Friday, July 18, 2014

It's What's Between the Ears that Counts

Lex had her big appointment today, and it was a good experience overall. The vet confirmed that there is nothing funky happening in her poll except some significant bursitis. Lex was definitely hurting, poor critter.

I wanted to get pictures of her during the procedure, but I couldn't walk away. She was drugged beyond belief, had a rope halter on (so the metal from my halter didn't get in the way of the rads), ears taped together, and a twitch. Not to mention a man sticking needles into her skull. It was hilarious. She was good, though. The vet thinks she'll be fine with this, and if she isn't, we can try other things.

She was soooooooo sleepy. After the vet left, I couldn't resist taking pictures of her in her vulnerable state, and then texting them to Tracy and SprinklerBandit. I'm a terrible person. I told her she looks like Abbie Hoffman on a post-protest day. 

The only dope you should shoot is Nixon, man.*
 M is out of town this weekend but she left me a surprise: a whole stack of sports psychology books (including two by Jane Savoie). So I sat in the aisle for like 30 minutes reading That Winning Feeling while I waited for Lex to wake up. Yes, I could have been cleaning tack, but I'd been at the barn since six and that was after bringing my horses in, so I was a little wiped out, given that it was 1:30 or so and I was starving. Anyway, I was like, "mare, WHEN are you going to wake up? I need lunch, dammit." And then I realized that she was probably not feeling the drugs anymore, she was just sleeping.


So I walked over to her and was like, "Hey! Wake up!" and she did. Head up, happy to think about eating hay. I hosed her off because she was sweaty from the drugs and stuck her back in her stall. I watched her for awhile and fretted about choke (she could hold her head up and walk so my rational brain knew she was fine) and then went off to get my own lunch.

The mare gets ten days off from riding altogether, and then a couple days of just floating the reins at her and letting her go around realizing her head doesn't hurt. And then, with any luck, it's back to work. If this doesn't fix the problem, there are other injectable things, and I'm sure at some point there's a surgical option. I just really hope it doesn't come down to that. Let's all cross our fingers. 

*I already tried this joke on Tracy. Sorry you had to read it again, T.

5 comments:

  1. I hope it helps! It's funny how often we end up forgetting or not getting to eat in the process of taking care of our horses.

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  2. Glad all went well & hope the rest & relaxation help her bounce back ASAP.
    Sadly I've fallen way behind on all your adventures and have some major catch up to do...Yay for weekends

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  3. Hope this ends up being the solution to your problem. Poor girl!

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  4. I am so, so glad Lexi is going to be okay! And the joke is still funny, even the second time around

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