Another month has passed, and it's time for a Louise update. Today
marks 5 months since
she opened up that hairline and scared the crap out of us.
At the beginning of the month, I tried to wean her from the last of
the dexamethasone, and it was too soon. When I dropped back to every
other day, she got clumsier and less confident. Maybe it was
coincidence. Maybe she chose that day to tweak her neck. I dunno. I
went back to a daily dose and increased it a teeny bit, and she
returned to her normal level of clumsiness within a few days. Since
then I've been backing off a little at a time, and now her does is so
small (.4mg), I can't imagine it's doing a whole lot.
This month, she seems to have turned another corner. I had assumed
the mild rear weakness and slight over-all clumsiness were permanent,
but they have been slowly fading, and she has been getting stronger
and stronger behind. For the last couple weeks, she has looked better
every day. Her range of motion (neck) to the right was a good 80% of
normal - just a bit of hesitation, and not quite able to reach her
barrel. Over the last week, it has returned to 100%. She can easily
scratch her barrel with her teeth in both directions without
hesitating, twisting her head, or getting a painful look in her eye.
She gallops like an absolute fool through the woods, effortlessly
swapping leads as she weaves along the little paths. She rears, she
jumps, she bucks. She no longer holds her neck rigidly while she
plays, instead flinging it around with the carefree abandon of a young
horse who has never known injury or pain. Horses really do live in
the present. :)
On the down side, her manners are deplorable. I had planned to wait
'til the 6-month mark to begin to resurrect a shred of respect. But
as she feels better, she pushes Jinks around shamelessly, and she has
begun to challenge me in subtle ways. Neck or no neck, she's too big
to be playing the "Who's in charge?" game.
So, today, I put a halter on her, clipped on a longe line and asked
her to walk. She did. I asked her to halt. She did. Then I asked
her to walk again, and she swung her rump toward me and started to
back up.
There was a moment where I mentally made excuses for her - maybe she
has an itch. :) Then I heard this roar coming out of my throat, and I
found myself swatting her fanny with the longe line and *running* at
her. She caved instantly - a good thing, since I really don't want to
get into a situation where I have to torque her neck. So, it appears
daily manners sessions are upon us. And as long as Louise doesn't
self-destruct, I'll start doing a few minutes with Jinks as well.
All in all, this has been a very good month. I have graduated from
encouraged to optimistic. :)
Nancy DeMarco
Mason, NH
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