery he had a 50 to 75% chance at being sound again. Without surgery he would have been in pain the rest of his life and lame, so he's still better off. He had a torn tendon on the inside of the joint and crushed bone (where the chips came from) on the outside of the joint. The chips destroyed some cartilage as they floated around and some embedded themselves in a tendon. He will get stem cell treatment to the tendon on Thursday, which will give him a better shot at being sound. He'll get a series of legend iv after the stitches come out. After that he'll have APS treatment to the cartilage to help heal some of the damage. In about 6 months we can evaluate if he will be able to go back to normal work with our old goals.

I have a ton of pictures. I was able to watch the whole surgery from an observation room, which was very cool. But nothing before Friday or the weekend, I need a laptop to write a proper post, or more likely posts.

Mikey's chips/fragments. 

Long story here too, but essentially Mikey has the OSU staff wrapped around his little hoof so tight that he's being spoiled wonderfully. And I love it. 

Surgery = Scheduled

Mikey's surgery is scheduled for Monday Feb 2 at Ohio State University's Equine Hospital. We're going to be hauling out tomorrow instead of Sunday because of the impending doom snowstorm that is going to smother us all beginning Sunday morning and continuing through Monday. Rather than risk an accident in a snow storm, my mom and I are going to drive out Saturday. It had best storm like crazy. The hotel cost of Saturday night in Columbus/OSU is more than the cost of Sunday and Monday nights combined! We'll be coming home Tuesday unless there's a complication.

My husband and I dug out my new truck, got all the gadgets in the truck (EZPass, phone chargers, GPS, 3 port converter for a single power outlet), and he was nice enough to run an Ethernet cable from the back of the truck, under the tailgate and through the back door so my trailer cams will work. He's going to run the cable under the truck and up into the dash in the spring, but he thought I would want it for this trip so I could check on Mikey after surgery on our way home. He also gave me a shovel, additional ice scraper, and the spray on de-icer stuff. Mom is bringing another shovel, so we'll be prepared!

After that we went out and got new batteries for the truck clickers because they needed to be replaced but we were putting it off. The clickers dying led us to get key hole de-icer because when he tried the key in the driver's door after the clicker failed, it wouldn't turn because it was still frozen from all the icy rain we got last night.

Basically, I am all ready to tackle Snowmageddon while my horse is comfy in a heated stall at OSU.

Now I'm making Nickels chicken for the four days I'll be gone so husband can just scoop and go. Yes, Nickels is a spoiled cat. He's so sickly, enjoys chicken more than his dry food (and wet food), and only weighs 6 lbs when he should weigh 7 or 8. That and once he realized a hunger strike would make me feed him chicken, it was all over. By the way, plain chicken breast is unacceptable. It must be seasoned. Preferably with Mrs Dash's Grilling Chicken Seasoning. Everything says to feed him plain food, but he gobbles it right up and then begs for more. I had to add salt and pepper to the plain chicken I made the last time so he would eat it! It probably has something to do with his chronic sinus infection- he needs food with a strong odor to be convinced to eat it.

His Highness, Nickels, making his "Why in the hell did you wake me up?" face.
Spoiled creature. But we love him anyway :-)

Anyway, I probably won't write until Tuesday or Wednesday because I can't get the Blogger phone app to work right. I can comment but not post, sigh. Talk to you all later!

Mikey's X-Rays

Trochlea hock fracture. The upper arrow is the chip, the lower points to where the chip came from.