Sparky86
Member
I could really do with some advice on my horses knee injury. In July I bought back a horse which I had previously owned a few years ok. When I went to seem he was sound and there was no swelling on his knee. I went to pick him up a month later and his knee was huge, there was some swelling on the outside but most noticeably there was a big, firm lump on the inside of his leg. I was told he had escaped into another field and got a bit over excited and this was when the swelling appeared, apparently he had only been lame for one day but had been fine since. I took him home and for a week he was almost 100% sound but there was no change to the swelling (obviously its not normal to buy a horse like this but its a bit of a long story that I wont bore you with!). The vet saw him in this time and said he thought there had been some trauma to the knee but it didnt look like there was anything to worry about, the swelling would go down & the lameness was due to an abscess in the other foot. To be honest I wasnt convinced by this but we poulticed his foot for a week to see what happened. About a week late he went completely lame, would not put any weight on the swollen leg at all and we took him to the vets for scans & x-rays. The x-ray showed up an old fracture to a bone at the back of his knee (sorry, cant remember the name), this had healed fine but there were some bone fragments which the vet thought might be causing the problem. The vets initial advice was to try and create a small paddock that he could be rested in and not move about too much, however, he would not stay in it and managed to jump out every time. We put him on box rest instead and the lameness did get a lot better for a couple of weeks but then suddenly he was completely crippled again. The vet came out and injected some steroid/anti-inflammatory into the joint, the swelling did improve slightly and he was almost completely sound on. He was on box rest for 2 weeks before going out again but after about 2 weeks he went lame again. This time the vet advised Bute morning and evening for 2 weeks and more box rest. We tried to keep him on box rest but it got to the point where he was so wound up that he was actually causing himself more harm being in, everyday he would have a new cut on him where he had bashed himself in some way. At this point I spoke to the vet again as I really couldnt see we were making any progress, he had become a lot more sound but he had every other time before becoming completely crippled again. He said he could operate to remove the bone fragments which appear to be causing the problem or try and manage his problem with a steroid injection into the joint whenever it flared up again. I wasnt particularly comfortable with this, I dont want to keep a horse that could be in pain, but the vet did not want to operate and advised we give him some more time. So basically I decided to wait but if he went lame again insist they operate or we would have to consider PTS as I dont think it would be fair on him to keep going like this. As I couldnt keep him on box rest or on limited turnout I just decided to turn him out 24/7 and see what happened if we just gave him some time. Hes now been out for about a month and in the last couple of weeks there has been a massive improvement, most of the swelling has gone down now, the lump on the inside is still there but it is really soft now and there is no heat at all. We trotted him up yesterday and to us he looks completely sound now. Obviously time and rest are great healers but I dont really understand why there would be such a big improvement suddenly, even though by giving him unrestricted turnout we have done the exact opposite of what our vet advised. Im just not sure Im 100% convinced by my vets diagnosis. It seems really strange to me that when I saw my horse before we got him back his leg was completely fine and then suddenly it was twice the size and the vet is saying this is due to bone fragments from an injury that happened years before. Surely if this was the case it would have flared up at some point before now? I know it could have done and the previous owners are lying but Im 90% sure this isnt the case as unbeknown to them a relative of mine worked at the vet they used and the only lameness on record is the fracture a few years before.
Sorry, I know this is really long and probably doesnt make any sense! I think what Im trying to say is, is it possible that the bone fragments are not causing the problem and its actually some sort of strain or something? My vet said that once he was sound he would be fine to do some hacking with but I dont think Im ever going to be happy with this not knowing for sure what exactly is wrong. I just wondered if anyone had experienced a similar problem? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Sorry, I know this is really long and probably doesnt make any sense! I think what Im trying to say is, is it possible that the bone fragments are not causing the problem and its actually some sort of strain or something? My vet said that once he was sound he would be fine to do some hacking with but I dont think Im ever going to be happy with this not knowing for sure what exactly is wrong. I just wondered if anyone had experienced a similar problem? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
