I didn't realize that anyone actually read this blog, so I quite posting to it. After receiving a comment about an update, I realized that it may be helpful to someone.
So here is the post I placed on the forum on 2/9/08:
Well, the surgery to take out J's eye was done on Tuesday. I took him to Gainesville on Monday with the help of our board buddy FastTracker. She is awesome as usual. The surgery went really well to remove the atrophied blind eye. He came home Wednesday.
He has been running, bucking, and jumping. He is on twice a day meds for while. Banamine for pain and inflammation. SMZs to fight infection. Gastrogard to keep the Banamine from eating his stomach up. He is not thrilled with the meds, but it is not nearly as bad as when he initially injured the eye.
The bandage came off last night. It looks really good. Too bad that it will actually sink in more than it is right now. At the moment, it is flush with the eye socket and just looks closed. All in all, I am pleased with the outcome and I think once the sutures are out, he will be feeling much better. I will try to remember to snap some pictures tomorrow when I am out there.
While he is recuperating, I asked a friend if I could ride a sale horse she has that has not been ridden in 6 months. I thought it would satisfy my need to ride and sharpen him back up so that she can get more money for him. Never have I wanted a second horse. My horse has always been enough. After working with the little guy, I have fallen in love with him and want to get J a "brother". I am waiting to see if they change over my merit raise at work to a job reclassification. If they do that, the raise should be enough that I can afford to board a second horse.
So S is a registered full Arab. His registration papers say that he is black, but he is really dark bay. He has a stripe on the nose and four white fetlocks. He has been called an aloof nut job by people at the barn. He has just been misunderstood and out of work for too long. Since working with him, he has stopped the stall walking. He is very affectionate to me, very willing, and smart as a fox. I will keep you updated on how this goes.
So J should be back in riding shape in about 3 weeks. I can't wait to get him back under saddle. He has WAY too much energy to be on rest.
quote:
Originally posted by MiHorseGirl:
a friend of mine had to have her horses eye removed. they put an orb or fake eyeball in and sewd it shut so there is something in his socket and it wont sink in. he is her speed horse and i think was back at it in 2-3 weeks. he acted like he had both eyes. good luck with your boy and the new one you get. i just aquired an arab and they are so sensitive, it takes special people to understand them.
I opted not to do the implant because there is a 50% rejection rate. He has been through so much and been such a great horse through it all. I did not want to take the chance that he would have to have another surgery to remove the prosthesis.
A general reply regarding his condition:
Thanks everyone! I don't really have to worry much about adjustment. He has been blind in that eye for a year, so our adjustment period is over. He does mildly shake his head every now and then like he is trying to figure out the weight difference.
A funny thing...when the bandage was still on, he was very frustrated and indicating to me that he could not see because we had put something over his eye. I Had to laugh because he has not been able to see out of it for all that time. I have no idea why he associated the bandage covering the eye socket as being his problem all of a sudden. What a silly!
A more current update as of 4/5/08:
J is back to full time work. He is doing AWESOME. He seems to feel much better and is paying more attention when I ride. He is actually getting his leads pretty consistently now.
I have bought a second horse and there seems to be no jealousy between them. The new horse is very green, but does have two eyes!!