A long road to recovery ahead

Zano had his vet trip booked in. Before we went the vet had advised that I keep him working as normal, so that they could see what he was like in work. When we arrived at the hugely impressive and smart new equine practice, the vet, Chris, gave Zano an incredibly thorough check over. Starting at his neck, he ran his hands over each part of Zano, his legs, his back, his pelvis. Then he watched Zano walk and trot, then flexed his legs and watched him do it again. He was definitely still slightly lame when he trotted on the concrete. Then he trotted in a circle on a hard circle, before moving to the school. He was lame on the left rein then, too, when he was lunged. It was his off fore that was the problem, the one with the lump just above the fetlock.

Zano being a ‘patient’ patient during his
initial examination, good as gold (as ever).

So – next step? To nerve block the off fore fetlock. That gives a chance for a local anaesthetic to go into the joint, so that the seat of pain can be located pretty exactly. Then, if Zano became sound with the nerve block, Chris suggested that we should x-ray the joint to find out more about what was making it sore. That bit all made sense. It was kind of what I was expecting. But what he said next was a bolt from the blue, the very last thing I’d been expecting...

Chris said that Zano had a sore back when he’d examined him at the start. I said that he was often touchy about his back. Chris then said that he suspected Zano had kissing spine, given his short back and high withers. He suggested that when they x-ray Zano’s suspect foreleg, they should x-ray his back, too. I nodded, not quite knowing what to say. I’d heard about kissing spines before, where the vertebrae touch, rather than have a gap. But I’d never known any horses with it... and now Zano may have it??! I thought it was one of the worst things a horse could have, but I told myself just to wait for the results of the x-ray. My heart was beating faster already, though, and it wasn’t about to slow down...

Zano was taken into one of the treatment rooms and he had his nerve blocking done. Chris had a strong suspicion about where the problem in his fetlock lay, and he got it right first time. His nerve block made Zano nearly come sound. Then it was x-ray time. Zano was sedated, and me and Paul left the vets to it, knowing that Zano was in very trustworthy hands. Julie, one of the assistants, was so sweet with Zano, and really kind.

After waiting a while, sitting in the sun and feeling a bit stunned, the results of the x-rays were in. The diagnosis? Well, it wasn’t great news. The x-rays showed arthritic changes in his off fore fetlock joint. And his spine? It was confirmed, right there in black and white – kissing spines. There were about 4 vertebra that were very close. Once a rider was on his back they’d definitely be touching, and then there were about 4 more that were permanently touching, even without a rider on his back. This is what was causing Zano’s back pain. I felt shocked. But, as Chris explained more about the condition, everything began to fall into place. Zano’s resentment of the saddle, his stepping away from me getting on and the way he felt ready to explode for the first few minutes after I’d got into the saddle. I thought that was all to do with a memory of a bad experience, but instead, it was an everyday pain for him, and I couldn’t believe how stoic he must have been to put up with it. My heart went out to him, and it made me love him even more, if that was possible.

The next conversation Chris had with us was about treatment. The good thing was, we had options. I knew, standing there in the treatment room with a sleepy, sedated but still sweet Zano, that I’d be prepared to try anything to make him feel better, and give him the chance to hopefully lead the fulfilling life he deserved. One thing we did know: a potentially long road to recovery lay ahead of us... and we’d just taken the very first step.