Equipoise, Okotoks, AB (2025)

01/19/2024

The end: The blood results were all over the map and only caused more questions. It was around this point in time the vet and specialist that looked at his results started talking about things like tumour/s. Skips demeanour was changing & I noticed he was leaning his hind end against the shelter to sleep. With all this in mind on Dec 15th we made the hard choice not to continue testing or to do anymore treatments. Seeing the horse that we all know and love fade away was too much.

Skip had been a fantastic horse and he deserved a peaceful end. On Dec 20 ,as humanly as possible, we said goodbye to the best horse I’ve ever had the privilege of riding and working with.

He was my best friend, and no matter what else happened we all always had Skip. I know he is resting peacefully now but I can’t help but miss him so very much.

01/13/2024

Part 7: I knew as the time increased he was unlikely to stay happy without exercise. So in addition to vets recommendations we tried body work, acupressure, had the farrier out and did as much hand walking as he could handle.
Despite the efforts, treatments, and vet intervention the muscles in his hind end started to waste away. When Skip started to loose weight again we had some blood work done. As an easy keeper with little exercise and on full grain he should’ve been extra “fluffy”.

01/10/2024

Part 6: After several rides indoors. On Oct 10 in the outdoor arena I noticed that Skip was having trouble lifting his hind legs over trot poles. Thinking the poles must’ve been a bit much, we went on with our ride. While at a lope, going up the center line, Skips back legs went out from under him. We recovered without further incident but, I knew right then something was wrong with Skip. He was thoroughly looked over and found no signs of injury or trauma (as continued to be the theme) he was given a few days off with pain meds and iced his back legs just in case.
During his time off Skip developed another symptom, dragging his back toes. We took videos and consulted with the vet. The pain meds seemed to have no affect. This was a positive as we knew he wasn’t in pain but were perplexed all the same. After certain things like viruses, neurological symptoms, hocks, and stifles were ruled out we decided to give it some time. Despite what had now developed to partial bilateral paralysis in the hind end Skip still seemed to be his normal happy self. So we continued carefully monitoring him.

01/06/2024

Part 5: By late Aug - early Sept’ Skip was feeling good (for a semi retired 22 year old with OA) riding with great energy and able to do a few lessons. We rode the most connected we’ve ever been. Even lopping, controlled, in lessons with no reins! (Any of you that remember young Skip know that was a pretty big accomplishment.)
At the beginning of Oct when we noticed Skip was having trouble engaging his hind end we took it as another area for the two of us to put in some work. As he’s been such a great athletic horse I had no problem putting in some time to help him rebuild his hind end muscles.

01/04/2024

Part 4: You may recall that in Nov of 2022 we made the decision to retire Skip from reining and partially retire him. These choices were made with his aging joints in mind.
Because of how much Skip enjoyed having a job he didn’t initially take to the time off. Because of this we tried to ride 3-4 times a week and began working with one of the, awesome, trainers at the barn. With the goals of giving Skip something else to do and keeping him comfortable.
He went through ups and downs being sore with no 1 spot being the problem (this was to be a bit of a theme with him). It turned out some changes in his diet (with the assistance of an equine nutritionist) proved to be just what he needed.

Address

Okotoks, AB

Telephone

4038290384

Website

http://www.eal-equipoise.com/

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Part 6: After several rides indoors. On Oct 10 in the outdoor arena I noticed that Skip was having trouble lifting his hind legs over trot poles. Thinking the poles must’ve been a bit much, we went on with our ride. While at a lope, going up the center line, Skips back legs went out from under him. We recovered without further incident but, I knew right then something was wrong with Skip. He was thoroughly looked over and found no signs of injury or trauma (as continued to be the theme) he was given a few days off with pain meds and iced his back legs just in case. During his time off Skip developed another symptom, dragging his back toes. We took videos and consulted with the vet. The pain meds seemed to have no affect. This was a positive as we knew he wasn’t in pain but were perplexed all the same. After certain things like viruses, neurological symptoms, hocks, and stifles were ruled out we decided to give it some time. Despite what had now developed to partial bilateral paralysis in the hind end Skip still seemed to be his normal happy self. So we continued carefully monitoring him.

Equipoise