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[RC] Tendon sheath injury - andreab

Hi All

This is a longish story, feel free to skip, but I'd like to hear some opinions 
and get
some advice from all the very experienced people.  I'll have to give you the 
full picture,
so please bear with me.

This past weekend I went to a ride and did a very slow ride.  About 20 miles in 
over 3
hours.
The road surface was very hard and being barefoot, the distance was at a 
maximum what my
horse could handle for the day.  At approximately 15 miles, my friend and I 
were trying to
avoid the very hard road surface by riding on a soft grass verge which ended 
abruptly.  We
had to get off the verge by jumping, about a meter drop, down to the hard road. 
I knew my
boy would do a A-grade jump instead of the needed pop down so rather unmounted 
and let him
jump free.  He confirmed what I suspected and did a huge jump!  Proceeded on 
the ride,
slowed down to a walk for the last 3 miles due to tender feet and completed 
sound.

About an hour after the ride his one leg started swelling, no heat.  At this 
stage I was
silently worried and starting to panic but did not raise any alarm yet.  We 
travelled home
(only an hour drive) with his medicine boots on.  The leg came down quite 
nicely during
the travel and I was relieved, hoping it was related to the hard road surface.  
Cold hosed
as usual before making him comfey for the night.

The swelling came up overnight and the leg became hot.  I called the vet and he 
came to
scan him that same day.  Diagnosed some bleeding in the tendon sheath, just 
above the
fetlock.  The tendon and all ligaments are 100% in tack and the sheath shows no 
signs of
stretch or strain.  He diagnosed a hard knock.  Drew some fluid out of the 
swollen area
and confirmed the diagnoses on analysis.  Anti-biotic for the puncture from the 
needle,
some bute for the inflammation and 2 weeks rest recommended.

I have recked my brain to find a time that he could have knocked the leg with 
enough force
to cause the injury.  Can only think that he knocked it against a fairly big 
rock (about
20inch by 20inch) in thick sand which was in his temp. camp when running around 
to scream
for other horses.  I was obviously worried that he injured it with the jump but 
the vet
feels this is not the case based on the look of the scan.

My question is this:

1.  Can he tell from the scan whether it is a strain/stretch or rather a knock?
2.  How serious is a tendon sheath injury?
3.  I am going to rest him for at least a full month and not just the 2 weeks 
recommended.
Is this enough?
4.  Does this make him more susceptible to future tendon / tendon sheath 
injuries?

Thanks for listening and hopefully giving advice.

Andrea
South
Africa



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