Plodding along - and baby news!

Barokko felt so bad Tues that I decided just to let him chill for a few days before trying again. I rode him briefly today, and he was much more energetic, very willing and eager - but still very very bothered in his airways. So progress in how he feels, but not yet in the state of his airways. Past the halfway mark on the high dosis treatment, as I don't know what to expect I can't judge if it's going well or not... The first 2 weeks - April 6-April 22 - are the actual treatment period, the following 4 weeks are really just to wean him gradually off the Prednisolone, so after the 22nd I'll have a chat with the vet to give her an update on how he's doing.

The good news is that in the moments where he during our ride where he was doing OK were absolutely fantastic! (and inevitably followed by a coughing spell, poor guy).


And now for the second part of the title - I'm pregnant :D I'm still comfortable riding, although I've cut down on how much and which horses. Sitting trot is OK some days, but not others, so that'll probably be no-go pretty soon. But other than that - oh yeah, and going up steep hills my belly hits the cantle - I can ride normally. I don't jump anymore, and only trail ride with company, but that's not due to physical reasons. Obviously, at some point in the future (hopefully a long way away still, but who knows) I won't feel good in the saddle anymore, I'm just hoping Barokko will be up and running for a bit before that happens ;)

I'm due in mid September. My plans for Barokko is to put him on 24-7 pasture once he's done with the meds at the end of May, and let him stay there through August. That'll get the barn work down to a minimum which I'm sure I'll appreciate (and my husband will, too, he's the one doing all of the mucking and heavy lifting right now ;) ). I don't want to just give him a bunch of time off now, he's been off so much because of his illness that once he's back in business I'd like to keep him that way, so in September and October I'll put him in full training with my trainer. I'll look for a half lease who can help keep him in shape up to my due date and when he's back from the trainer's in November. I have no way of knowing beforehand how quickly I can get back in the saddle, how much time I'll have for riding etc, so it'll be really good to have a helping hand. I'd posted an ad online and gotten several interesting responses, so as soon as he's OK I'll contact them again and see if one of them is a good match.

He's almost through the first week of treatment. It's taking its toll on him, he's not a happy pony right now, lots of coughing and very irritated airways :( I hope it'll turn around soon.

At least it's spring, the weather's nice and warm but not hot, and he's on grass pasture approx 5 hours/day along with 2 other horses from the barn. Anytime one of us three owners come out to get them from the regular turnout all three horses come galopping and neighing to the gate - methinks they like their grass ;)

No infection

There's no infection, the BAL samples were clean, what a relief!

Today we started him on meds. Prednisolone (glucocorticosteroid) for 6 weeks supplemented with Equimucin (acetylcysteine) for the first 2 weeks. He's to be kept in light work while in treatment, he's just not supposed to be pushed to the point where he starts breathing hard. So it'll be walk and some trot. I'll use the time to keep him supple, obediant to the aids, further work on lateral movements, and I also plan to introduce him to the double bridle.

During the past couple of weeks I've begun getting him used to grass before the fructane really kicks in, and will move him onto 24-7 pasture once as he's done with his meds at the end of May. It's important that he gets the Prednisolone in the mornings because of the interaction with his natural hormone levels, so until the treatment's over it's most practical to let him stay stabled at night.

Getting Worse :(

Barokko's been getting worse this week, the past few days he hasn't been up to even light trot work. I'm waiting impatiently for the vet to call with the results of the BAL samples. I'm hoping we can get him started on meds very soon, it's very worrying to see him deteriorate again so quickly :(

The waiting game - again...

Baokko still has a tendency to cough in the beginning of a ride, and sometimes struggles to clear his airways in canter. As long as he's been improving so well I haven't given it that much thought, obviously a pneumonia is going to leave some tracks. But looking through his journal, I realized that his airway status hasn't actually improved the past 3-4 weeks or so, where up until then it had been steady improvement. So I gave the vet a call, and her response wasn't positive. She didn't want him coughing at all, at this point he should have been completely symptom-free :(

So off to the clinic on Monday. She scoped him, and his upper airways were clean. Then she took a BAL sample, which looked clean, but she sent it off for testing just to be sure that he doesn't have a new infektion going on. She doesn't expect there to be, which leaves us with chronic irritation.

If/when the BAL results come back clean, she's going to start him up on an intensive treatment with prednisolone, a glucocorticosteroid often used to treat astma in horses. Hopefully, he'll respond well to the treatment, and both his lungs and his immune system will get a well-deserved break. Only time will tell whether that break will be enough to let him get back to normal after the treatment is finished.

So another week or so, and then it's medication time again...