Last fall, I took my 23-year-old horse, Silky, for a ride and noticed that she was limping ever-so-slightly. I knew I couldn't take her for another ride until I had a vet take a look at my elderly old girl. Last week, I *finally* got around to booking the vet appointment for Silky, and the vet came today.
Lots of bad news. Silky has arthritis (which I had suspected) in her front knees, and it's pretty significant. There's not much that can be done, it's just going to continue to gradually get worse. No cure, no medication that's worth pursuing (too many side effects and it wouldn't "fix" it anyway). No more riding (the vet actually didn't say I couldn't ride, but it would obviously cause Silky pain).
There are some things I can do to hopefully slow down the progression of the arthritis:
- Number one is to get Silky's hooves trimmed more frequently. No problem, I'll get the farrier out as often as I need to.
- Number two is for Silky to lose some weight. Hmmmm. That's a bit tougher. My dad is a notorious animal over-feeder and he feeds Silky since she's out on my parents' farm. I've told him numerous times in the past that he's over-feeding Silky, but it never seems to do any good. Luckily, my vet had a solution. A grazing muzzle. Looks like torture, doesn't it? There's a tiny hole in the bottom that Silky will be able to get grass through. Poor girl! The trick is going to be getting my dad to put it on her every morning. *sigh*
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