BIG update...and a few smaller ones

Well, most folks have already heard, but I did receive an acceptance letter from VaTech's DVM program Tuesday evening.

WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!

Honestly, I wish I could say that I jumped around and shrieked so loud the entire 7 floors of my building heard me, but my biggest response was simply relief.  After 8 years of saying "I'm going to go to vet school"  I actually AM going to vet school :-)  But I'm still waiting to hear from the combined degree committee about an official offer from them - I should hear either way sometime in the next 10 days.

I did celebrate that evening with a few friends, some of which I hadn't seen in a while but we were all very adult and I was home to my sick hubby by 9:30pm.

Speaking of which, it was a huge bummer that he was too sick to celebrate with me.  I don't think I've seen him hit by a cold/virus this hard since we've been together!  He went to the doctor without me suggesting it!!  Poor guy felt that bad.  They gave him a Z-pack (kick-butt antibiotics) on Wednesday, and he's STILL sick :-(  It's pretty clear he's had a virus, but definitely developed sinus/chest secondary infections.

Considering how sick he is, it probably comes as no surprise to anyone that I've caught it and am currently on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, nursing a ginger ale.  I started feeling crummy Thursday evening and woke up at 3am running a fever.  I was totally wiped out yesterday and woke up this morning to a raging sinus headache, but as of this evening (Saturday evening) I'm actually feeling a bit better.  I hope laying low tomorrow means I'll be alright by Monday....but the hubby's cold has been dragging on for 6 days now, so we'll see.  I'm gobbling vit C, eating carefully and keeping fluids up so I can't do much else!!

Of course being sick doesn't mean I get off horse poo-patrol.  Ah the joys of having pony-butt at home!  All I get is a slightly more frantic neigh in the morning as I walk too slowly to the shelter with her breakfast.  Dax has managed to eat all the old grass in her pen area, so she's gotten more attentive to breakfast and dinner.  I actually let her out in the 90acre pasture yesterday - she had two incidences of galloping, but they were pretty much short-ish spooks and otherwise she was eating very peacefully.  I realize the running around is NOT good for her stifle, but it was kept to the very minimum.  I haven't tried to trot her out carefully to asses the lameness, but she'll sometimes take a funny step that makes it clear to me it's still sensitive/sore.  As it was, she was SOOOOO happy being out in the bigger field and eating all afternoon....I wasn't worried about the eating since all she's getting is last year's dead/dormant grass.  I kept her in the pen today because of the two running instances....if she hadn't run at all, I probably would have let her out again.  Speaking of this reminds me to bring up my rehab ideas.

Dax's Rehab Plan
All the instruction I got from the vet for rehab was "Wait sixty days, then put her back into light work and see how she feels".  Riiiiiiight.  Seems to me that the definition of "light work" is pretty variable.  In addition to this, after a recent backpacking excursion I realized how much extra weight can stress/strain muscles and connective tissue.  I just don't feel like it's a great idea to take Dax from layup pen to being ridden, even lightly.  Also, I'll be so out of riding shape that I wouldn't be much help!!  So here's my plan:
1.  Turn her out for 2 weeks in the full 90 acres.  If she come up lame just doing her normal stuff on her own, then I definitely know she's not ready for more work.
2.  Assuming she passes #1, I'll start taking her on conditioning "walks".  Literally, like a dog on a leash, I'll start taking her for walk/jogs at the park across the street with some nice hills for strength building/cardio.  This solves both my and her problems :-)  This is also a good way to introduce trotting without stressing things too much (hopefully).  Again do this work for a good 2-3 weeks, depending on her response.  Any signs of soreness takes us back to another 30 days off.
3.  If all else goes well, now I will introduce gentle trail riding, just walking and some easy hills will still doing work in hand.  Maybe add in some lunging to have her work in a smaller circle and work on flexibility.  I'll probably also re-introduce some easy dressage flexion, bending and easy stuff.  I'm thinking riding just 2x a week to start, working up from there.
4.  Ultimately work back into a solid 4x week of dressage and trail conditioning for 3 months.
5.  I'll consider her completely recovered if she can manage all that without soreness, and we'll get back into jumping.

If everything goes along smoothly (HA!!) that will probably take us into moving time....end of July or so.  Of course it never goes smoothly, there will be set backs and we might not even get past step 1.  The inevitable move will pretty much force a riding "vacation".  Depending on where I go (remember, still waiting to hear from UCDavis) will dictate how long that is.  Regardless of where Dax is in work, I think a couple weeks off won't hurt her in the least.

The whole rehab process is going to be a daily re-evaluation process.  At the slightest hint of soreness, I'll have to back track and keep a close eye on her.  It's pretty frustrating that I have no way of evaluating Dax's recovery other than by her level of discomfort.  This is especially problematic b/c she's not terribly sensitive.....she's always had a high pain tolerance (no prob w/ shots!!).  That just means more attentiveness on my part, but I have a tendency to second guess myself :-P  THIS IS WHY I NEED TO GET TO VET SCHOOL ASAP!!!

Meanwhile, I'm investing in some clicker training books and clickers and I'm going to see if I can teach her to lay down....I've got to do something horsey to keep me sane!!  Besides picking up poo.  That doesn't count.