Here we go again =[..advice needed, injured horse.

charleysummer

charleysummer

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Im posting because I really have no idea what on earth to do with my mare.
Ive had her 4 years since she was 5 and have had many problems with her.
I have learned a lot from her as I re-broke and schooled her, she became a fantastic jumping pony and constantly won- once the serious trailer issues were sorted and being scared of all fillers!

When we first got her, she had problems with picking up a particular leg- farrier thought something had happened and eventually it turned out she'd torn a tendon that had head up again- it retore again just after she'd turned in to a jumping machine. I then posted on here looking for advice and decided to go with my heart and give it a chance- turned out I was right and after a year of very long, slow and tiring rehab she was back in jumping work winning again! We were back in full work and had no problems whatsoever with the leg, jumping great again and galloping around.. but then recently (just before the show season again :( ) she started feeling funny.. so I gave her a rest for a bit- brought her in from the field with a big puffy leg and seems she has done a tendon in her back leg (not the compensating diagonal leg confusingly..)

Boxed her for 4 days with lots of cold hosing and supplements and a gentle stretch every day- swelling reduced and she went out as she was going bonkers. 3 weeks in and her lameness has gone from about 4/10 to 2.5/10 in that time- swelling greatly reduced but still there over the fetlock and noticeable heat.

I'd hoped to put her on loan to finally get a chance at bringing on a horse to compete as I was a bit fed up of seeing all my friends out competing when I was still walking quietly around the roads (and time is running out as I'm off to uni soon, and in my gap year I really wanted to be able to ride, competing or not)- I didnt mind at the time but now its just draining all of my money and I don't know what to do ! What can I do with her? I love her to bits but I think 2 tendon injuries is just running out of luck :/ It may sound like I'm just trying to 'get rid' but I've been caring and patient for 4 years when I scrape all my pennies together and put in 100% effort to keep her happy and I just keep loosing grasp on whatever I try and achieve.

Sigh =/

ETA she was in 'full work' but by no means heavy work. an hour work 5 days a week
 
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You need to do the right thing by tout horses.
Has she seen a vet?
Got a definate diagnosis and treatment plan.
I know it must be frustrating wanting to get out there competing but that should be the icing on the cake, your horse it the main concern, she doesnt ask to be injured.

If she recovers enough to go go on loan, make sure it is a suitable home and you do regular checks.
Or while you are doing rehab with her why not find a horse to ride and compete on the owners behalf?
 
Firstly very sorry to hear of your problems :( It's so dis-heartening isn't it?

Secondly, I would get the vet out to have a look at the hind leg and see what he says. It might be a case of just giving her some time off. Could you afford to get another Horse in the meantime to ride? perhaps if not you could loan or look into sharing, so that you still get to do the jumping work.

Sending healing vibs to your Horse!
 
What's the vet said the prognosis is for her hind? If you're an ok rider there's no reason you can't find someone local who needs a bit of help schooling in return for free rides.
 
Thanks for the replies- the vet hasn't come out yet, only reason being that when I had him out last time to look at her obvious tendon injury he just diagnosed 'windgalls' and didnt elaborate. She then went non-weight bearing and had to take her in for ultrasonography.Took out work experience at the equine hospital and self treated up until now based on knowledge I gained there (and from writing a very detailed medical level paper on tendon injury!)- just to see if it got better as it may have been a twinge in the field; vet will be out next week if no improvement. It looks to me like DDFT- and I think she is predisposed to DDFT due to having upright pasterns.

She is certainly my main concern and my friend has said PTS but that just sends me in to tears thinking about it , she has made me a good rider having brought her on from nothing to work correctly and perform various simple movements (nothing too fancy because of her injury).

I did advertise for another ride- but ended up getting a freaky guy who ended up in prison not long after for quite disturbing reasons... bit off putting! And before that I had another little pony I rode, the people were nasty and another man of similar mindset... I don't have much luck!
 
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Sounds like she needs a much quieter pace of life than you want to give her so either you adjust your aspirations accordingly (there will be plenty of time for you to do exciting things with another horse when you graduate!) or you responsibly rehome her - ideally on loan so that you are able to keep tabs on her and relieve her of her pain if neccesary.

In the mean time you need to concentrate on getting her sound, which as I'm sure you are aware, with tendon injuries can take months and really does need a propper diagnosis.
 
I have decided to keep her as long as possible , at least until she heals- and in the meantime I have been given parental permission to look for another horse! (against all odds). May have to get a job to fund rent but that is fine by me as I am out of college fairly soon. Quite exciting about horse hunting again! I was thinking about getting rid of her went she galloped up to me in the field and I just realised I'd never do it, not a very tough horsewoman! Once she has healed I will bring her back in to light work and look for a loan home where she can be used as a hack or something, she is 1000% on roads etc so would make a great hack, also the possibility of my younger sister who suffers with an immune disease and heart problems to have her for a quieter ride- things finally looking up for once.
 
SusieT said:
Hack her, stop trying to jump her.
Click to expand...

My vet had told me that she would come back in to full work including low level jumping which is what i'd done with her, her previous tendon injury had coped exceptionally well and she showed no signs of pain for months and months until she came in from the field lame on her hind (not the compensating hind either) so she seemed totally capable of it.

The lameness has improved a lot now so hopefully just a twist in the field but her workload will remain reduced. She will still have another month off out roaming the land chilling.
 
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