A Very Busy Vet Day and Latilla...

First off- We said good bye to old Latilla this morning.

She was doing great yesterday and this morning. Yesterday I moved her into Mesquite Manor with Serenity and she seemed very happy there and spent the day exploring her new home and rubbing and itching on the trees. When the guys fed her their morning hay, she was up and waiting. Once they put the hay down, she suddenly laid down. Felipe wanted to get her up so he walked off to get another guy to help, when they returned a few minutes later, she had died. She passed quickly and naturally, right there on her breakfast. No struggle. Latilla had very advanced Cushings, was more than thirty years old and was in very bad shape. But, she had a soft place to lay, friends and all of the Equine Senior she ever wanted. She was only with us for about two months, but had a good life with us and we were happy to have her in the rescue. We rescue many older horses just to give them a comfortable and loving place to pass on- Latilla was one of these horses...

Latilla getting a nice cool bath last week...

Rest in peace, old girl...

Tuesday's Vet Day:

As always, we had a long vet day. As you know, we did have to say good bye to Sitka, Eagle, Echo Echo and Charity. As sad and devastating as that was to do, we had to get other things done as well with other horses...

Dash needed x-rays to diagnose his "mystery" lameness. He did show Navicular changes as well as an old fracture with bone remodeling of the top of his coffin bone. We ended up sending Dash into the vet clinic to get corrective shoes to see if that will help him move easier and maybe even eventually allow him to be used for light lessons. He is so well broke and so well mannered and loves attention. Here he is sharing a frozen Otter Pop with vet tech, Kim, as he is x-rayed.

Dash's x-ray- see the old fracture? Most likely in time that will cause the joint to fuse which will help him be more comfortable.

Next up was Roulette- here she gets her flexion test...

Then on to x-rays of her hocks and stifles...

Her one stifle joint shows bone remodeling most likely from an old ligament injury. She should be sound enough for a pleasure riding and spoiling home but her hard riding days are behind her...

Happy Horse is next...

X-rays...

It shows Ringbone (which we were expecting). The good news is that it is in a good spot for eventual fusing which will make him much more comfortable. He may even be able to be used for pleasure riding once it does fuse...

Another angle...

We had his joint injected to give him some immediate relief and we will slowly work him to encourage fusing...

Then it was Kite's turn. She needed to be "Wild Kingdomed", which means she needed to be laid out and everything done to her while she is down. (Kite has major behavioral issues.) he guys put her into a corner with a panel so she could be sedated...

Once she was down and out, the work begins! She had her teeth power floated, her hooves trimmed, she was groomed, wormed and vaccinated!

At one point, there were nine people working on her at once!

Dr. Schur had to be creative to float her teeth while she was laid out! Kite woke up and felt like a new horse!

We had Tioga's skin cancer rechecked...

He had to have some more areas frozen off...

Sandi comforted him...

Gummie member, Melvyn, was checked over. He is doing great!

Wanderer Scrappy was checked over. He does a have a heart murmur-but he is happy and enjoying his Shiloh life...

Special needs horse, Sunny was x-rayed. She has had very sore feet since she arrived two months ago.

Look at her foot! See that white line extending out from the back of the coffin bone? That is calcification in her Deep Flexor tendon...

She also has advanced Pedal Osteitis- this ragged bone is her coffin bone- it is completely deteriorating. That should be smooth and rounded. Using these x-rays, our farrier and vet could trim her to help her get more comfortable. Once she was trimmed, she felt so much better and in fact is now standing more than she is laying down. We are watching her quality of life, giving her pain meds as needed and will allow her to live a good horse life for as long as she can...

Zoolander had some Habronema checked on his sheath area...

Little Brisa had her umbilical area checked, we were worried about a possible hernia, but it's just a small thickening of the skin so all is good...

Speaking of Hernias- good news as Peace Pipe's suspicious bump was also diagnosed as thickened skin and is merely cosmetic. it is not a hernia, so nothing needed to be done. He heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed in his shades (thanks to his sponsor Teresa)...

Over in Okay Corral, Olympia is looking great!

So is Sanctuary horse, Pablo...

A view of Okay Corral (that is Soldier, Sadler and Olympia)...

Chance and Angel in Okay Corral with Tecate and Charmin in the distance...

Cute old Roy!