Oh Mystic Pony!

As some of you know, Mystic had his vet appointment today. It definitely didnt go as smoothly as I had hoped but thats horses for you! While the tech was setting up the equipment to float his teeth Dr. Doerr had asked if there were any other issues he had been having since she last saw him when he tried to rip his teeth out. I thought for a minute and remembered his hip popping so I asked her about that. He hasnt ever been lame on it and it doesn't seem to bother him but it cant be normal! So we took him into the arena so she could watch/listen to it (only at the walk). After some looking and feeling she found that it was in his stifle. Basically it could go any way at this point. She said young horses can have this issue and as they get older and stronger in their hind end it will fix itself or could be beginning stages of OCD lesions. Because he isnt lame (and hasnt been) he obviously isnt painful on them which is a good sign, however, if it is beginning stages then we want to act as soon as we can. There were three options we could do: 1- do nothing and see what happens 2-give him injections and see if the popping stops and for how long or 3-get a referral to either OSU or a vet she works closely with to get xrays and ultra sounds of both stifles. Today we started with option 2. Within the week I will hopefully be able to tell a difference and the popping will be gone. Then we will go from there. A full work up might have be to done at some point. My pocketbook sure hopes it isn't anytime soon especially after todays visit!

My poor pony had to get poked like 7 times! He had to get sedated, his 2 injections, and his regular vaccines (4 of them!). He was a super good boy for it all though. The funniest part was that he only needed 1/2 of the dosage of sedation to sedate him enough for it all! He is a light weight for sure :)

His teeth were super bad. I knew they would be bad but not that bad. When he was at the vet 6 months ago after he attempted to rip his corner incisors out she said that he needed them done as he was getting sharp points. She however didnt want them to be done for 6 months because his whole lower set of incisors were somewhat loose from the whole ordeal and she didnt want to put the speculm (no idea if thats how you spell it!) on him since it goes on the incisors. Basically his mouth was a wreck and she was amazed that he hasn't shown any signs of being in pain. I dont remember the technical terms but basically he has very prominent ridges on the outside of his teeth so he wears them unevenly, leaving long sharp points on the outside of the upper teeth and the inside of the lowers. He also had big hooks in the back. Luckily she got him all fixed up and he should be feeling like a whole new guy tomorrow! She did say that we need to put him on a 6 month schedule for his teeth at least until all his adult teeth are in wear because with how they are right now the sharp points will come back faster then a horse with even wear. She also loosened a baby tooth he had because she thinks that the adult one is trying to come in but the baby tooth wasn't even loose yet. It was the only one in the front left and it looked really funny! If he doesn't loose it naturally then she will remove it at his next dental in 6 months. After he was all done with that she offered to fit his bridle in his new found mouth! She showed me how low the roof of his mouth is and how the bit puts pressure on it potentially making it uncomfortable for him. She suggested getting him a bit with either a roller in the middle or a french link that is more fitted to his mouth.

Lastly she said its time to buy him a grazing muzzle... Everyone has told me that but I feel SO bad! Its like pony torture! But with him being young and with the potential stifle issues (still holding onto hope that its not what it could be. Its hard but im trying!) he needs to loose weight. I already knew that he is fatter then I would like him but its hard. So we have a lot to do but hopefully it will all work out. She said to continue working him as normal since he hasnt been lame but if anything changes we will need to do the full work up and time off. Heres to hoping it is all okay and we are just being cautious!