And It's Not Cheap!

continued from... On your Feet!


Hobbies, ordinarily, don't come cheap, but with most hobbies there's an initial big investment and then things are good until you decide to buy that new PC, motorcycle, hang glider, or whatever it is you do for kicks. With Horse ownership there's a little thing called recurring costs.

Most horse owners in Germany don't own their own stables, so there are boarding costs which usually include the feed. Let's not forget that bi monthly visit from the farrier. And then last but certainly not the least, there is the unknown and unplanned cost of the Veterinarian. It's that cost that can drain a savings account faster than any other. I've read horror stories on internet boards of horse owners, so desperate to save their animal, that they would try every remedy possible until their medical expenses snowballed into the $20, 000 range.

I don't have that kind of money, so when the Vet told warned me of the costs I would incur treating Tamara, I swallowed hard. I'm not single. I have a family. One son in collage and the other serving an apprenticeship. They need my financial support, and as much as I love my horse, it's family (the human members) that must come first. My wife and I made a compromise. We would absorb the cost of Tamara's treatment, but if it didn't work, we might have to face the reality of putting her down.

To make a long story short, the antibiotic flush, and subsequent treatment didn't work, and my Vet was at a loss for an explanation. He had diagnosed her as having Streptococcal bacteria in her hock joint. After the treatment, the bacteria seemed to be gone, but the swelling persisted and the lameness returned. She couldn't stand up without injuring herself by slamming into the stall walls. The "snowball" had started rolling.

In desperation, I turned for a second opinion and was told by a second vet that Tamara was deathly sick but could be cured for around 3,000 Euros, ($7,500). We sent that vet on his way and turned to another vet who was also trained in homeopathy. For 200 Euros we got a small bottle of little sugar balls. Ten sugar balls a day and a mud pack was what this good doctor prescribed.

After a month, the lameness slowly subsided, although I suspect it had more to do with time than with the sugar balls. There was no improvement, however, in the swelling and on the second month my hopes were dashed when Tamara re-injured the leg while standing up in her stall. It was at this point when I had to seriously consider putting her down. We called a third Vet. If he gave us bad news, then that was that. We'd have to do the humane thing.

This Vet took x-rays, and said that surprisingly, the joint appeared to be ok with the exception of normal wear and tear. He suggested taking another fluid sample, and a possible second flushing. At this point my wife, who had been wonderfully patient up to this point, but her foot down. No more treatment. We were tapped. So the Vet gave Tamara a pain killer and additional oral medicine to be taken for the pain. And it became a process of keeping the fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

Within two weeks her condition improved and has steadily improved on through January of this year. She had been barefoot since October and eventually developed sore feet. Since we suspected that hoseshoes had been the cause of swollen hock nightmare, I looked into hoof boots as an alternative to iron shoes. We purchased a pair for her front hoofs and this had an immediate and positive effect on her comfort. No more signs of difficulty walking etc.

I suspected that the swelling in her hock, which and gone down slightly, but not completely, would be permanent. My new Vet (the forth in a year) confirmed this.

Last week, I rode Tamara for the first time in almost 7 months. It was just ten minutes. Just to check out the strength of her leg, but it was literally a step forward. I have ridden her 2 more times since. Thirty minutes being the last ride together with a very short gallop. It would seem that my old girl is back. Realistically, the days of jumping up rooted tree trunks in the wood after a wind storm are probably over, along with 3 to 4 hour trail rides. Still -- considering the nightmares I had of a Vet arriving to administer that final deadly injection -- just to be able to ride Tamara on a pleasant day, along the green hills surrounding our village, is a blessing. Besides, I'm pushing 50 myself; getting too old to risk the care free fun of chasing deer on horseback through the wood.

Ride on!