Advice needed

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wallismorley

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15 July 2008
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Hello,
I just would like your advice and want to know what you would do.

I went to check on my pony last thursday who was grazing in the field. He started walking over to me but was limping and would not put much weight on his front left leg.

I got him to the stable and checked his leg and the tendon was bowed. I hosed it down, ice packed in and bandaged it then put him in the stable.

He was still no better by that night after hosing it etc so on Friday I got the vet. She said that I was doing everything right and that he should be on box rest for two wks and that I should bandage the other leg to support it as he was favouring his legs. Vet said I should book him in for a scan in 2 wks time as she suspects it is his superficial tendon and a scan would show what damage has been done.

It has been a week tomorrow since he was hurt and now my pony is putting his weight back on the leg, it is slightly puffy but not bowed. I do take him on little walks and he tows me along. He jogs as soon as I get him outside but he is not 100% and drops his shoulder slightly.

The thing is my pony is in his 30's (don't know exactly how old) he is in excellent condition and is very happy. He does have arthitus but it doesn't really affect him too much (does get a little stiff when standing in) Would you take him for the scan or just see how he is this time next week ????

He gets ridden but only on weekends he has kinda semi retired if you like. I just don't know what to do and it worries me to death this whole situation.

Any help/advice will be great.
Thank You for reading.
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Keep him on box rest, use a bridle when you walk him (so he doesn't bu***er off with you), ask if you can give some bute... and wait another week. It can take a little longer with the older ones to recover from a strain... Mine is only 13 and it took him two weeks to get over one
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If he is not better this time next week you can still think about having him scanned... Is he insured?
 
I have got two older horses and know what a worry they can be.

Older horses can take longer to recover from an injury like people. I would go with your gut feeling on this one and just give him a little longer to get better. If the condition worsens or does not improve then get the scans done without further delay.

I hope your horse makes a good recovery and that you will shortly be back to riding him again at weekends.
 
If the tendon is bowed, and this is unusual for your horse, then I would get it investigated if you are worried - at least you would know what the reality of the situation was, and how to move forward - if you don't know the severity of the injury, and put him back into work - no matter how light- you may risk further injury, especially with an older horse, that won't heal as quickly as a young horse. Your vet is probably the best person to advise you though.

I had a horse that had a superficial flexor tendon injury (core lesion to the tendon) - he was on 3 months box rest, then I took 1 year to get him back to full fitness - he never had another problem with this tendon. A horse I ride at work had tendonitis last year - again, I took 6 months to get him back to fitness - these injuries take time and patience so don't be tempted to rush back into work without knowing what is wrong
 
Wow, difficult one.

I'm in a similar situation as my 17yro TB has inflamation to his check ligament in his left fore. He cannot go on box rest as he has severe arthritis in his neck which deteriorates very quickly if he isn't kept mobile.

I decided not to have it scanned as there is little that I would be able to do other than manage the situation anyway. Instead he is kept in a small flat field with a friend who does all the running about for both of them(!). At the moment he is hacked on roads in walk at the weekend and has a magnetic wrap on every day for an hour to help with the healing. It is reasonably stable (touch wood) altho it did flare up the other week after people were shooting near the farm caused him to run about.

The point of this being that as I can only hope to manage the injury rather than cure it (he's an ex racer and has the body of a 27 yro).

If you can afford a scan than maybe more information is better though, particularly if the inflamation has gone down significantly with his box rest.

Has your vet discussed your long term management of his injury?
 
My 28ish year old mare has just injured a tendon. She did the opposite leg this time last year. I got the vet and had it scanned. The vet wanted to scan again in a couple of months just to moniter how it was healing before risking turnout, but this pony has a list of permanent ailments as long as your arm and even the vet agreed it wouldn't be fair to a pony of her age to carry on the box rest/walking in hand much longer. We agreed to just get her out and take our chances on the injury, if she goes non-weightbearing again she'll be pts. At the moment so far so good, she's happy in the field.

I'd only go down the scanning route if it might make a difference to your management.
 
Argh thanks for all your replies.
My pony is insured but only for public liability and if he dies.
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No vet fees at all as he is classed as a veteran, And also any leg problems are void now due to previous problems (Arthitus)

Well the leg is no longer bowed just slight puffyness on either side of the tendon, And when you rug two fingers down he does lift his leg, so he must feel a little uncomfortable.

Vet said he could be out of work for 2 - 6 month but even if he has to be retired I would be happy with that as long as he is comfortable and happy.

Well from what most of you's are saying I will give him another week on box rest and take it from there, if still not right then I will get him scanned and see after that.

Vet mentioned bute but didn't give me any as she said it just masks the problem.

Thanks to you all I really appreciate your help !
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