Any one who knows me or Smellie probably has heard (and probably has heard ad naseum) about Elliot's tough road to the CHC International Two Star. However, in an effort to document Team Smellie's entire journey (and for those of you who missed this epsiode, I'm laying it all out here too!
Our goal is to qualify for the Fair Hill CCI2 this fall. To do that, we need two Intermediate HT with NQRs and either one CCI1 and a CIC2 with NQRs or two CIC2 with NQR. Since we just moved up to the intermediate level, we wanted to get a jump on the FEI qualifications in case we ran into trouble. There are not as many FEI qualifiers as horse trials.
In our usual tardy RBF fashion, we entered Chatt Hills late. Rick Dunkerton is a saint and got us in. No sooner did I receive an email that I was accepted into Chatt Hills, than Elliot ran through a three board fence and banged himself up.
We rushed out to the farm found that in fact, he was not putting weight on his left hind, though the leg itself looked pretty good. After a full body scan, we discovered a skinned and bruised left stifle, a 2" puncture on the left front, and a big old lump on the right front cannon bone. Also never good to have a one legged horse the week before a FEI event.
FEI is very strict about what substances are allowed and now allowed. Basically, their zero tolerance policy, means that your horse cannot have any type of substance in its system. This means you have to know all the drugs withdrawl times and not use them within that window before an FEI event. Otherwise your horse will test positive and then you will be in big trouble. And for thorse wondering, the FEI controlled substances list is vast.
These rules meant we had to be very careful about what we gave poor Elliot. In the end, we decided not to give him much. We iced 4-5 times the day, cleaned him up, flushed his puncture, wrapped, hand walked, and gave him arnica.
By the end of the day, he was walking much better and feeling comfortable. We all took a sigh of relief.
However, it was a little too soon.
The next morning, the left front which had the punture was swollen and very senative to the touch. By midday he was very lame even at the walk on it, despite icing, flushing, and wrapping. After talking at length to two vets (both of whom believed it was cellultis and did not inferere with the joint or tendon), we started him on IV antibiotics, continued icing it, and sweat wrapped the leg. He was very uncomfortable, but Betsy and I thought if we can just make it to tomorrow, the antibiotics will kick in and he will feel much better. It was a long night. We stayed with him until about 3AM icing and keeping an eye on his vitals. The last thing we needed was for him to colic on top of the cellultis.
Thank heavens it paid off! And for all the flac we give him, Elliot is one tough man. He never stopped drinking or eating, despite having to hobble around his stall.
By morning, he was already walking better, and everyday through the week that followed he continued to visibly improve.
It was very close. I rode him for the first time on Tuesday. It amounted to an hour walk with a little trotting at the end. He felt stiff at the beginning, but warmed up to feel pretty okay. Wednesday we did the same thing with a little more real work. He was better still.
By Thursday AM he was trotting sound. We made the decision to take him even though we knew we were pushing him.
Our goal is to qualify for the Fair Hill CCI2 this fall. To do that, we need two Intermediate HT with NQRs and either one CCI1 and a CIC2 with NQRs or two CIC2 with NQR. Since we just moved up to the intermediate level, we wanted to get a jump on the FEI qualifications in case we ran into trouble. There are not as many FEI qualifiers as horse trials.
In our usual tardy RBF fashion, we entered Chatt Hills late. Rick Dunkerton is a saint and got us in. No sooner did I receive an email that I was accepted into Chatt Hills, than Elliot ran through a three board fence and banged himself up.
We rushed out to the farm found that in fact, he was not putting weight on his left hind, though the leg itself looked pretty good. After a full body scan, we discovered a skinned and bruised left stifle, a 2" puncture on the left front, and a big old lump on the right front cannon bone. Also never good to have a one legged horse the week before a FEI event.
FEI is very strict about what substances are allowed and now allowed. Basically, their zero tolerance policy, means that your horse cannot have any type of substance in its system. This means you have to know all the drugs withdrawl times and not use them within that window before an FEI event. Otherwise your horse will test positive and then you will be in big trouble. And for thorse wondering, the FEI controlled substances list is vast.
These rules meant we had to be very careful about what we gave poor Elliot. In the end, we decided not to give him much. We iced 4-5 times the day, cleaned him up, flushed his puncture, wrapped, hand walked, and gave him arnica.
By the end of the day, he was walking much better and feeling comfortable. We all took a sigh of relief.
However, it was a little too soon.
The next morning, the left front which had the punture was swollen and very senative to the touch. By midday he was very lame even at the walk on it, despite icing, flushing, and wrapping. After talking at length to two vets (both of whom believed it was cellultis and did not inferere with the joint or tendon), we started him on IV antibiotics, continued icing it, and sweat wrapped the leg. He was very uncomfortable, but Betsy and I thought if we can just make it to tomorrow, the antibiotics will kick in and he will feel much better. It was a long night. We stayed with him until about 3AM icing and keeping an eye on his vitals. The last thing we needed was for him to colic on top of the cellultis.
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Thank heavens it paid off! And for all the flac we give him, Elliot is one tough man. He never stopped drinking or eating, despite having to hobble around his stall.
By morning, he was already walking better, and everyday through the week that followed he continued to visibly improve.
It was very close. I rode him for the first time on Tuesday. It amounted to an hour walk with a little trotting at the end. He felt stiff at the beginning, but warmed up to feel pretty okay. Wednesday we did the same thing with a little more real work. He was better still.
By Thursday AM he was trotting sound. We made the decision to take him even though we knew we were pushing him.
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