Lasers all Around Us!!!!

Just a quick update on Miss Cedes. She is actually doing quite well on her stall and paddock rest. She happy enough being fed plenty of high fiber local hay to keep her busy and she is really enjoying her walks around the neighborhood, by hand, for some exercise and mental stimulation. We are walking 30 minutes a day MAX. and only when I get home from work and it's not raining/snowing/blowing sideways, or when my mom is working from home and can help me out a bit so I don't have to walk the girls in the dark. Of course on the weekend she is walked both days too!

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On days when I can't get her out for a walk, I make sure to spend a little extra time with her out at the barn before dinner. I might take some extra time on her feet and apply some Keratex Hoof Hardener to her toes and sole (We pulled Mercy's shoes November 17th and she's a little ouchie- obviously) or ask her to move a hoof here or there in order to maintain our light feel and accuracy skills. Anything to make her think or feel challenged. It really does keep her happy!

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In this picture you can see her shoeless hooves and if you look at the top of her legs you can see where she was shaved down for the ultrasound, lol!

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Starlett enjoys our walks too. I think that she feels like she has a purpose: She is watching out for Mercy. Star takes her job seriously, but she also really likes the exercise too. Her arthritic knees seem less painful and more fluid in motion since we started these more routine walks.

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Mercy, on the other hand, mainly sees these walks as an excuse to eat grass... it's pretty much a battle from start to finish to just 'keep walkin.'

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Here she is eyeing a delicious fern... ewww.

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back when we had all of that snow, our walks became even more non-existent because of all of the ice underneath the snow. the last thing I needed to happen to Mercy was to have her fall down after hitting a slick spot. Most of the snow did eventually melt off, except for some stubborn patches, which immediately froze again each night. We did venture forth on our walks again once most of it was gone, but Mercy was still able to not only find some slick, slushy spot, but also made sure to walk on them and freak me out!

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Yesterday Dr. Bob stopped out to start laser therapy on Mercy's leg. It's an exciting new procedure in which we run a medical laser up and down the injured leg, right above and below her knee, for three days straight and then twice a week for two weeks. This should expedite the healing process by exciting the cells of the tendon, which will speed up repair of the tendon fibers! today was day two and Mercy seems to really enjoy the therapeutic heat the laser gives off! I am REALLY excited to see how she feels after the final laser treatment. Anything I can do to help her heal more quickly will help us both be able to fly again sooner!