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Re: [RC] Bog Spavin - Karen Ellis

Karen Eigler asked me to post this to Ridecamp for her:
 
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2005 10:08 PM
Subject: bog spavin

My horse developed a swelling in his right hind hock over a week ago.  When he takes his weight off his leg, this swelling disappears.  He is not favouring his back end at all.  My vet had a look at it, and called it a bog spavin.  He said that this can happen when a horse puts a lot of strain on his hind quarter and pushes.  This also could have been caused from doing too much too soon.  We figure that my horse must have gotten this from our ride the previous day when we went up a very steep hill during our training ride.  It was a slow ride that day, 3 hours of walking, and we got off the horses and walked them up this steep hill.  The day before we had gone 3 hours with quite a bit of trotting and basically let the horses set their own pace.
Well anyway, my vet suggested that I try cooling it with cold water, or liniment and give him a rest  and said that it would come down in a few days.
Both horses are in good condition and both are eager to go.  My vet commented on how good they look, and other than this bog on his hock were in very good shape for this season's riding.  He suggested that I keep a very close eye on this area as it might cause a problem further down the road during competition.  He recommended that because of the sport we're in, we might want to have it drained and cortisone injected in it, especially if it continues to get inflamed over the riding season.   
Well....it's been over a week, and the swelling hasn't changed at all.  In fact, it is still as swollen as it was the day the vet saw it last Monday.  Yet still no limping or favouring his hind end at all. In fact, he has been galloping  around the field today and yesterday tail up and eager to run a fifty!
Now the vet suggests that he should come back, drain the swelling, and inject this steroid.  He said that my horse will be as  good as new in a couple days, and that he should be free of a similar recurrence for at least six months.
If someone has an alternative method to make it go away, and STAY  away... please let me know.
Also....if I choose not to have this treatment done, can  I ride him anyway and continue my training without risk of worsening his injury?  Or should I wait it out and not ride for however long it takes for this to clear up on it's own?  Or will this treatment of minor surgery with cortisone fix the problem, so that I can get on with our training?
I don't want to do something unnecessary, but I also don't want to jeopardize my mount's health or soundness.
Would appreciate your comments on this.
~
Thanks,
~Karen Eigler
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