No more margaritas, please

 We do have answers! Finally. The vet was out on the 30th and we did a full workup on Mia. The vet said Mia was super uncomfortable even standing in the indoor arena, and I agreed. She was very uncomfortable and hyper reactive. Mia almost knocked the poor vet over when the vet tried to examine Mia's ears! A lameness exam showed her slightly lame on all 4 legs but flexions didn't show where, which may or may not be related to the trim that was done 2 days before. I showed pics of Mia's feet pre-trim and the vet agreed that her feet could have been making her sore and that the adjustment back to normal could be making it slightly worse. The farrier from Feb-Apr had not done Mia any favors but 1 trim has her back on track. Basically Mia was broken enough that we couldn't block to find where she was sore. The vet left with blood for tests, and a list of things we would do as we crossed other things off. First up? Lyme. If no, then EPM. If no, bone scan. At least there was a plan!

We put Mia on Robaxin to try to make her more comfortable, which did help. Well, they helped for 10 days anyway. After that, Mia went on a hunger strike and refused to eat if any pill DARE be in her grain despite the addition of applesauce and straight molasses. *sigh* On May 5th, we got our first result back. Hold the margaritas, Mia doesn't need any more Lyme! She tested positive for chronic Lyme. The vet thinks she caught it around the March timeframe based on her numbers and my description of her reactions. It sucks. I was the first person in the barn to break out fly spray in March but apparently I was already too late. Her numbers are 4600, which is definitely positive but also significantly less than other horses have tested in the barn and area. Another mare in the barn tested over 20k last November and is still being treated, a gelding at a nearby barn tested at 14k and is also still being treated. 

With this new information, we put straight on Doxy which quickly made a significant difference. After 3 days, Mia looked comfortable again. After 7 days, Mia started to walk normally and have swing in her back again. She has been so uncomfortable, she felt like she was a machine walking on stilts! After a week and a half, Mia is now acting normal again. She still has some slight hyper reactivity on her neck and poll, but it is significantly reduced and I wouldn't consider her borderline dangerous anymore. Yes, it had gotten that bad! For a while, I wasn't even cross tying her because of her extreme reaction when anything would touch in front of her shoulder! 

She had a 2nd chiro/acupuncture visit on the 7th and was told Mia is MUCH better. Mia was out in a few places and still sore, but was much better than the treatment the month prior and that was after only 3 days on Doxy. It was good to hear someone else agree that Mia is getting better.

Mia has been getting lots of attention and 30 minute walk rides for the past 3 weeks. The vet agreed she was working out of the stiffness so keep her moving and it has helped. I have increased the ride times to 45 - 60 minutes since she is feeling better, but I wanted to make 100% sure that she was feeling okay. After last night? I would say she is feeling GOOD! Mia is currently in a big almost 5 acre field with a 4yr old gelding and another mare. Last night, the other mare kept running Mia and the gelding away from me as I went to catch them. I had to walk ALL OVER the dang pasture trying to catch them, and when I did catch Mia? The other horses were running around us taunting Mia to run off with them and while she didn't break free, Mia was very happy to try. Needless to say, Mia was feeling GOOD.

Fingers crossed she continues to improve and her Lyme numbers are gone at the end of the month. It would be awesome of we could start training again in June, there are competitions I would love to go to this year!