Martyn's Ultrasound
Back in late January, my horse, Martyn, an 11-year-old Friesian gelding, was frolicking a little too hard out in the pasture and began showing a bit of lameness in his right hind leg. Dr. Elizabeth Kilgallon is my large animal veterinarian and she came to my stables to examine the problem. She determined that the hock, or the middle joint of the leg, should be treated symptomatically. She prescribed anti-inflammatory medication and cold-hosing of the joint, and instructed Betsy to restrict his exercise. Martyn made a good recovery and soon returned to his normal schedule. However, in late February, Betsy noticed once again that Martyn was short-strided on the same leg and had some swelling. Dr. Kilgallon returned and took a set of X-rays, which indicated no abnormalities. Betsy started the cold-hosing and stall rest again until the swelling goes down. On her latest visit, Dr. Kilgallon brought her portable ultrasound machine – quite a costly device.
The ultrasound revealed that there is some fluid around Martyn’s leg joint, which can be compared to human conditions such as shoulder bursitis or water on the knee. Because there is no indication of infection, it has been decided to continue with a conservative approach, allowing the inflammation to decrease by local treatment and rest. Hopefully, Martyn will be back to normal soon.
He is such a handsome guy. May he heal quickly and fully.
Posted by: Robb | March 14th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Martha,
I hope that with the care of Dr. Kilgallon and Betsy Martyn makes a full recovery soon. Good Luck!
Kathy
Posted by: Kathy | March 14th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Martyn is so beautiful and at 11 years of age (which is not old} he is in the prime of life. Hopefully with regular care and rest he will fully recover. Joint problems have to be taken seriously. Martyn is in the best if care because of your heartfelt concern for recovery. Keep us posted, we care too. Nan
Posted by: Nan Ashby | March 14th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Best wishes to Martyn! It is so hard to know what is going on with lameness', been there and done that! I enjoy your blogs about your Friesians - I have a 21 month old filly - Vrome sends get well thoughts to Martyn too!
Posted by: Nancy Bauer | March 14th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Martyn looks like Black Beauty.Nan
Posted by: Nan Ashby | March 14th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Dear Martha,
How many times did we go through what Betsy is doing now, with each of the 23 show horses my husband and I cared for from 1991-1996 in Medway, MA. Hunters, Jumpers, and Equitation horses. Many times our Vet brought his ultrasound machine and looked for reasons for lameness. Many hours of cold hosing, poulticing, wrapping, sweating, stall rest, hand walking....etc. Hours and hours of care! Brings back memories. Tell Betsy I'm thinking of her, and hope Martyn is sound soon! I always liked the biggest horses best and geldings, they have the best temperament and are the least 'crazy' when restricted to stall rest!
Mary Ellen Barnatt
Milford, MA
Posted by: Mary Ellen Barnatt | March 14th, 2008 at 9:32 am
My guy; 24 years young and recovered from bows in front and stifle issues. Still works under saddle and cavorts 4 foot in the air. He's a remarkable individual; but even with his history during the past 8 years has only seen a couple weeks of stall rest. (But I've lost count of the hours I put in with poultice, cold/hot therapy etc!)
A favourite saying of mine is that you have to live to move and move to live...
I hope Martyn heals and I hope he will be able to move to live soon.
Posted by: Ingrid Kostron | March 14th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Feel better soon, Martyn! Hopefully he'll be in fine shape for riding and playing by summertime. Very glad to read that it's not a serious or surgical issue!
Posted by: Amy G. | March 14th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Hi Martha, My heart and prayers go out to you, Martyn and all of his care givers. Hopefully, he will make a speedy recovery. I have learned more about horses from your blogs than I could ever imagine. Your photos are outstanding. Martyn is so lucky to have you as his owner. Thanks again for sharing. Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | March 14th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Bursitis and/or water on the knee are both very painful and I can sympathize with Martyn's discomfort. I know your Vet knows more than me but my experience with the knees is that the fluid can come back with just a twist of the foot (hoof) or a wrong step until it is completely healed. I hope his treatment is successful and speaking of treatment, how is Paw Paw doing? Trish
Posted by: Trish | March 14th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Martha seems to hire quite a few women professionals, specialists, etc. I wonder if she makes a special effort to do so. If anyone reads this who knows.... does Martha pro-actively hire women? I wonder if they are easy to find in some specialties (I'm thinking of the recent blog that featured the woman who makes saddles.)
Either way, I think it's a good thing
Posted by: maurdel | March 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Best Wishes to Martin! Isn't medical technology wonderful - what would we do without it?
Posted by: dawn | March 14th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Martha:)
Glad to know that Martyn's ailment isn't something that needs surgery. I know he is healthy in every way so he will be able to recover from this set back and be back in the paddock and pastures with the rest of the boys soon.
You have some of the most beautiful horses that I have ever seen. They are in their prime and their coats show it. All the animals on your farm are some of the prettiest I've seen in a long time.
Linda Gail
Posted by: Linda Gail | March 14th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Hi Martha,
I wish your beautiful boy, Martyn, a speedy recovery. And I will say a prayer to the patron saint of horses, Hippolytus of Rome.
All my best.
Posted by: Jon | March 15th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Martha, I saw Friday's show and your beautiful custom fitted dress and jacket. GO GIRL! You still have a model's figure. Your long legs and height make you still as elegant as ever. Nan
Posted by: Nan Ashby | March 15th, 2008 at 10:39 am
To maurdel - a great many veterinarians today are women. I don't know whether Martha particularly seeks out women in professions and so on to work with, but just thought you might be interested to know about veterinarians in particular.
I hope Martyn is soon sound and feeling just fine! Don't forget Healing Touch for Animals (HTA) and some Reiki will work very well for horses!
Posted by: Linda | March 15th, 2008 at 11:12 am
What a beautiful horse! Hope he is feeling better.
Posted by: Betty | March 15th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Thanks Linda. Yes, I have noticed that there seems to be a high percentage of female vets. Just noticing around my own city, it seems to be right about 50% women.
the Vet in this post, reminded me of the saddle post, and other times when Martha featured folks who work around her place. Having no experience with horses & saddle making I wondered if the female saddlemaker was as typical as the female vet, or does it take the Martha folks some extra effort to find them?
Posted by: maurdel | March 15th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Hi Martha,
What a beautiful boy and my prayers go ou to you that he lives and enjoys a wonderful,healthy equine life. My daughter and I recently lost our horse of 31 years(we had Maggie since she was a child as I refer to her). It was probably the most single tragic day we will ever remember but her years were rewarding,she had GREAT LOVE,respect and health most of her life. I wish this for your guy also....
Karen
Posted by: KAREN SALWOCKI | March 16th, 2008 at 7:26 am
What an amazing horse!!
Get well soon Martyn!
Posted by: Tania P. | March 16th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Wanna hear something funny?
Sometimes I only have time to quickly glance at the daily blogs that I frequent, this being one. I saw the ultrasound and the first thought that came to mind was that it was Alexis'- a possible grand baby in the making!! Then as I glanced down further I realized it was of the horse.
Here is to hoping Martyn feels much better soon.
Angela
Posted by: Angela Willis | March 16th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Hi Martha,
Hope that Martyn will recover quickly. Our beautiful Weimaraner "Heike" has a similar condition, she is very Horsy. The Drug RIMADYL did not help. I would be interested in knowing what Martyn's hometreatment consists off.
A devoted Fan.
Posted by: Margret | March 17th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Hi Martha: I love the picture you have displayed on your blog of paw-paw. He looks like my Carmella and Lucky who have deceased. They also were very loving, and I miss them terribly. Thanks for the picture. Ina W.
Posted by: Ina W. | March 17th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I hope Martyn does well with his treatments and is running around soon. He is beautiful! It is nice to know that as busy as you get you still have time for all your pets and show them such love. Donna B.
Posted by: Donna Bowen | March 18th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Injectable Glucosamine? Can the shoe be fitted to help the joint deal with stress better? Gee you would think they would make a shoe that can absorb shock for horses too. Maybe he was too eager to go romping and needed to stay stalled longer? I hope he gets better because he is so beautiful and I am sure you do not need the worry..
Posted by: theresa | March 21st, 2008 at 2:45 am
These horses are so beautiful they look like paintings! I am just in awe of their majesty and kindness.
Here's to Martyn's continuing good health!
Katie Kane
Posted by: Katie Kane | June 26th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I hesitated coming to this part of the blog, as I did not want to read anything sad about Martyns condition, it brings back a bad memory for me during 2007 with my Arab mare ChutYanna(28 yrs old)came up lame, and I personally spent 8 months three times a day treating her after a misdiagnosis, which ended in her being euthanized. How I wish she could have talked and told me what was wrong, I feel guilty having treated her for so long with so much pain, having been given the false hope of her getting better...then 6 mo. later her mate of 28 yrs. died from an unfortunate mishap, he never had a sick day in his life or an injury. It is so painful to love your animals...as I get older it is harder for me to lose my pets of so many years, maybe it's my age and the reality of ones mortality...I just pray they will be waiting for me in heaven.
I also pray that Martyn will recover and have a happy and healthy life. "He is lucky to be owned by you"
Posted by: delia | March 29th, 2009 at 7:16 am
I'm curious....how is Martyn doing???
Posted by: delia | April 5th, 2009 at 8:00 am