Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Well, since I'm dealing with a similar injury, I can give you what I  
did.  (But any vets can jump in ... )

I did go to the vet for ultrasounds and x-rays.  Caisson tripped going  
up to a plastic water trough at the Bar-H ride, and nearly fell into  
it -- lots of scrambling around.  That was in February, and I'm still  
dealing with it.

The things the vet looked for were:
  - X-Ray to check for fractured splint bone  (no)  -- this would  
have required surgery
  - Ultrasound to check for strained tendons or ligaments.  In my  
case, there was no strain, but there was filling around the tendon and  
suspensory.
Cost was around $500.

Because of the suspensory involvement, we opted to treat this more  
like a tendon strain than a simple splint, as in Caisson's case, there  
was thickening of the tendon / suspensory area, indicating that he had  
given those structures a pretty good whack, as opposed to just hitting  
the splint bone.

For just a splint (non-fractured), that my old horse had, I did the  
following:
   -- Ice until the immediate inflammation and soreness went away.
   -- Furacin sweat after that to try and limit the size of the lump.
   -- Back to work after any soreness was gone.

If she has tendon / ligament involvement, however, that can be a  
different story.  We did hand-walking, with Surpass once a day, for 2  
weeks, then progressed to walk only under saddle, then add trotting  
(all on the flat, firm ground, etc.), and gradually increase the  
work.    Pretty much the progression you would do with a suspensory  
injury, but increasing the work a bit faster, as there was no actual  
lesion.  Still, it has been 4 months, and we are only up to about 6 -  
8 miles on the trail.


On Jul 18, 2008, at 9:22 AM, Melinda Faubel wrote:

> Hello everyone -
>
> Was hoping that someone here could give me advice/encouragement on  
> this matter.  I searched the archives but there didn't seem to be a  
> whole lot of info.
>
> When out on a trail ride on Sunday I made a poor decision and  
> decided to have my horse cross some very flat/slick rocks in order  
> to get to some water.  Of course she slipped (I was dismounted).   
> She didn't actually fall, but there was definately some scrambling.   
> After it was all said and done she seemed fine, I trotted her out on  
> the way home and she looked/felt sound.  I trotted her out that  
> night and the day after and seemed sound, although I did find a  
> slight bump on the inside of the front leg, up near the knee.  On  
> Wednesday I we went out for an easy 10 mile (flat) ride.  She  
> trotted sound but didn't want to move out and after getting back her  
> heart rate didn't drop as quickly as I am used to, and once it did  
> drop, it kept spiking up again (unusual).  The next day (Thursday) I  
> trotted her out on the straight (sound) and put her on a lunge and  
> had her trot in both directions.  Willing to trot and looks sound.   
> However, when I pick up her leg and aggresively palapate the lump on  
> the inside of the leg, it is tender.  She is a 10 year old mare in  
> fairly good condition (currently doing 50 milers on her this season).
>
> Does this sound like an aggrevated splint?    Is this something that  
> will resolve on her own with rest?  I have had a lot of vet bills  
> this year and would like to avoid going to the vet if possible.   
> Once the bump is no longer painful can I start slowly putting her  
> back to work?  Or this one of thoes injuries (like a bowed tendon)  
> that needs to continue healing well after the pain is gone?
>
> I'm fairly certain that she is going to be out for the rest of the  
> season (I had fireworks, camp far west, mariposa, and desert gold  
> lined up...maybe orville), however does anyone have any experience  
> with this condition and how long the horse was laid up?
>
> Thanks for you advice in advance.
>
> Melinda


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