Zazu and Uma's Hind Legs

Uma's knee surgery last Thursday at UC Davis went well. It's called a
TPLO surgery. In addition to her cruciate ligament being torn, they
dicovered she had a very large tear in her meniscus. She now has a
large metal plate in her hind leg and is on strict rest for two weeks.
After that she will begin taking short controlled walks. We have her
restricted in our bedroom and she seems to understand what is going on.

Dr Brenner ultrsounded Zazu's left stifle and could not locate the
source of her problem. However, she suspects a suspenary problem which
would take an MRI to confirm. MRI's of this sort cost over $2000. I
asked Dr Brenner what could be done once if it is a suspensory
ligament problem and was told Zazu would be prescribed pain/anti
inflammatory medication to be maintained on. So I'm going to get her
started on that now beginning with devils claw supplements.

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Uma and Hank at UC Davis Vet Hospital

Hank and Uma sitting in the lobby of UC Davis veterinary hospital.
Tomorrow she is having the surgery to repair her injured knee.

Ultrasound for Zazu

Today is a big day for me and Zazu. Dr Brenner, an ultrasound
specialist is coming over to ultrasound her stifle. I am intensly
hoping to finally get a diagnosis and prognosis on her lameness.

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Independent Seat

One of the human's responsibilities in the horse-human partnership, is
to have an independent seat - that is, to not rely on you hands
(pulling on the reins) to balance yourself when riding.  I decided to work on that yesterday:
I had a lovely time with Nora at Folsom lake trotting, cantering
and walking up and down hills without touching the reins. I tried
doing all the guidance with my legs and seat and made a game of seeing
how long I could go without using the reins. I also practiced posting
with my arms raised in the air. So fun! All this in preparation for
my enduance horse in training - Tessi. While I was out on the trail I
ran into Tessi's trainer, Janine, on a training ride with one of the
clients and a horse she has in training. Soon that will be Tessi and
me! I am looking forward to the prospect of becoming an endurance
racer under Janine's tutilage.
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