Gunner

Gunner is a 7 year old PMU quarter horse we bought for N to do barrels and poles with. Gunner is a very athletic horse. He moves much more like a cat than a horse. He can spin on a dime and do things in the field that you don't see horses do. Like the day we first met him, an aggress gelding pinned him into the corner of the field between a fence and a water tank that was about 30" high and 24" deep. Gunner's solution was to jump the water tank to escape.


Last spring Gunner came down with
EPM - Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis. He showed signs of lameness in his right rear leg, had tried to buck N off, showed tenderness in his back and generally wasn't the same horse mentally that we had bought the fall before.

He also threw me for no apparent reason. He actually did a side maneuver that would have been great to catch on camera. I could tell something was bothering him as he began switching his tale. Thinking it was a fly I reached back and touched him on the hip –sending him into a frightened state in which he jumped three feet to the right. I stayed where I was, but, with the help of gravity, ended in the dirt. Before the actual diagnosis I had taken him to a chiropractic horse veterinarian to alieve some of the tenderness in his back and give him a greater range of movement in his neck. While it did help somewhat, it was evident something else was bothering him. Sure enough a couple of hundred dollars later and a few blood tests…EPM.

After much debate and tears The Man gave in and let us treat him instead of having him put down. Before treatment began I researched the drug and looked for symptoms that things were going awry. Some of the side effects were fever, lethargy, diarrhea, rapid loss of weight and a slight risk of death. The recommended treatment consisted of 21 days of squirting a paste substance in his mouth, and then holding his mouth shut so he would swallow it. Although recommended by a reputable vet, there were not many instances in my area where people had tried to use this drug, so I was pretty much on my own. I did find on the Internet how other vets had a higher chance of recovery if they fed the horse a diet high in oils before and during treatment. I upped his oil intake and began his treatment.

Each morning I would feed him, take his temperature and give him the paste. Day 5 and 6 were traditionally the worst days, meaning he would show greater signs of the effects of the disease. Sure enough on day 6 he slipped a couple times trotting across the field. By about day 7 he got the idea that having yucky tasting stuff injected into his mouth was - not fun. About that time I started grabbing his tongue and holding it long enough to get the stuff in his mouth. After another week he thought that was just down right intrusive. I finally started mixing it with his food, and put a call into the company who made the drug. A vet called back and said as long as he would eat all his food that was fine. Each week I would measure his girth area (behind the front legs and around the back) to see if he was losing weight, and I am quite proud to say that he actually gained about 100 lbs during the treatment.

After about a month of being off treatment I worked him some, free longing in a round pen. There were still some signs of lameness in his right rear. By this time we were in the midst of our move and things slowed down on the horse front. Most of my energy was put into the move and getting my girls time to ride. We boarded our horses with a friend until we got facilities made at our place. From what I had read it was not unheard of to not see results from the treatments until a year later. So we waited.

I began working on desensitizing him in the winter, and about a month ago I began working with him a little more intensely. Working the whip on him. This was to overcome his flight instinct. Basically you throw the whip rope over him in a rhythmic fashion and reward them when they settle. His reaction was slight to none. Last year would have been a different story. I then began longing him on a line. Some days he is better than others. I still see some lameness in the right rear. He doesn’t seem to have full range of motion, although he does much better when he pays attention to me instead of the other horses, the cows, a truck or the dog. (lol)

During all of this time, this horse I bought for N became mine. We have grown to have a deep trust of each other. Therefore, last weekend I decided it was time. I finally felt comfortable enough to try to get on him. He was showing very positive signs of being sane again.

Last night I saddled him up (no kicking – yea!). I worked him on the longe line and despite the fact he was more interested in the girls riding “his” girls (the mares) he was fine. He showed a slight tendency to want to buck in the beginning, but settled in.

N then came over and held him while I worked on getting on him. We took it very slow. Similar to how you would start a colt. Just me putting weight in the stirrup, lots of praise for his standing still, over and over. Progressing to actually putting a leg over and N leading me for a few steps. Eventually I got on him by myself while she was off riding Classy. He did fine. We didn’t go far – we just stood and watched the others, but it’s a start! And a good one at that!! Tonight we will try again and I will likely walk him around a bit to build on his and my confidence that we don’t need to freak when someone is on our back. Overall yesterday was a GOOD day