MINYA'S STORY

MINYA'S STORY

The following article bears testament to the fact that you should never, never give up on a true friend and if you are not happy with a first opinion, get a second, third, fourth and even fifth, sixth and seventh!!!!

"Matitojo Minya", a 12hh chestnut mare of unknown parentage produced her fourth foal for us (sired by "Matitojo Sherzawn" on the 22nd November, 2000. After foaling, Minnie and her baby nicknamed "Spud" were kept in the stable and yard for about two weeks then put out into a large paddock on the 5th December. A few days later it was noticed that she was holding up her near foreleg and resting on her toe. She was checked for obvious soreness, trotted out and seemed to be okay. She was observed over the next few days running around quite happily with Spud. As Minnie was due to come into season on the 22nd December she was brought up and put in a small paddock beside the stallion. She was served twice over the next four days and

although she seemed to short step a bit after being served, nothing seemed to be obviously wrong. The next day she was again rasing her near fore and resting on the toe and seemed to do it continuously after that. She was needled to take her off as we didn't want to risk putting the stallion over her again. The vet (Number 1) was called and on his inspection there was no lameness when trotted out but he was concerned that something may have been wrong in the shoulder area, perhaps a pinched nerve.

On the 31st December our farrier trimmed Minya's feet and checked for soreness but couldn't find anything. She was starting to show classic symptoms of Navicular Disease. We called another vet (Number 2) who came out on the 5th of January as she seemed to be declining; now having to stretch out both front legs in order to eat. Her front feet were nerve blocked and x-rayed and as nothing conclusive could be seen in the x-ray we were instructed to try treating her for Navicular (with Circulon). After a weeks treatment, Minnie was definitely not improving.

By the 15th January she was losing a lot of weight and finding it very difficult to eat at ground level so her feed was raised off the ground and her hay put in a net hanging off the fence. She ate everything that was put in front of her and was still losing weight. She was checked again by a vet (Number 3) and resolved that Navicular was definitely not the problem but her nec and near fore shoulder were very sore and he thought there maybe something "out". On the 23rd January a chiropractor/vet (Number 4) worked on her withers, neck and back for over an hour. Her feed was kept up and she was to be given pain killers twice a day for three days then once a day for three days. The morning after we saw Number 4, she was a lot worse and very uncomfortable. She was taking tiny little steps and was very worried about the foal running around her and tensed up everytime she came near. We returned to Number 4 on the 12th February where he again worked on her back, withers and neck and even tried some acupuncture. The following day Minnie could hardly move at all and looked like a very old and thin pony full of arthritis. Her muscles were bunched up like tennis balls and she seemed very puffed up around the lower wither area and had very little neck movement. Another call to Vet Number 4 (as she was getting worse) resulted in the probable diagnosis of spinal cancer or a severe infection in her spinal cord. It was suggested testing her for Ross River so we had to load the poor thing into the float as the local vet couldn't get out to us - after keeping her on bute for a few more days the tests came back negative and on calling one of the vets that had been treating her, he said that the best thing would be to put her down.

As the pain killers weren't helping her and after a few teary and sleepless nights and hoping that she would improve, the decision was made to put her down. We contacted an out of town vet to come over and make sure it was done right and booked a backhoe for that afternoon so we gould put her under her favourite gum tree in the stallions paddock. Number 5 vet arrived to do the job as Number 2 was away and as he had not previously examined her, decided to give her the once over. After pulling all four legs and giving her a very thorough and gentle examination he came to the conclusion that it could be anything from some sort of trauma, disease, blood clot or even a fractured verterbae in her lower neck. He said that the only way to positively identify what was wrong would be to take her to Werribee to have an MRI scan and extensive x-rays. This would cost in the vicinity of $2000 and more than likely come out with the same prognosis, she would have to be put down. He was of the opinion that she was not in a lot of pain and to wean the foal over the following week (Spud was only just three months old), then to ring him back and he would come and do "the job".

Spud was put in a small paddock seperated from Minnie and beside the stallion for company. She was very good about it, popping in and out of Minnie's paddock for a drink whenever the gate was opened for her. Spud was more interested in chatting to Dad than worrying about what her mother was doing. Minnie seemed to quite visibly relax when the foal wasn't there. She brightened up considerably and seemed to be slightly better and a bit more mobile in her movement. We called Number 4 vet and said how she seemed to have improved so he said just let her go for a little bit longer.

As the days passed she improved more and more, still lying down a lot after eating and for long periods of time. A vet (Number 6 & friend of the family) called in on the 18th March and gave her a good going over. She concentrated on the chest and neck area. When she tried to raise Minnie's head above a certain level she trembled all over. She checked her in front and noticed that her shoulders were not symmetrical and noted that there still was no sideways movement of the neck. She was able to walk, trot and even canter and this stage and there was no lameness or difficulty doing so - she just couldn't bend her neck around from the shoulder. This vet was of the opinion that Minnie had indeed fractured a vertebrae in the lower part of her neck but with care it would mend. The following day brought a momentous occassion when Minnie actually shook herself all over, a simple thing which she had not been able to do for a long time.

The following week we had a couple of colts gelded and when we told the vet (Number 7) about Minnie he wanted to look at her. He went over her in the same manner as Number 6 and came to the same conclusion, that she had indeed probably fractured a vertebrae and if she continued to improve in this manner she would be okay but perhaps just a bit stiff in the neck and not really suitable for riding but perfectly fine to breed from.

From then on she seemed to improve every day, attempting more and more to eat grass at ground level where before she could only pick off the tops of the very long grass. She started getting less tense in her muscles, started putting on a decent amount of weight and was able to stand more and more on all four legs.

Looking back it appears Minya's injury was more than likely aggravated by the chiropractic work she received on two occassions plus her worry of the foal bumping her. She was never actually lame or off her feed and ate enough for two ponies! The original paddock that Minnie and her foal were put in had very long and thick grass in it so the only conclusion we can come to is that she must have been running around and somehow stumbled or fell awkwardly and cracked a vertebrae, although without a scan and x-rays we will never know. We do know now that it was definitely not spinal cancer!

One of the first times that Minya was

able to reach round and scratch herself

On the 1st April our arrival home saw her rubbing herself all over on a tree, the first time she had been able to maneuver herself around that much. The following day saw her reaching around to the off side for an itch but not quite being able to get there. Needless to say over the past few months she had been getting two long scratching sessions a day courtesy of a pair of rubber gloves and brush and many, many apples! A few days later saw her nibbling at her off side flank but she couldn't quite get around to the near side. She was still unable to eat out of a bucket at ground level but was getting the grass in her paddock shorter and shorter.

By the end of June, Minnie was a little barrel again. She is still a little stiff and is unable to lift her head right up high. She can eat out of a bucket on the ground but has to put a front leg forward much in the manner that a foal does. She can now give any available post or tree a good going over and can trot, canter and even get up a gallop around the paddock.

Only recently one member of the family was given a good talking to - he practices his golf out in the paddocks and Minnie happened to get in the way of one shot as it was bouncing along. The ball didn't hit her hard but she fell over sideways as she is unable to spin around quickly as most of the other horses usually do!

We are glad that in Minnie's case we had the opportunity to have several very good vets see her at different times and that we was able to be given a second chance at life. Even though she is not suitable for riding (she was retired from that strenuous activity a number of years ago!) there was no reason why we could not continue to breed from her.

Every day when we walk out in the paddock and see that big, round chestnut pony we think of the day that the vet arrived to put her down and that the backhoe had actually been booked.

The above story was written in July, 2001  -  It is now 2005 and Minya has just delivered her 4th foal since having her 'accident'.

As you can see by the very recent pictures, she is very much alive, fit and healthy, although we do cringe when we see her getting up to some of these antics!