Horse Exams

We finally had time to take some of our boys up to the Arizona Equine Clinic to have them checked out. Both Charlie and Cochise were checked for stomach ulcers and Bob had an MRI done on his front feet.

Charlie was recommended for a stomach scope by the veterinarian who performed his colic surgery at the end of August. The surgeon had a concern that the colic may have been caused by stomach ulcers. However, since he had lost so much weight during the surgery and recovery that we didn't want to put him through a fasting cycle until his weight was up and he was healthy.

Cochise, who had gone off his feed during the trip to San Angelo, Texas in October, was also suspected of having a stomach ulcer by our military veterinarian. However, we decided to hold off on having his stomach scoped until Charlie was ready to go.

Bob has had mild lameness for several months now. We removed his shoes which has improved his condition but he is still slightly lame when turning on his front legs. Previous x-rays did not reveal any clear signs of navicular so we decided to get an MRI done to see if we could determine the cause of his condition.

The veterinarian accomplished the stomach scopes by inserting a tiny camera into the horse's nostril and threading it down the throat into the stomach. We could watch the live image on a TV monitor as the camera made it's way to the stomach. In Charlie's case there was still a little food in his stomach despite his having fasted for 20 hours. The vet pumped water into his stomach via another tube inserted into his stomach and then drained the material out. The camera was reinserted and the vet thoroughly explored the inside of Charlie's stomach. Fortunately, no sign of ulcers were detected. The same procedure was performed on Cochise with the same results. Neither horse had stomach ulcers which was a huge relief. I remarked to the doctor that this experience in combination with Charlie's colic surgery has given me too much familiarity with Charlie's insides. I have to admit, though, that the gastroscope process was fascinating.

Bob had his MRI done over a period of several hours. The images were sent off to a specialist for analysis but we will not have the results until next week. We are hoping he has a hoof cyst or some other easily corrected problem. However, we can't help but notice how much better his feet are and how much less lame he is since we removed his shoes. He has small hooves for being a 1,300 pound horse and he may just be destined to be shoeless. Hopefully the MRI analysis will give us a better idea of how to correct his lameness.