Thankful Thursday with Vidock

Vidock: Studly Neighs, EveryFriend! I am remotely posting from the Livet Equine Veterinary Hospital where I am being "held" for a few days.

First of all, I would like to than each and every one of you for the good wishes on the blog yesterday and all the nice, supportive comments on Facebook.

Before we set out, Mr. JP made sure I looked as handsome and clean cut as possible:

 

It was about a 2 hour drive and I had full in-trailer service:

 

#1 says I was looking particularly handsome on arrival:

 

I had the usual battery of tests:

 

The upshot was that the laser surgery I had last time was only a temporary fix and, to regain my breath and endurance, I would need a more significant surgery called "tie back". Traditionally, that surgery is done under general anesthetic, but  that is considered undesirable for big horses like me. By some extraordinary coincidence, for which we are all hugely thankful, there is now a new variant which is done with the horse standing and sedated rather than knocked out and lying down, and, amazingly, one of the pioneers of the surgery, Dr. Fabrice Rossignol, just happened to be there yesterday (he normally works at another, very famous equine clinic) and was able to operate on me! Isn't that just incredible? He is on the left in this photo:

 

#1 was so thankful that I was able to have the surgery at the hands of the best in the field! If you want to know more about my condition, and the surgery that was performed on me, there is an excellent article here in which they mention my surgeon!

So, I am here until either the weekend or next Monday, depending on when Mr. JP can come and get me. After that, I shall have to have box rest for a couple of weeks before I can go out gambolling i my field again. Of course, the big advantage of being in a box is that there are no pesky flies!

Thanks again, Pals! we will keep you updated on my progress.