Erehwemos
Well-Known Member
I had the vet out to Ellie today, just really to check on how she is healing and to assess when she can be brought back into work. It was my 'proper' vet today instead of the emergency vet who came out on the night she was kicked - so he knows Ellie a lot better.
He said she has been very, very lucky - he couldnt for the life of him understand how she has been kicked where she has without seemingly breaking or rupturing anything. There is a largeish swelling still just below her hock, right on the tendon, but he said without putting her through endless scans - which he is reluctant to do when she isnt even remotely lame - there is no real way of knowing whether she has actually damaged the tendon fibres, or whether the swelling is just a thickening/scarring of the skin where she lost her chestnut. He basically said that I can start to ride her again whenever I like - roadwork only for 3 weeks or so - and that I have to be guided by her - if the tendon swells or gets hot, I know I have done too much. If she does go lame, we know there is a problem and he has said to ring him immediately and we will reassess.
What he did say is that if we were still showjumping at the level we used to, this would almost certainly have ended her career as the leg would never stand up to constant training and competition. My heart sank a little; although I never intend to show jump again I had hoped that we may get to hunt a couple of times and maybe do some XC - and at first I thought that would be out of the question. But the vet basically said I just have to be guided by Ellie - he said I know her well enough by now to know if she is 'happy' and comfortable. So we just have to take it as it comes.
At the back of my mind, I blame myself for this happening. I dont know if anyone remembers but when we first moved to the yard we're at now, I made a post on here with a poll asking people whether their horses had ever been badly injured when turned out in a group. I was worried then, before we even put her out there, and now nine months or so down the line she has been hurt, potentially life changingly so, and I wish I hadnt put her in that position, knowing the kind of horse she is and knowing the type of horses we were putting her out with
Here are a couple of pics of her this morning; please dont lambast me about her being tubby- she has been stabled 24/7 for the last 3 weeks or so
:
If you look her at her near hind, you can just see the bump on her tendon, right at the back:
He said she has been very, very lucky - he couldnt for the life of him understand how she has been kicked where she has without seemingly breaking or rupturing anything. There is a largeish swelling still just below her hock, right on the tendon, but he said without putting her through endless scans - which he is reluctant to do when she isnt even remotely lame - there is no real way of knowing whether she has actually damaged the tendon fibres, or whether the swelling is just a thickening/scarring of the skin where she lost her chestnut. He basically said that I can start to ride her again whenever I like - roadwork only for 3 weeks or so - and that I have to be guided by her - if the tendon swells or gets hot, I know I have done too much. If she does go lame, we know there is a problem and he has said to ring him immediately and we will reassess.
What he did say is that if we were still showjumping at the level we used to, this would almost certainly have ended her career as the leg would never stand up to constant training and competition. My heart sank a little; although I never intend to show jump again I had hoped that we may get to hunt a couple of times and maybe do some XC - and at first I thought that would be out of the question. But the vet basically said I just have to be guided by Ellie - he said I know her well enough by now to know if she is 'happy' and comfortable. So we just have to take it as it comes.
At the back of my mind, I blame myself for this happening. I dont know if anyone remembers but when we first moved to the yard we're at now, I made a post on here with a poll asking people whether their horses had ever been badly injured when turned out in a group. I was worried then, before we even put her out there, and now nine months or so down the line she has been hurt, potentially life changingly so, and I wish I hadnt put her in that position, knowing the kind of horse she is and knowing the type of horses we were putting her out with
Here are a couple of pics of her this morning; please dont lambast me about her being tubby- she has been stabled 24/7 for the last 3 weeks or so
If you look her at her near hind, you can just see the bump on her tendon, right at the back:
