The Inner Side of Brego

Brego got the week off of work because he was still sore from his float. So there is nothing to report from a training or conditioning perspective. But I did get an excellent vet out to take digital radiographs of his hocks and feet in order to assess any issues he might have with the upcoming season. He may not look like it these days, being a couple of weeks out of work and rather, er, squishy, but I have high hopes for that boy.

So I requested xrays of his hocks and front feet and the overall read was they are very good. He has some slight changes evident in the joint between P2 and P3, but the vet was not concerned at all. He also had a slight lipping of one of the joints in his hock, but again the vet was not alarmed. He did show pretty significant sidebone, but surprisingly, the vet seemed to think it would not cause him any problems and was pretty normal for a horse of his size. He thought he had good feet and excellent balance, thanks to my excellent trimmer, and was pretty optimistic about him in general. If this was a pre-purchase exam, Brego would have passed with flying colors. Granted, he did not give me the green light to go out and jump 4', but he certainly didn't think Brego was suffering in any way from his current work load or last season. The real test will be to see the same set of rads taken next year. Will a year of improved work and more showing accelerate any changes?

He did recommend we drop the supplemental joint medicine and switch to IM Adequan. After doing a cost comparison, it was actually cheaper to make the switch and he felt it would be a good prophylactic to minimize changes. He stated there was more research and studies done showing the efficacy of Adequan over feed-through joint supplements. I had not really looked into Adequan, because I felt it was one of those "pharmaceuticals" burnt-out hunters needed. I did not realize that it wasn't a drug at all. Anyway, Brego got his first dose tonight and my SmartPak is going to be radically changed.

Finally, he confirmed that although Brego is sore from his float, it was good dentistry and that his TMJ is probably just sore from having his mouth open for so long during the procedure. He agreed with my decision not to ride until Brego is 100%. (I hope to start riding again soon... The spring show season will be here all too soon...)

Without further ado, here are the rads, for your viewing pleasure (Click on each one to see a larger version).

Left Foot Lateral



Left Foot DP


Right Foot Lateral


Right Foot DP


LR Hock Med Lat Oblique


LR Hock DP


LR Hock Lat Med Oblique


LR Hock Lateral


RR Hock DP


RR Hock Lat Med Oblique


RR Hock Lateral


RR Hock Med Lat Oblique