Difficult situation- opinions appreciated.

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shadowboy

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I have a mare that is on trial to me till march, if I and she 'passes' the trial she will be sold to me for the princely sum of £1. She is in my care completely during that time. The only thing is the owner pays insurance and vets bills during the trial. Little mare came in with a swollen leg on thursday night On a scale of one to 10 with 10 being the worst swelling- the swelling was on 5. There was also heat. No cuts and no lameness. She was cold hosed for 10min and then ice tight was applied. Swelling reduced slightly on friday- same procedure was followed. Swelling reduced further on Sat and again same procedure followed. Today there is no swelling as all, and the heat is restriced to one small area. She is not lame. Would you call a vet out? Onwer is unreachable but she is the one who pays the bills......not sure weather to keep going for a few more days doing what I doing, and call vet say wednesday if there is still heat, or call vet tomorrow? Bear in mind owner will be paying but I cant get hold of her....
 
If she were my horse I would box rest her until you can get hold of the owner to confirm if she wants the vet out.

Where is the owner, can you not leave a message saying you want to discuss getting a vet out?
 
I'd have done the same as you, and I probably wouldn't bother with the vet now as it sounds better. However, I'm no expert so please don't take that as sound advice!
 
Where is the cut/swelling? If it is on a joint I would call the vet as soon as possible.

Actually, I would call the vet tomorrow anyway. There is heat in the leg and there may be an infection. If it was my horse on loan to you I would be questioning why you hadn't. Just my opinion though.
 
I thought about box resting her but she box walks for britain- one of the worst boxwalkers I have met when shes on her own. Owner lives other side of the country. She was aware of mare's problems on thursday and friday and was happy with what I was doing then, as she is a skinny TB and things always look worse with their legs then say a chunky cob. Have been trying to contact her for last few hours....
 
She appears to be getting better with what you are doing so I would wait a few more days for further improvement.
I would also let the owner know.
 
It's a difficult one but in that situation as you cannot contact the owner you should do whatever you think is right as if you already owned the horse. You have to be very careful with unexplained heat/swelling in legs as something tiny like a blackthorn in a tendon sheath/joint can cause huge problems & even require surgery, however if the horse seems to be improving then you are obviously doing something right. Does the swelling go down when she is out in the field & walking it off? If so and you have a clean, fairly dry/unmuddy field then personally I would turn her out but keep a close eye on her. Whenever I have a horse that is injured I don't think about the vets bill until it lands on the doorstep - the horses welfare is more important!
 
Do you have anything in writing about this agreement? You need something that includes allowing you to call the vet at your discretion in emergencies and when you can't contact the owner, and how this will be paid for. There will be an excess for someone to pay even if the insurance gets involved, that's worth bearing in mind.
 
From the way you have decribed the injury, I personally would not call the vet just yet. If the swelling is still there in 7 days (from when you first noticed it) I would call the vet, or if it gets worse instead of better. However if it is a joint that is swollen, I would get the vet asap.

My horse had an uneplained swelling last year, his front leg was quite big around his pastern. I was in two minds weather or not to call the vet as he was not lame. 4 days of box rest and all the scabs appeared. Mud Fever. I am glad I did not call the vet. Every other time hes had mud fever he gets scabs first, never swollen legs which is why I didnt associate it.
 
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