Limerick update

Limerick developed some lameness issues a couple weeks ago. I can usually pinpoint what is bothering her but I wasn't able to this time--she was able to walk fine on asphalt but hand-walking her in the arena made her walk as if she were nearly crippled on all four legs. Needless to say, I didn't walk her in the arena for long!

I discovered this problem on a Thursday night; she had a farrier appointment the next day so I decided to ask the farrier for his opinion then (as any good farrier should be able to discern what is causing a horse to be lame, to a point). He initially thought that perhaps her right fore pastern or hoof was bothering her, although she was negative for pain with the sole testers.

When my farrier moved on to her hind end, Lim began giving him a lot of trouble, which is uncharacteristic for her. Nonetheless, he managed to finish trimming her hooves before asking me to walk her around for him. I walked her over asphalt, grass and the arena footing. He then concluded that her hind end was bothering her, although it wasn't exactly specific to any one spot. A vet from the clinic that I use happened to be arriving shortly and I was given permission to bump Limerick to the head of the line so she could be seen first. After a lameness exam, he determined that she had hind end lameness that was likely related to the muscles by her hips and croup.

He gave me Previcox and told me to give her one tablet a day.

In typical Thoroughbred fashion, she has bounced back very quickly! I took this video of her on Monday and I was very pleased to see her feeling well enough to act silly.



I've also been taking her down to the alleyway to eat grass every day lately. The walk down is mainly asphalt so I'm substituting these trips for her hand-walks. She likes to stop grazing and stare off into the distance, head high, at a faraway jogger or bicyclist.

"What's that I spy, wayyy off in the distance?"

We are also treated so some spectacular sunsets from the alleyway!