Never been more relieved in my life!
WHEW! What a relief. 24 hours of ice, with a five o'clock zip outside in my jimjams this morning, and finally we have the swelling down enough to see what it going on.
IT'S THE SPLINT BONE!
The whole splint bone is swelling the inside of his leg, with a hot and painful spot quite close to the little bulb thingy that is on the bottom of every splint bone. Yesterday that hot spot was on the suspensory ligament branch that runs over the top of the splint bone, and he snatched his foot away when I pressed the suspensory. It didn't occur to me at the time that I was also pressing the splint through the suspensory.
By the time I found it yesterday morning, the filling had already got into the tendons and ligament and they were themselves thickened. This morning it was looking as if he had done a check ligament just below his knee as well as a suspensory, and it made no sense at all for that to have filled up this late.
I took the ice off, went out for a few hours and came back to see what was happening. The ligament was down, with no painful spot on it, so I had a jolly good poke around, pressed the splint bone about an inch from the end and got a big flinch from Radar. I've never been more pleased to make a horse flinch. Poor boy!
And I have never been more relieved in my life! A strained suspensory means several months, up to a year, to fix it, with the likelihood of recurrence medium to high in a horse who jumps at speed. A splint bone come "unstuck" means a probable 4 weeks maximum to heal, with the likelihood of recurrence slim once the bone has hardened off.
Whew, whew, whew. Can I go and get some sleep now? I couldn't sleep all Saturday night for the sheer excitement of owning such a great hunter. Then I couldn't sleep all last night for knowing that I had already crocked him and he's only just started. I'm due a siesta!
C
posted by cptrayes @ 3:42 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Take the siesta and rest easy. That is a relief. Splints are such a common problem with horses starting their careers and most of the time, as you well know, just resolve into a bump. Sounds as if Radar will have to get some rest and then will be just fine. Yippee!!
three hours sleep and I feel a lot better now. Yippee indeed Jean, sorry I scared everybody (myself most) !
C
That's sure good news! I've had a suspensory injury with my big mare, and it's nothing you'd ever want - she's back to full health but it took a long time and we had many set backs. A splint should heal up nicely.
Whew, that's a relief. I can imagine your feelings through Sunday night though. I found mine in the stable one morning with a hot and swollen leg at the end of November and thought that was it. It turns out to not as serious as it could have been, but he is on his 3rd week's box rest and I reckon it will be a couple more weeks yet. I take him out for a daily walk and graze so he isn't completely confined, but it is a real worry all the same.
What is wrong with yours Judith? I hope it's nothing too serious. It was a big mystery all the time why Radar's leg did not come up until Monday morning. Knowing it was bone and n ot soft tissue, that's easy to understand now.
Thanks Kate, a splint, fingers crossed, should be nothing, though it's a pretty severe reaction!
He's been out for a walk in the field and come in fine. He's in the barn tonight with a bandage on to stop it swelling again. He's now on double dose MSM to get the inflammation out and give him building blocks to make the bone bridge he will need to stabilise it. If it doesn't make him sore then I will turn him out until all the filling is gone and then ride him gently if it doesn't react.
C
phew.
Whew indeed Claire!
C
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