First off, the girls got their hooves done. Misty's fronts were pretty long so I definitely didn't want to deal with them and Jetta recently started chipping, so it was time.
Secondly, my vet friend came out to do some check-ups. The plan was to do Jetta's teeth, but for some odd reason, there's nowhere to do it inside (no head support areas) and it was absolutely pouring outside and neither of us really thought getting electrocuted would be fun.
Misty got flexed, which was the good part. Overall, she said that I didn't really have anything to worry about. She wasn't sore anywhere though she did have a slight decrease in range of motion in her hocks. But not consistent with a lameness score of 1/5 like the last vet gave. No soreness in her hocks though. She might be in the process of fusing, but her hocks aren't "square" looking so likely not completely fused yet. She said her stifles were really excellent and front legs were fine. No navicular issues (which she's always really tentative about in stock type horses). I definitely trust this vet more than the other one. She's very pragmatic and not likely to sugar coat anything, so I really appreciate her "diagnosis" so to speak. Yay, my horse isn't broken! Well, not broken, but not needing any maintenance of any sort.
The bad part. Jetta. She didn't get her teeth done, but she had another problem. She popped her splints on not one, but BOTH hind legs. Oh, mare. What am I going to do with you. I came out to the barn on Thursday and she had a lump on her left hind. I lunged her and she was sound, so I didn't worry about it too much. Friday, I came out and both hind legs were swollen. So I wrapped them and then today, unwrapped and lunged her again. She looked great so I wasn't too worried about it, but had the vet look at them. She thinks its definitely a splint. So now she has to be wrapped for three weeks and stay inside. Which sucks. Hopefully they'll heal ok. Since she's not lame it doesn't appear that there's any involvement of the suspensory ligament. Fingers crossed!
Has anyone dealt with splints and have any advice? Also, I'm thinking she'll need to have turnout boots on her back legs, what do people use? I don't have anything that isn't fleecy or neoprene so I need something to prevent her from hurting herself that's breathable and will stay clean.
Well at least she's pretty?
How big are Jetta's splints? The big ones seem to take a bit longer for horses to get back to normal on. Murray has one on a front leg, and one of our lesson program's OTTB's legs are a mess -- splints on every one of them, and wind puffs to boot. In my admittedly limited experience they are hot/sore/scary looking/unpleasant for a few days, and then they go cold and hard and stop being sore and basically stop being a problem. (That being said, I'm not sure mystery swelling in another hind leg fits the diagnosis of a splint? Obviously you'd know better as you can actually see/feel what is going on.) None of the horses I know who have them need to wear boots when out, and the aforementioned lesson horse lives in pasture, and none have had a problem. To me, it seems like splints are usually up high enough that only the absolute worst interference from another leg would possibly injure them. I wouldn't worry about it too much, unless the mystery swelling and lameness continues.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm far to the "don't worry about it" side of the spectrum as I'd almost rather my horse had turnout than anything else!
I'm just interested in turnout boots because she got these from kicking the panels in her run (they're on the outside of her leg) and I'd like to prevent her from further damaging her legs. But luckily she's not lame! (knock on wood)
DeleteLucky indeed! I can't believe she did it to herself kicking panels! Silly girl.
DeleteBobby has splints all around, the hinds he popped on the track and the fronts he got with me when he got retired. I didn't do anything fancier than cold hosing and not riding for a week. That seems like an ultra conservative plan for Jetta. Hopefully they set up quickly!
ReplyDeleteOk, that's really good to hear! I'd rather be on the safe side since the one on her left hind is extremely large, but she's not lame so I'm not super worried.
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