Infected hock joint rehab

[Lucielou]

Hi there, hoping you lovely lot can help me.
Two and a bit weeks ago my mare came out of her stable hopping lame. She had a joint infection and spent a week at the vets.
She has been back for 10 days. The vet came out last Friday and said she was completely sound but I had to keep her on box rest for another 5 weeks as we don't no what caused the infection (there was no cut, graze, scab etc). The vet said that we don't no if there is any ligament damage hence the box rest. I have got to walk her out for 15mins twice daily but this ended in me getting kicked on Sunday so she's now in a small paddock twice daily. Has anyone else had any dealings with this that could suggest a quicker healing time or anything different that there vets said. I'm hoping she will be able to still compete in eventing etc. thank you xx

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Ask if you can get an ultrasound scan of the ligaments to see if there is any damage. There should be no reason why your horse can't return to eventing. It's been a while since we had one with a joint infection but it is roughly 4 months from an op to racing again - this is usually from a large cut sustained at high speeds. It is entirely possible that there was a pin prick of a cut that you would never see that caused this.

 

[Lucielou]

Thank you. Yeah I agree with the pin prick thing but there is nothing to suggest this as nothing in the field but it's not beyond possible.