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 You get what you give
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Location: Texas | who has the horse with fibrotic myopathy?? Now I have one. LOL. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
 
Location: The best kept secret in TX | It might have been me. I had him for over 10 years before we finally had to put him down.
PM me.
What's up? |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | I'm not sure what your question but I won't be online long. Here is my experience with FM.
My Gelding was 6 when I bought him and was around 16.2 hands.
Fibrotic Myopathy is basically scar tissure that restricts the horse from extending his or her leg out all the way. This scar tissure can be made from sliding to far on wet grass, or even from over extending the hind leg while playing in the pasture.
A surgery can be performed on the horse and they can return to normal working functions after about 3-4weeks. The surgery is genrally performed with the horse standing up sedated, and an incision is made about 1-2inches deep in the scar tissue restricting movement. It is crucial the horse be stretched as often as possible to get the best results after surgery. This surgery is not guaranteed to work and at this time is the only approved surgery for Fibrotic Myopathy. Beto's cost me 6,000 out of pocket becaus ehis insurance didn't cover the surgery at the time because it was labeled as "experimental." Or so they said.... Anyway
I had the surgery done on my gelding after about two years of not knowing he had it. Yes I knew he walked funny (i.e. slapping the ground with his hind foot.) but I didn't think anything of it because he was still clocking well for me and placing. After the surgery I saw no improvement at all. It didn't help him at all just as my vet had warned me. I was told to retire him per my vet's orders and he was lableled "non sound". I got a second opinion on him as he was only 9 at the time and it seemed like such a waste of talent. The second vet I saw, I was told to do chiro treaments to keep him inline, and massage therapy at least twice a week but he wouldn't ever do anything more than light work and no rider over 150 pounds should ever be on him at a trot or lope....
I was taught to do the massage at home and learned the proper way to stretch him out. After about a month of me stretching him out as he ate his breakfast and dinner, I would tap on his legs and he would stretch them out himself.
When I rode him at home I kept pushing him a little harder every day just to see if anything I asked of him would hurt him in anyway. After almost 4 months off barrels, and aainst the vets order (I wouldn't reccomend going against a vet) I started trotting him around the barrels again. For a horse with FM this is a big first accomplishment.
After going back to my first vet who did the surery I got the ok to run him in a local jackpot... He started running full time after that small local win.
When warming up I had to be careful to warm him up and keep him warm until the run. If he warmed up and got cold he wasn't going to run at all because his scar tissue had retracted from being cold and would be non flexible. He would be sore. He would only lope the pattern and grunt when he really got down if he got cold after warm up.
To keep him from getting stiff I stretched him before a warmup, after a warm up and kept him moving (walking or trotting) until his turn to run. After we ran I immedietly stretched him as my SO ran cold water on his legs to keep inflamation down.
He went for checkups regulary to make sure he was sound to run. My vet was so amazed at how flexible he had become and kept a close eye on him for me to make sure he wasn't hurting when I ran him. If my vet told me don't run him in that one this week, I would pull him and run my mare instead.
We ran like that with the same routine for another 8 years give or take a few. He was perfectly fine and showed no signs of it bothering him. When he turned 17 I gave him to a good family friend who bought and sold horses for and with us. He kept Beto at his ranch as a kid horse and pasture ornament and continued the stretching, Chiro, and massage routine.
He loved all the kids and his new job. I got to see him every day as he was just down the street.
Bebito (A grandson of the great AQHA Hall Of Fame Stud Beduino) was layed to rest under a marble headstone under his favorite Walnut tree about 3 years ago. He was 20 years old. Fat happy and sassy and was put to sleep due to unrelated causes.
It is possible to keep them healthy and happy, the question is are you willing to put the time into a horse with this condition? It's a full time job, BUT SO WORTH IT!!!
Hope this helps! |
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You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | Yeah I know what it is and what the treatment options are for it... I just remember a BB on here had a horse she was trying to sell and the horse had fibrotic myopathy, and I remember her being frustrated about it.
I didn't exactly know my mare had it.. I knew she traveled funny on the back end sometimes on hard ground and thought maybe the farrier cut her short. Then we learned about fibrotic myopathy in vet school a couple weeks ago, and saw a video of it coincidentally on a vet school trip I was on.. realized that I was 99.9% sure my mare has had this the whole time I have had her...
Went to the vet today and within minutes he confirmed she had it. We are doing 10 days of bute and methocarbamol for now, and then lots of long trotting. He thinks two weeks of intense long trotting and then two more weeks of exercise and she should be good to go, which is when I wanted to run her again anyway.
We discussed cutting the insertion of her semis that goes to the tibia but we aren't ready for that yet, it's not bad enough.
I just think it's nuts because she and I have won A LOT of money and quite a few barrel races with her doing this, and it was being treated as something else by another vet. I am actually kind of relieved now because this sounds a lot more manageable than what we thought she had.. which was a bad hock that was running out of time.
I swear I am getting more out of vet school from my own horses than I am from school sometimes! |
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 Worst.Housekeeper.EVER.
Location: Missouri | Mine was MISdiagnosed with it when the farrier cut her short. Weird how it makes them travel similarly! |
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You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | just4fun - 2014-11-26 8:30 PM
Mine was MISdiagnosed with it when the farrier cut her short. Weird how it makes them travel similarly!
I know right!!!! It looks just about the same. I thought thats what it was with mine, but I have the real deal :/ yay.. not. |
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
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Location: Kansas | I think it was hoofs_in_motion who had a gray mare with it. |
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Location: on my horse | Casualdust who has it?  |
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Location: The best kept secret in TX | casualdust07 - 2014-11-26 7:19 PM Yeah I know what it is and what the treatment options are for it... I just remember a BB on here had a horse she was trying to sell and the horse had fibrotic myopathy, and I remember her being frustrated about it. I didn't exactly know my mare had it.. I knew she traveled funny on the back end sometimes on hard ground and thought maybe the farrier cut her short. Then we learned about fibrotic myopathy in vet school a couple weeks ago, and saw a video of it coincidentally on a vet school trip I was on.. realized that I was 99.9% sure my mare has had this the whole time I have had her... Went to the vet today and within minutes he confirmed she had it. We are doing 10 days of bute and methocarbamol for now, and then lots of long trotting. He thinks two weeks of intense long trotting and then two more weeks of exercise and she should be good to go, which is when I wanted to run her again anyway. We discussed cutting the insertion of her semis that goes to the tibia but we aren't ready for that yet, it's not bad enough. I just think it's nuts because she and I have won A LOT of money and quite a few barrel races with her doing this, and it was being treated as something else by another vet. I am actually kind of relieved now because this sounds a lot more manageable than what we thought she had.. which was a bad hock that was running out of time. I swear I am getting more out of vet school from my own horses than I am from school sometimes!
It's Definitley Manageable!! |
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You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | redmansmyman11 - 2014-11-27 1:13 PM
Casualdust who has it?
Bunny |
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Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | casualdust07 - 2014-11-29 5:50 PM
redmansmyman11 - 2014-11-27 1:13 PM
Casualdust who has it?
Bunny
 for Buns at least this sounds treatable! |
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You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | Yep but I think of all things, this isn't that big of a deal. I had one vet think she had a bad hock and to basically "enjoy her while I can." This vet seems to think that she doesn't have as bad of a hock as previously thought and that she just was sore in her neck, heel sore, and has this going on in her back end. She has crummy front feet so soft rides at the barrel races it is! Radiographs were excellent of her front feet. So I am glad this vet seems more optimistic about her future. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
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Location: Kansas | I had a grey mare who was diagnosed 2 years ago with it. She looked like she was "off" or "stiff" when she traveled. But she was sound. She still competed and never had any soundness issues, we were clocking top of the 1D locally when I sold her.
You dont need injections, or maintence, it's just a "hitch" in the step per say. Or a mechanical issue. |
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You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | hoofs_in_motion - 2014-12-01 1:16 PM I had a grey mare who was diagnosed 2 years ago with it. She looked like she was "off" or "stiff" when she traveled. But she was sound. She still competed and never had any soundness issues, we were clocking top of the 1D locally when I sold her.
You dont need injections, or maintence, it's just a "hitch" in the step per say. Or a mechanical issue.
Yes, this I know. We are hoping that her "hock issue" was just a misdiagnosis from another vet. |
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