2012 has been tough
903 views · Published 22 November 2012 · 3:11 · Indexed 8 October 2026
Channel: torabella · 2012 · Sports
This is going to be a long one, so bare with... This season has been a very slow one for us. First of all half of the events were rained off in the first half of the season, then Tommy went mysteriously lame with a suspected shoulder muscle injury. Whilst he was on box rest, I was turning him into the indoor arena for a roll and leg stretch whilst I mucked out. One day on late July, he came in with blood streaming from above his eye (picture in the video). It was a very deep cut, we had no idea how he did it, but it couldn't be stitched so I left it to heal & kept it clean. Two weeks later he was sound & came back into work, just in time for the BSJA team regionals, where we landed second place and qualified for scope festival. However, he didn't quite seem himself - he didn't have his usual "zazz" for jumping. I put this down to him being unfit after box rest, and carried on as usual. Two weeks later was the arena eventing final at Vale View - some of you may have even seen this on Horse & Country TV. In the 1m15 class Tommy put in a rather dirty stop in the middle of a bounce, & I came straight out of the front door. This horse NEVER stops. Even if he gets on a wrong stride, he will always try to scramble over it. I started to query what was going on. The following week I noticed he had lost a lot of weight. Cue a trip to the vets for blood tests as I suspected a virus - during this time, where he had cut his head had healed, but swollen quite profusely. I had put the swelling down to bruising & tissue damage - turns out it was heavily infected. I felt awful. The following week we were referred to Royal Vets College in London for a CT scan & possible surgery. My local vet & the vet in London were rather excited, as Tommy's condition has only been recorded once before - and the horse was put to sleep. Needless to say I was terrified. The CT scan showed that the infection had irritated the jaw socket (the TMB joint) & stimulated extra bone growth, which was grinding with movement, hence the weight loss. Turns out he lost 100kg in 11 days. That's about 1/6 of his usual weight. No wonder he had no zazz. On Friday 17th August, they operated. That morning I went to see him before they put him under general anaesthetic, and I just clung to his neck bawling my eyes out. Thankfully, my best friend & saviour Pippa was with me, & took me away to distract me for the next few hours. 6 hours later, we finally got a phone call - the operation had been a success, and Tommy was round from the anaesthetic. We immediately went to see him. He was struggling to eat and getting frustrated, but he was perky, grumpy, and his normal self - I can't even describe to you the relief I felt. Even though the biggest part was over, we still had plenty of hurdles to vault. First was the infection - it was still present. Tommy was to stay at RVC for another week to monitor him & drain as much fluid as they could from the incision wound. Second, due to the extreme nature of the surgery (they removed part of the jaw bone & scraped away the extra bone growth), he may never accept a bit again, which would mean eventing career over. Third, the surgery may have tampered with his nerves & blood vessels flowing down to his muzzle, which could cause breathing problems, which would mean absolutely no hard work. Even though I was sat there listening to my world potentially crash down around me, I was just thrilled to have my horse awake & safe. Since then, it has been extreme rehab. He had a very contagious infection (MRSA), Only I could handle him, wearing latex gloves, everything that came out of his stable had to be disinfected. we faced some awful times, & some good days when the wound didn't ooze as much, but it took a lot longer to heal than expected, whilst we were still trying to encourage him to gain weight. When he came home from RVC he only weight 517kg. However - 4 weeks back, the wound didn't leak. For three days. I phoned the vet, and he said great, get him out in the field, & on the lunge. A week later I was able to ride him (with a mountain of saddle pads to bulk out where he had lost weight). He's accepted a bit. He can breathe fine. My horse seems to be back to normal - and I cannot describe how thrilled, ecstatic, amazed, excited & simply over the moon I am about this. So, that's our story, & why we've been so quiet for so long. But, we're back now, & taking things very slowly, but I definitely have my old, fruit loop of a horse back :D If you've read all this, THANK YOU! It's a lot of info! Comment saying "Tombot's back!" and I'll know ;) Thank you everyone who has supported us through this awful ordeal, we couldn't have coped without it, it's really kept me strong, & strong for Tommy. :) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
