Monday, November 20, 2006

In Her Own Words - Cobra's Comeback
by Pamela Doolittle

The Comeback Begins

As excited as I was finally to have the green light to ride, I was equally terrified at the prospect of discovering a permanent limitation. Coby had suffered so much from the accident. His body was scarred. The burns on both hind fetlocks remained open, and the right hind tendon had developed a large mass of scar tissue. His tone and muscle had diminished from the stall rest. I did not know if he had suffered an injury to his back that would cause him pain. We met Alex Gerding in August of 2004. Alex earned his professional rank, the Pferdewirtschaftsmeister degree, in 2001 and had recently moved to the U.S. to develop his training and clinic business. He earned the degree with honors, being decorated also with the coveted silver stensbeck medaille. Alex came to teach on a regular basis near Madison, Wisconsin., which was close and affordable.

Our first meeting was a cool August morning. His normal routine for new students in his program is to feel the senses of the horse in order to teach better from the ground. He explained that clearly to me before we started. After lunging Coby, I offered Alex the reins. With a smile, he suggested I ride first to “get the bucks out”— I gladly complied. Coby paraded around the arena, gazing with wide eyes at his reflection in the mirror and looking brightly at the audience in the corner. I was so glad to feel that my horse was interested and happy to be working. By the end of the weekend, I was comfortable with the training plan Alex suggested for us and went home eager to get to work on it.

Our winter training was interrupted by complications with the healing process of the hind fetlocks, which remained open and weeping. Between August and December we varied the stall rest and activity to try to promote granulation of the fetlock wounds. By December,Dr. Thompson began exploring options to promote their healing. We decided in January to surgically remove the poorly granulating tissue as a way to promote the closing of the fetlock wounds behind. Then she installed a graph of material that would promote the healthy growth of new epithelial cells, Coby required additional stall rest and time off while he healed, and my evenings were spent once again bandaging and entertaining my horse. By February 2005, Coby was back to work once again. The fetlock burns finally closed the end of March.