Lyme Aftemath?

["C Eyler" <eyler@mindspring.com>]

My gelding was treated for a very early-onset case of Lyme Disease last
December.  That was the climax to a year of disasters that allowed for
consistent, solid work for only two months (May and June).  Started easy
work again at year end, and used studded Easyboots to at least walk the
trails after our giant snowfall.

For the last six weeks or so (damn me for not keeping respectable records)
we've been going out three to five times a week, doing five to twelve miles
each ride.  Mostly walking, with short stretches of trotting on the flat or
gentle upgrades.  Walking the steep hills.

My concern is that he is STILL huffing and puffing during those brief trots
or when climbing steep hills.  Can't remember him ever being this
short-winded (no other signs of respiratory problems).  I've had this horse
for over three years, and he just seems not quite right to me.  But then,
he'd never had such a long layoff before.

Had him re-tested for Lyme this month, with equivocal results.  Talked with
the vet this morning, and he's going to call Cornell and discuss it with one
of the researchers there.  Thinks we may not have knocked it out with the
three days of IV anti-biotics and two weeks of oral meds.  But he said that
he has not encountered short-windedness as a symptom of Lyme.

Is this probably just coincidental, or could there be a connection?

Cindy