Mochi Lameness Mystery = Solved

This past Monday our new vet here came out to do everyone's Coggins for the year.  While she was here I gave her the full history of Moch's intermittent lameness.

I trotted her on the lunge line two and a half weeks ago and she once again looked pretty good.  My hopes went up a little but she'd have to maintain that for a lot longer for a few minutes of trotting on the longe line to convince me of real improvement.  Here she is that day:

Since the vet was here I decided to have her take a full set of digital radiographs on Mochs' front right.  For the past two weeks she has looked pretty good and even went running around having a blast in the snow like a crazy pony one morning.  Exhibit A:

BUT, I was still seeing her take an off step here and there so, obviously something was still bothering her and it was killing me to not know exactly what it is.

*sigh* The window into Mochi's future.

 Don't worry, toes are still being brought back with each trim.  Her equicasts also stayed on for this because they didn't interfere with the images.  If they did, we were going to take them off.

 See it?

 That little SOB right there.  A navicular cyst.

A navicular cyst.  As with Navicular itself, every horse is a case by case basis as far as their riding future.  I know some that evented through Prelim while others were only sound on the flat.  Some were sound with medication and corrective trims, others with medication and bar shoes.  I read something the other day where a vet had said that navicular cysts are incredibly common in warmbloods and many end up never being bothered by them.

The vet told me about Osphos.  A medication via I.M. injection that elicits bone remodeling and will relieve her discomfort and help her become sound.  How sound?  We will just wait and see.  It can take up to three months to reach its full effect and can last up to a year before she'll need another injection.  They actually give it to women with Osteoporosis.

We will continue to work with our DAEP on some corrective trimming. I am still very much wanting to keep her OUT of shoes.  If she indicates that corrective shoeing is something she really does need, I'll do it.  There is just no way to tell at this point.  We have all the time in the world to figure out what will work best for her.  My expectations are not high.  No matter what, she's not going anywhere. If she can still jump AWESOME, if she is sound for dressage AWESOME, if she is sound for some light trail riding GREAT, and if she never sound to ride again, that is fine.  She will be the most adorable little spotted pasture ornament out there, and she'll learn some cool tricks.  I did talk about teaching her to drive a couple years ago.  Maybe we'll still do that.  As long as she is comfortable, that's all that matters.

When I told The Other Half he said..."Well, she can be a pet!!!  That's fine!!!  She's not going anywhere!!  We can teach her tricks!!"  We love our Mochi pony very, very much.  She really is such a fun little mare to have around and just hang out with.  She has such a fun, quirky personality. 

After the Osphos injection I had to take her for a 30 minute walk because Osphos can upset their stomach sometimes.  We walked for 30 minutes around our property in the pouring rain while I apologized to her that she is dealing with this and promised her she's not going anywhere.

On one hand, I'm relieved to know what the cause of the intermittent lameness is.  On the other hand, it's a disappointing diagnosis but there is nothing that can change that.  All we do now is look forward to what we still CAN do.

In the meantime, she got some Back on Track Quick Wraps, because no Back on Track Product can hurt!  They're pretty sweet.  The Back on Track Obsession continues!

You're just seeing some of the equicast, that's why her hoof looks strange.

Anyone else out there dealt with a navicular cyst?