She was referred to me by my farrier when my mare didn't seem to be recovering from what had initially been diagnosed as foot soreness, then mild arthritis in her fetlock. When she came in, she sat down with me and went over my mare's history, then looked at some radiographs I'd downloaded to my laptop. Those seemed to give her a direction to go in, and a few diagnostics later (thank you, Great American Insurance!) we located the problem: Mild Arthritis of the Coffin Joints. Long story short, we identified a course of treatment and rehab, and over the course of a few months things progressed to where I was able to ride her again.
I rode her twice before going on a business trip. I had no sooner left town that I got a call from a friend at the barn. Sugar was dead lame again. Sigh. She was kept on stall rest until I got back, and showed no improvement. Called the vet again. She came out to see the mare and did a great job of evaluating the horse whilst talking me off the ledge. Nice job they do teaching psych in vet school!
More pretty pictures ensued. Turns out my normally lazy, completely-lacking-in-self -motivation had been out in the field acting like her tail had caught fire, must've come down completely wrong, and wound up with a pretty impressive bone bruise on her P2. More rest. More therapy. IRAP, to be precise.
Several months of hand walking followed, with horse levitating above ground like an equine Macy's balloon. During these months I read everything I could about the injury, sent numerous emails to my vet, and bless her heart, she responded to all of them. She educated and supported when necessary, and quite sternly advised me against too much time spent on forums when it was apparent I needed a little tough love. She was also extremely nice to my son when he was there asking a zillion questions, and as you know, you always adore someone who is nice to your kid or your horse.
I think she went above and beyond the call of duty, which is why I will always happily bake her chocolate cake or stromboli, whichever she wants.
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