Pax

Mari has graciously shared her information here on the blog.  Thank you Mari!  The entry below was initially posted on the Yahoo DSLD-Equine Group.

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Guest Post

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Greetings Everyone,

Horse in question:  Pax.  Age 13 as per neck freeze brand.  Ex-trotter and then former Amish buggy horse.  Free adoption from woman in Goshen, NY who rescued Pax from Nickerson's kill pen in Unadilla.  Has always been a complete pasture ornament, after his arrival here.  He has been on MSM since his has been here. 

When Pax arrived at age 9, despite his elongated rear pasterns, he was full of pep and vigor.  He loved to voluntarily run in the pasture.  In the last two years, he has steadily been declining at a slow rate.  At first, I thought he had innocuous windgalls or osselettes, due to his racing career and trotting on pavement as a buggy horse.   Now, I suspect he has more serious problems. 

In May of 2008, he began to limp on his left hind leg.  I attributed this limp to a possible strain as it was a very wet spring with slippery ground.  Because the limp did not subside, after a couple months, and he was also developing a roached back, I had him examined by an equine vet from the Wisconsin Equine Clinic and Hospital, which is about 1-1/2 miles west of me.  Her diagnosis was his limp and roached back was caused from his over-extended pastern ligaments.  She pointed out Pax was also losing muscle mass in his same left hind quarters.  I was skeptical about this because I had another elderly horse with a slightly roached back, but she was 29.  She said Pax would never live to a ripe old age; one day he would lie down and not be able to get up.  Treatment:  keep Pax on MSM, period.

Pax no longer holds his head high; he no longer even trots.  Currently, Pax is on MSM's regimen and also on 1/2 mg of bute twice a day, along with Gelusil to avoid any gastrointestinal side effects from the bute. 

I am here because of a dear friend who recognized Pax's symptoms as DSLD.  His rear legs appear exactly as the photo on your home page.  I am enclosing three attachments.   One taken after his rescue from the kill pen and two taken shortly after his arrival. 

Thank you for reading this long introduction.... 

Blessings,
Mari  :)

    

Doing the right thing?

Recently, I saw an affected (with DE) 12 y/o QH gelding advertised on Donate My Horse. He's advertised as an easy keeper and can be ridden walk/trot only. Now, I'm not trying to disparage the owner, but with so many anecdotes about deals gone wrong and abused/neglected horses, why take the chance that someone may not care for your "less than perfect" horse or do the responsible thing when it's necessary?

If you have a horse with DSLD-ESPA that you cannot keep, PLEASE do the humane thing and put it to sleep. 

I know it's difficult.

For the last almost seven years, I kept a DE horse that I couldn't ride. When I could no longer control her pain, I released her from it. Knowing that it was the right thing to do didn't help with the heartache or tears, but I know she's in a much better place now, and she is NOT suffering.

I can't begin to tell you how much I spent in vet bills, medications, supplements, etc. trying to help her -- and for a while, I did.  But not everyone has that luxury; economically, things are tough all over the world.

Allowing your horse a peaceful death is NOT a bad thing to do. Yes, you will agonize over the decision; it's one of the toughest you'll ever make. It's very natural to want to pass that decision/responsibility on to someone else, and hide from it. But that would be shirking our duty. Our compassion and concern (aka humanity) for our horse's future is what holds our feet to the fire and enables us to make decision and follow through. It is a responsibility that we should all accept as a part of horse ownership.

Encouraging News

A new article in The Blood Horse indicates a new study on whether the Thoroughbred racehorse is as tough today as it was 30 to 40 years ago. What? Did they have proof of that? No. They went looking for proof. WHY? According to Eric Mitchell, an executive editor for The Blood-Horse, "There has been anecdotal evidence for years that the Thoroughbred of today is not as tough as it has been in the past."

Why do I find this interesting enough to post about? Why do I find it encouraging? It's not related to DSLD-ESPA.

I find this interesting because this study came about based on ANECDOTAL evidence. Anecdotal evidence means that the evidence was based on reports or observations of (usually) unscientific observers. It means the evidence has not yet been substantiated by studies. Just due to plain old word of mouth, they're actually concerned about a possible trend and are looking into it. Imagine that!

Wouldn't it be great if ALL registries and breeders were concerned about reported problems within their breed instead of pretending these problems don't exist and trying to sweep problems under the carpet or blaming the owners, or thwarting the research as some are when it comes to DSLD-ESPA research.

Click here if you'd like to read more about the Racehorse Durability study. The article includes a link to a FREE PDF copy of the study and a video of a discussion between prominent TB breeders and owners to evaluate the statistics.