LONG ANSWER ALERT!!!!!
Yogiwick - We definitely expected after the initial diagnosis that he will never be 100% which is why we retired him. If it does in fact take two years for him to recover, he'll be 19 yo and we assume not up to showing at the demanding level he was. It just seemed like the humane thing to accept that he's done showing. We did try injections, medications, etc ~ the same vet serviced the new, more conservative barn and knew exactly what the previous barn's protocol was. So we tried all the same ol' stuff he'd been getting before to no avail. My daughter remembered this morning that Previcox was tried at that time and it didn't do much so it wasn't continued. He was on stall rest last December and then put out for a couple to few hours every day after that. When we moved him to his current, non-show barn, he settled in well and the first time he was taken to the big field with tons of grass was when the bucking, running, rolling occurred. Having so much turnout freedom was a first for him I think so he showed his happiness and ran around like a kid in a candy store! He hasn't done that since, although like I said in an earlier post, he's had lots of ups and downs. At first, he improved a lot (never sound) and we were so hopeful. But that didn't last long and it's been a roller coaster since then until he started laying down all the time. We will ask about Previcox (it's worth another try if the new vet agrees), also ask about Phycox and look into magnetic therapy. Injections didn't work at the time of injury, but I don't know horses well enough to know if it may work now and will ask the vet about that (I need to start a list so I don't forget anything!). Like I said, he isn't bucking and running anymore ~ that really was a one-time, "oh my goodness, I'm in heaven" (my interpretation
moment where I think he was expressing joy after the very restrictive show-barn turnout he's had as long as we've known him (and probably before). It was more than anything just heartwarming to see but hasn't been sustained. To be honest, my daughter won't consider permanently nerve blocking his feet as she says that's pretty controversial. We really do appreciate you throwing out every idea you can think of though as that is one of the things I was looking for when posting here. We do have recent x-rays and they don't show anything. The vet who had them done said we could trailer him a few hours away for an ultrasound, but we decided against it as it wouldn't change the vet's course of treatment and we didn't feel the cost and stress on him justified having a possibly more accurate name for the injury, but wouldn't change anything else. My daughter is going to take pictures of his feet today, showing the rings and condition of his feet. I will definitely post an update about what the vet says.
Skyseternalangel - I agree 100% about a second opinion. It's touchy bringing someone else in due to the barn's vet being related to the barn owner, but I don't really care at this point. So depending on how comfortable we feel with what their vet says, I will bring someone else in for that second opinion. Pictures and maybe video will be posted later today or tomorrow.
JCnGrace - I'm so sorry to hear about your mare. You obviously 100% did the right thing given her condition. Where I'm really struggling is that he can't talk to us (what if our animals could talk to us with words, wouldn't that be great!) and have him tell us his opinion and how much pain he's in, etc. and in my mind none of this is clear cut yet. He is so much more stoic than my daughter's mare who complains about everything and is a total diva ~ haha! He's just chill and stoic and was a get-it-done, really, really good jumper and perfect show horse. I know he's giving us clues and we have that to go on. And we have the vet coming to hopefully give us his true opinion after the exam. Thankfully, my daughter and husband are less emotional and far more level-headed than me
My daughter has a way more wise-than-her-years view of death than anyone I know. And again, we WILL try everything my daughter is comfortable with to get his pain under control and hopefully allow him to live a longer life, so maybe I'm getting all worked up prematurely. Actually, I know I am because we haven't even heard what the vet has to say yet. So I will now take a deep breath and calm down
Despite my ramblings, this isn't about ME ~ it's about doing what's right for her horse and that's why I appreciate everyone's help with this so much. As several of you said, pictures, video and the vet's opinion will help. So I'll be posting all of that soon. Thank you again everyone ❤