Semper and the Vet

So Friday I spent trailering my main man to the vet. I chose this particular vet because he has a wonderful reputation as a diagnostician and has the skill to back it up. His main practice is in Nevada but he comes to California a couple times a week. The ranch he operates out of in California is magnificent to say the least. I would stay in a stall there. I am not sure I have ever seen an indoor as large as this one... my guess is 220 x 400 clear span. Wonderful footing. I swear I was drooling.

Anyway... back to the big man. We went through all the basic stuff, walk and trot in a circle in the arena and then out on the hard ground. Flexation tests and more walking and trotting. The thing is that Semper has not been lame at all. But something isn't right. Semper was so sweet and he was extremely willing to do what ever he was asked. I felt like he might have been a little off in the right hind because he swishes his tail to the right alot and he tends to want to cock that hind foot. The vet decides to do x-rays and scans of his left first. What the heck? I thought it was the right! Turns out - so did he. He got a base line x-ray of the leg he thought was good so he could compare the two. He was really pleased with the quality of his left leg. His hock joint on the left were in fabulous shape. Armed with the good side he moved over to the right. Low and behold...a small tear in the suspensatory where it connects to the hock. Very small and very fixable. But for Semper, when he had to flex that joint it probably felt like a hot poker sticking him in the leg. Poor guy. It all came together. The swishing, the resting, the good stops after a week or two off and the bad stops when I would ask him for them days in a row. The penning his ears in the turnarounds. The not liking deep footing. Semper told me as much as he could without standing up, screaming at me and pointing to it. The good news is that he did tell me, we caught it early, it is completely fixable and he is going to be good to go with a month or two of time off / light riding. The vet said for a 12 year old his joints are in extremely good shape and that if I take care of him he is going to be going strong into his late teens and beyond. AND we don't have to go back unless Mr. Semper tells me he is hurting. It is such a relief to get it figured out and have a plan.