Well, just as I thought all was well with Jade’s health, we are now dealing with yet another issue. This time, not nearly as serious, however, she will have to have another surgery to correct her problem. She has what is commonly referred to as DDSP, (dorsal displacement of the soft palate). She had been presenting with a cough upon the beginning of every exercise period. In order to diagnose the problem, the surgeon needed to fit her with a dynamic endoscopic probe that would show exactly what is happening in her airway during exercise. My good pal Donna came with me on two trips to Steinbeck to provide moral support and photo document the procedure.
Jade being fitted with the dynamic endoscopic probe
Turns out, Jade throws her larnyx way back in her throat when breathing hard, which in turn cuts off part of her airway. The bottom line is, she is not getting all of the oxygen required to maintain the kind of stamina necessary to do more than about 8 miles of trail riding. I have noticed she tires much too easily, and am happy to know that we now have a cause that can be corrected with surgery.
There are two ways to go about this diagnostic procedure; one is having the horse run in place on a treadmill, or have a rider wearing a heavy backpack of equipment that hooks up directly with the probe in the horses nose.
Jade and Cory hooked up and ready
Since Jade had not been taught to run on a treadmill, we opted for the “rider” type test. She had not been ridden in two weeks, and with a probe up her nose, I felt sure that we would have a bit of a rodeo. However, once again, Jade surprised me and behaved like the true gem I know she is. Both Donna and I were amazed at just how perfectly she did everything I asked. The vets needed to see her in the roundpen, at a trot, a canter and then a fully checked up trot, for assessing the position of the larynx.
Jade doing her part perfectly
For me, this diagnosis was the best possible outcome, because the other things that they were looking at, like lungs and cell abnornmalities would certainly have been more serious than partial airway blockage. In fact, there is really no rush in getting the surgery done, as long as I keep in mind that she has limitations as to how many miles we can go. I hope to get some good (short) trail rides in this week, then will look at the calendar to decide what the best time period is for surgery. Thankfully, the recovery period is short (3-5 weeks) and the surgery is very common, especially among race horses. Hum…maybe we should look at a career change when she is recovered.
For now, happy trails and I’ll keep the post updated with surgery and recover details.