Can I have some advice about my cross tied horse and is leg..swollen.(long).

charlie76

charlie76

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My horse is cross tied at the moment following a kick to the radius, the vet suspected a fracture, he was x rayed and they weren't sure if it was fractured so was cross tied with a Robert Jones bandage and a splint for a week, he was then re xrayed on Monday and after lots of looking at the xrays on the big screen it was concluded that there wasn;t a fracture but some reaction on the bone where the kick site was ( apparently normal after a blow to the bone???), because of this the vet decided to carry on cross tieing until next monday when he will be xrayed again and also to reapply the robert jones and splint.
The horse was fine with this last time but this time he wouldn't stand on the leg and kept weight shifting so yesterday morning I called the vet as I was worried and the vet told me to take off the bandage which I have.
This showed the reason for the lack of weight bearing, his leg has big hard lumps on it which were pretty sore. Usually what would happen is that the robert jones would be removed and a smaller, substantial dressing put on, but I had to just take it off and leave it. This has caused his leg to swell up ( not in the injury site, the whole leg) and has scabs forming on the back of the knee area. The vet said this is to be expected but I am a little worried. I have bandaged his legs with normal bandages.
He is on one Danilon a day and very strong antibiotics as he has an open wound. He is not allowed any more danilon as he has to be a little sore to stop him leaping about.
He is still crossed tied until Monday. Any ideas on how to help get the swelling down bearing in mind I can't get him out, untie him or cold hose him?

Help??
 
tbh i don't think there's anything you can do. i don't think i'd even put normal bandages on him (unless that was vet's instructions), as it sounds as if he has pressure sores etc from the RJ bandage (unavoidable i know).
maybe a massage pad, like an equilibrium, if he's happy to have that sort of thing on?
 
The vet said to put normal bandages on him, I have brilliant pads with memory foam so really soft with no bumps. The trouble was, when he was in the robert jones they don;t put pads underneath so it makes pressure lumps
 
You could do some massage on his upper limb, try to reduce any fluid accumulation? "Python lifts" is the move I'm thinking of - basically getting hold of the leg with both hands and gently lifting the skin & muscle - you want to encourage venous return, i.e. blood and lymph flow back to the heart, so no downward strokes. Normally you wouldn't massage a horse with an open wound, so if you can check this idea out with your vet or a physical therapist of some sort then so much the better - and certainly don't do it if it is going to pull on the injury site.

Best of luck.
 
Just wanted to share my experience, no help sorry on getting the swelling down. My horse fractured his Radius and was cross tied for about 12 weeks. He too had a Robert Jones but for about 6 weeks. He also got a pressure sore behind his knee so we had to stop bandaging. The bandaging is there for support but also keeps the swelling down so I dont think theres much you can do really to get the swelling down apart from using supportive bandages on both legs. Jays bandages were reduced to below the knee to avoid the pressure sores but before we did this, the vet made a 'donut' out of bandage and vetrap and placed it over the pressure sore area to lift the bandage off the area behind his knee and try to keep it open as it kept slipping slightly which is what caused the sore.
They told me they needed to xray again after about 10 to 14 days as at first the fracture doesnt show clearly on the xray.
They also said I had to bucket feed him off the floor to allow his gutteral pouches to drain.
Its awful seeing them tied to the door but the time soon passes and then the fun starts!! Walking in hand, or rearing and leaping in my horses case.
Keep with it and fingers crossed your horse is ok.
 
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