coreteam1
Well-Known Member
I was in a bit of a rush home from work on Wednesday 14th December, to get to see my little boy in his nativity play at school. When I got home I saw I had about 10 missed calls on my phone (on silent at work) from my sister. I called her and she said to hurry to the yard as my horse had a severe injury whilst in the field and they were struggling to get him in 
I drove to his gate to see him standing on three legs. He had probably turned his bottom to the fence on another horse the other side and lifted his leg kicking out to it and somehow managed to get his leg the wrong side of the fence? I took one look at his near hind and thought the worst. I could see straight away that the wire fencing had gone straight through his tendon and probably through to his cannon bone
I struggled but managed to get him to the stable and the vet when she arrived cleaned out the wound the best she could and off we went to Oakham. The vet said that with these types of wire injuries they tend to just bandage for weeks and leave the wound to heal, however my boy has a slight shiver so they were unable to clean it out as thoroughly as they wanted to.
He had a test to see if the bone was infected (as the wire has also shaved into his cannon bone) which came back almost clear and was immediately put onto a drip of antibiotics. I was informed that he would have to have a general anaesthetic and they would 'attempt' to repair the injury with stitches.
He spent 8 days at Oakham and returned home on 22nd December. The vet had told me to expect the worst in that the stitches would probably (he was 99% sure) burst open.
As luck (if there is such a thing)!
would have it, they didn't burst open and he had his stitches removed approx 2 weeks later. If you have a look at the photo of the leg with the stitches still in place you can see tiny pieces of plastic tube which helped to hold the thread in place.
The stitches were removed and he was bandaged up again. After another 5 days he went to Flawborough Equine Hydrotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre where he received Hydrotherapy treatment twice a day. The salted very cold water helped to heal the injury even further and after four weeks of treatment and excellent care he came home.
He spent approx another two weeks in and I just hand walked him for ten minutes around the small yard outside his stable.
He has been an excellent box rest patient which came as a big surprise to most of us (as he is a sharp spooky bugger most of the time) and has been very chilled and relaxed most of the time, however I decided just over a week ago it was best if he started to go out again and learn to be a horse once more
I gave him some Sedalin for the first couple of days however he seemed so spaced out on it I decided not to carry on with it and he is now happy out on his own (for now) without any sedative.
The prognosis is good. From the very beginning the vets at both Oakham and Home Farm said the severed Extensor tendon is nothing to worry about and he will continue his ridden work as before. I was so glad to hear this as we were just about to go up to elementary this year with BD and we'd worked hard this year towards that.
All that mattered was that he was alive and mended. He hasn't shown any sign of lameness at all, although once the bandage was off at Flawborough the leg started to swell so his movement of the leg became slightly stiff. The swelling is now going down slowly and the hair is growing back nicely (small white bits in places). He will stay on his own for about another four weeks and then he can go back into the field with his two friends. I have been told to start the ridden work again by the end of March to stop the granulation of tissue building up around the tendon inside his leg.
I will probably start with lunge work in walk and trot to build up his muscles as suggested by his physio and vet. Hopefully we can start riding out again by the middle of April and maybe even start competing again towards the end of this year.
It's been hard and I have to thank Flawborough Equine for taking the pressure of me for four weeks. I thank god for horse insurance and that it was his extensor tendon and not any other one or he wouldn't be here today
Champagne to celebrate him being here and for you reading the story
Day One
Day 13 and 1st dressing change at home, the vets were surprised it had held together
Day 19, today the stitches were removed (this photo just before they were taken out). Some slight infection but almost nothing
Stitches removed - Although it looks sore, the wound has healed really well
Day 25 of injury and his first day at Flawborough - The vets put special Manuka honey on the wound to help with healing. The honey does cause proud flesh, as you can see here.
Day 32 of injury and only 7 days after being at Flawborough - He's had the proud flesh cut off
Day 46 of injury - You can see here his leg is swollen, especially around the hock area - No more bandaging from now though so the swelling starts to go down...slowly
8 1/2 weeks after the injury
10 weeks and his first day out! Luckily it was one of the warmest days we've had. I sat on a bucket all day and watched him, to make sure he was ok!!
I drove to his gate to see him standing on three legs. He had probably turned his bottom to the fence on another horse the other side and lifted his leg kicking out to it and somehow managed to get his leg the wrong side of the fence? I took one look at his near hind and thought the worst. I could see straight away that the wire fencing had gone straight through his tendon and probably through to his cannon bone
I struggled but managed to get him to the stable and the vet when she arrived cleaned out the wound the best she could and off we went to Oakham. The vet said that with these types of wire injuries they tend to just bandage for weeks and leave the wound to heal, however my boy has a slight shiver so they were unable to clean it out as thoroughly as they wanted to.
He had a test to see if the bone was infected (as the wire has also shaved into his cannon bone) which came back almost clear and was immediately put onto a drip of antibiotics. I was informed that he would have to have a general anaesthetic and they would 'attempt' to repair the injury with stitches.
He spent 8 days at Oakham and returned home on 22nd December. The vet had told me to expect the worst in that the stitches would probably (he was 99% sure) burst open.
As luck (if there is such a thing)!
would have it, they didn't burst open and he had his stitches removed approx 2 weeks later. If you have a look at the photo of the leg with the stitches still in place you can see tiny pieces of plastic tube which helped to hold the thread in place. The stitches were removed and he was bandaged up again. After another 5 days he went to Flawborough Equine Hydrotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre where he received Hydrotherapy treatment twice a day. The salted very cold water helped to heal the injury even further and after four weeks of treatment and excellent care he came home.
He spent approx another two weeks in and I just hand walked him for ten minutes around the small yard outside his stable.
He has been an excellent box rest patient which came as a big surprise to most of us (as he is a sharp spooky bugger most of the time) and has been very chilled and relaxed most of the time, however I decided just over a week ago it was best if he started to go out again and learn to be a horse once more
I gave him some Sedalin for the first couple of days however he seemed so spaced out on it I decided not to carry on with it and he is now happy out on his own (for now) without any sedative.
The prognosis is good. From the very beginning the vets at both Oakham and Home Farm said the severed Extensor tendon is nothing to worry about and he will continue his ridden work as before. I was so glad to hear this as we were just about to go up to elementary this year with BD and we'd worked hard this year towards that.
All that mattered was that he was alive and mended. He hasn't shown any sign of lameness at all, although once the bandage was off at Flawborough the leg started to swell so his movement of the leg became slightly stiff. The swelling is now going down slowly and the hair is growing back nicely (small white bits in places). He will stay on his own for about another four weeks and then he can go back into the field with his two friends. I have been told to start the ridden work again by the end of March to stop the granulation of tissue building up around the tendon inside his leg.
I will probably start with lunge work in walk and trot to build up his muscles as suggested by his physio and vet. Hopefully we can start riding out again by the middle of April and maybe even start competing again towards the end of this year.
It's been hard and I have to thank Flawborough Equine for taking the pressure of me for four weeks. I thank god for horse insurance and that it was his extensor tendon and not any other one or he wouldn't be here today
Champagne to celebrate him being here and for you reading the story
Day One
Day 13 and 1st dressing change at home, the vets were surprised it had held together
Day 19, today the stitches were removed (this photo just before they were taken out). Some slight infection but almost nothing
Stitches removed - Although it looks sore, the wound has healed really well
Day 25 of injury and his first day at Flawborough - The vets put special Manuka honey on the wound to help with healing. The honey does cause proud flesh, as you can see here.
Day 32 of injury and only 7 days after being at Flawborough - He's had the proud flesh cut off
Day 46 of injury - You can see here his leg is swollen, especially around the hock area - No more bandaging from now though so the swelling starts to go down...slowly
8 1/2 weeks after the injury
10 weeks and his first day out! Luckily it was one of the warmest days we've had. I sat on a bucket all day and watched him, to make sure he was ok!!
. Goodluck....
