Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow gets new X-rays
Those of you that have followed our ponies’ journey from the beginning may remember that our little Minnow has battled with Ringbone since 2008. Ringbone is essentially a form of equine arthritis, a bone growth in the pastern or coffin joint of a horse. And because in a lot of cases people choose to euthanize a horse with Ringbone (because there is no cure), I have decided to document Minnow’s journey in pain management in the hopes that it might help someone else battling Ringbone in their horse.
Earlier this year we noticed that he seemed to be more lame on his right front (his initial diagnosis and treatment has always been for his left front), so we decided to have him re-xrayed since it’s been 2 years since we last had him checked. We made sure that we used barrier technologies radiation gloves and other safety measurements before the procedure.
Here’s the shot of his left front, 2 years after being injected with Ethyl Alcohol to help the joint fuse faster:
Here’s what it looked like the day we had it injected:
As you can see the joint still is not completely fused, but it’s a lot closer, and it’s actually straightened out some. Which I think has attributed to him being more comfortable on it.
So let’s take a look at the right front, the one that has started to bother him more recently:
It’s hard to tell, but there is some white shading around the pastern joint, and indication that Minnow is at the beginning stages of high ringbone in his right front pastern as well. Our vet consulted with New Bolton Animal Hospital, and determined it’s still too early to inject with Ethyl Alcohol for it to be effective. The fact that he’s also developing this in his other leg further proves that in his particular case it was more genetic than anything. It makes me feel better to know, no matter what I would have done, he would have developed ringbone anyway due to his confirmation.
But not to worry, Minnow is still doing well (he’s super Minnow after all)! And here’s how we’re managing pain today for him:
Minnow is currently taking 1/2 a pill of 57mg of Previcox daily as well as a scoop of GLS joint supplement. Once starting the Previcox we noticed an improvement in Minnow’s pain. He seems much more comfortable and we even noticed an improvement in his limp (on both legs).
If you’d like to check out our previous attempts to help Minnow with his Ringbone diagnosis, you can read more here:
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow’s Trip to New Bolton
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow tries Ground Control Shoes
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow gets injected with Ethyl Alcohol
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow tries GLS
If you have a story to share about your horse and Ringbone, we’d love to hear about it! Post a comment on this blog post, or share it on our Facebook wall.
Minnow visits the Ryerss Farm For Aged Equines
Last weekend Painting Pony visited the Ryerss Farm for their annual Family Fun Day.
Ryerss is a non-profit in Chester County, Pennsylvania that cares for aged, and abused or injured horses by providing a home where they can spend their golden years out to pasture. The horses at Ryerss are never worked, go to auction or are used for experiments. They simply spend their days grazing and enjoying life with their friends on the farm.
Painting Pony has been big supporters of Ryerss since the very beginning, and it’s one of the charity organizations that we donate a percentage of our sales to each year, in my opinion, it is one of the best fundraising ideas I have ever seen.
In fact, when I was a kid our local 4-H club used to visit Ryerss every year to groom the old horses on the farm. So it was fun to go back with my own “aged equine” (Minnow is 21 this year) and help to raise money for their farm.
Both Minnow and Ammo the Dachshund drew big crowds during each of our performances throughout the day. Minnow painted 3 original works of art, which are now available for purchase in our online shop.
“Where the Grass is Greener” by Chincoteague Minnow
“Brushstrokes” by Chincoteague Minnow
“You Have My Heart” by Chincoteague Minnow
Both Ammo and Minnow had a blast showing off some of their favorite tricks for everyone. Below is a collection of photos from our day at Ryerss ….
For even more fun, make sure you check out the video on Instagram, and you can read Ammo’s recap of the day on his blog!
Don’t forget to check out the newest work by Minnow in our online shop! Your purchases help to support animal rescues and charity groups.
–Kyley & The Painting Ponies
SAVE THE DATE! Minnow to Perform
Minnow the Painting Pony will be visiting Pottstown, Pennsylvania to perform this summer!
Minnow the Painting Pony and Ammo the Dachshund will be attending the Ryerss Family Fun Day on Saturday, June 13th from 12 – 4pm. (rain date is June 14th)
Minnow will be painting and showing off tricks and Ammo will be performing some of his famous super hero moves! We’ll even be selling Minnow’s paintings and donating a portion to our friends at Ryerss to help feed and care for the retired horses on the farm.
And don’t worry, even if you aren’t local we will be sure to share all the details on the blog afterwards!
SAVE THE DATE:
when: Saturday, June 13th (rain date June 14th)
what: Ryerss Family Fun Day
where: Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines – Pottstown, Pennsylvania
P.S. if you want to find out more about past performances we’ve done, be sure to check out our archives!
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow tries GLS
If you have followed along at all with Minnow’s journey with high ringbone, then you know over the years we have tried many different things to manage his pain. His diagnosis back in 2008 was career ending for him, but he’s gone on to have a full and loved life as a trick pony. He’s very special to me and I would do anything to make sure he’s comfortable and happy for as long as I can.
Our previous attempts to help Minnow can be read about here:
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow’s Trip to New Bolton
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow tries Ground Control Shoes
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow gets injected with Ethyl Alcohol
Since it’s been nearly 2 years since Minnow was injected with Ethyl Alcohol to help fuse his joint I thought it was time for a little update on him. Recently we decided to put him on the supplement, GLS Powder.
We had noticed some improvement in a few other horses with arthritis on our farm and decided to give it a try. And after a few weeks of being on it we did notice he was walking much better than he had been.
Here is a few old videos of Minnow before he was injected with the Ethyl Alcohol, and after his injection:
And here he is just a few weeks ago after being on GLS for a few weeks:
It’s a small change, but he does seem to be more comfortable and we’ve even seen him bucking and running more in the pasture. So for now we will continue to keep him on the GLS Powder and hopefully in time his joint will fuse completely and we can only hope he can then be pain free!
P.S. Minnow has turned 20 this year…here’s to another 10 years with him!
Chincoteague Ponies Play in the Snow
We haven’t gotten near as much snow this year as we did last year, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t gotten any. On March 1st we got a little bit of snow, and I took the opportunity to take some photos of the dogs and the ponies playing in the snow.
And this last shot is my very favorite shot of the day, Minnow’s super sweet eye. He’s just so special. The snow is beautiful, but hopefully spring is just around the corner, because we can’t wait to get out and ride more!
P.S. want to see more photos of the dogs in the snow, be sure to head on over to Ammo’s Blog!
