Omega Alpha Blogger Challenge: Elusive Outlaw

We recently selected a few bloggers to try out a 30 day supply of Omega Alpha’s popular joint supplement, Sinew-X. These bloggers have received their supply and will be starting their horses on a 30 day regimen, all while blogging about their observations and results! We can’t wait to see how their horses take to the supplement, and we hope you enjoy following along! Check back this coming week for introductory blogs from all of our writers!

Ollie

August 24th, 2013 started off as normal hot Saturday morning. I planned to take a day off from the barn and sleep in. That was until I received a call from my barn manager. She said that my 10-year-old OTTB was being rushed to the veterinary hospital; she said he had lacerated his left front heel bulb and was bleeding profusely. I rushed the hour drive to the clinic with no idea that what I was about to see would rock our boat for good.

I met Ollie, registered as Elusive Outlaw, as he was retiring from racing in 2008. I wasn’t at all in the market for a beautiful, tall, well-muscled red thoroughbred gelding, but he was gorgeous and too much of a good opportunity to pass up. I took him home and began the process of letting down and retraining his mind and body.

I watched him progress from thoroughly having no idea what to do with his feet over a small jump to becoming a champion in hunters and jumpers. Little did we know years ago that a pasture accident would derail all the years of work with Ollie.

When I had arrived at the veterinary clinic, Ollie’s leg was already wrapped under bandages so I had no idea of the extent of the injury. She recommended we take him to Weems and Stephens, an equine hospital and hour away where a doctor was waiting for us. I do believe that was the longest hour drive of my life.

The news from the doctor at Weems and Stephens after the joint tap was that the front left coffin joint was infected and needed to be flushed and watched for a few days. The vet advised me that even if we did flush the joint we still may have to euthanize the horse if the infection spread. My stomach dropped.

But I knew we had to try something to save my horse. We flushed the coffin joint for three days and Ollie stayed at the hospital for close to a week. Luckily the infection didn’t spread, he was sent home with a cast up to the fetlock and to be on stall rest with 10 minutes of hand walking a day for six weeks.

More than a year later, after all the hand walking, after many more months of stall rest, rehab and attempts on various medications, after all the ups and downs, we finally are at the point of where we are back to full work and looking forward to competing in 2015.

With that being said, we still have days where we are struggling with soundness, we have days with a minor limp and days where we have a full blown head bob. The days that he is sound may be the worst days. They are the days that I get hopeful, the days that I put together a calendar and the days that he feels great. As riders we all know the excitement of potential. We all look for it in our horses.

We were offered a wonderful opportunity full of potential: we were offered to try Omega Alpha’s Sinew-X and write about our experience with it. Here’s to the hope that the Sinew-X will give us the edge to gain back the potential that Ollie has and to bring him some well-deserved comfort.