The Latest on Mingo

Well, let's see, where were we...Last Monday, the vet came out to see Mingo because of his very strange, anti-social behavior. We determined he had a sore neck. He wasn't lame anymore. She was very perplexed. Just to eliminate it off the list of possibilities, she took blood to test for Lyme disease. Horses don't get it here, but he was showing many signs of it. He doesn't have it.
She went back to the office and discussed his case with the other vet. She remembered us telling her that he was no longer laying down, and the only time he did was the few days we had him on 3 grams of bute. They feel it is possible, though there is no way to prove it, that he suddenly fell asleep, fell and hurt his neck. This happens with horses that are sleep deprived. It would also explain why the whole side of his body was tender for the first few days after his personality change. It may have been bruised.

A couple days after she visited, he started to limp again, but that started to improve the next day. His attitude was quickly getting better as his neck seemed to improve, and he was starting to like people again.

I called her up to see what we should do next..

This is when she suggested that we try to get him some rest. On Saturday, we started him for 4 days on 3 grams of bute, 4 days of 2 grams and then 4 days of 1 gram.

Of course, there is no limp, now. He is laying down to rest, too. He can turn his neck quite well, and will even do it without a treat to lure him. He can't walk with it to the inside of the circle on that side, but he will walk with it right in front of him instead of looking outside the circle. He is trotting sound.

So, now I'm just waiting to see what happens when he is no longer on the bute. The very infected sore on his pastern--the possible cause of the swollen leg and initial lameness is now completely healed. If that was the problem, then we just need to wait for his neck to feel better, and it might be fine by then. My gut says it is something else, and he will probably go lame when we are done with the bute.

The vet says that eventually we will find out--for better or worse.

I am getting so discouraged. Fortunately, Cruiser is doing very well and has been a lot of fun to ride in the arena. My visits to the barn are not complete unhappiness because of Cruiser. I wish I could get down the trail, but I no longer take Cruiser out in the bad conditions--and it has been so very, very cold and snowy. Besides, the river is frozen.

I wish I had better news to share...