Lameness and mild fetlock swelling

[brightlights]

So I have a vet appointment on Tuesday but am running the worry loop to exhaustion in the meantime

My reliably sound mare came up lame on Thursday. We jumped the Tuesday morning before that but I would not have thought we overdid it. She trotted sound in the cool down and walked out sound later in the evening to hand graze. The next morning she walked out sound to the walker, came off normally, and grazed that evening with no evident discomfort. Thursday morning she went on the walker and all seemed fine. She took a short step coming out of the stall later that evening before our ride, which I noted but thought was due to the wild, windy weather. She seemed normal through our warm up, reactive to the wind, played a bit (no bucking, just head flips), but after a brief canter, i felt unevenness in the trot. This became almost head-bobbing lame around the corner at which point I got off. Checked her feet, did a walk and trot on hard ground and saw/heard nothing unusual. Got back on, felt slightly wrong at trot, and then worse again. Sure enough, I found very mild swelling and heat on the outside of her fetlock.

I cold hosed the following morning and that took out the swelling and heat. Her leg stayed cool and tight until evening, at which point I started bute anyway. She has been on box rest since except to the hose twice a day. She is not visibly lame and there is no longer heat or swelling but I'm not risking a trot or a circle until the vet.

My fear is a branch suspensory injury as the most apparent lameness was on the corner going in the direction when the leg with heat was on the outside. Our vet is excellent so I know we will have a better idea in a few days, but I'd sure like to hear if anyone has any experience with something like this that was a knock or a slight pull or something that's not not a torn ligament or tendon

 

[Carrottom]

I have had mild lameness resolve after a short rest period but in these cases we haven't known what the cause was.
With what you describe it does sound likely to be ligament strain. Will your vet be bringing a scanner?

 

[brightlights]

yes, that’s my gut instinct as well Hoping we’re on the milder side of the spectrum. I’ll be bringing her to a soundness vet so I imagine we’ll x-ray, nerve block, scan, everything

 

[hopscotch bandit]

yes, that’s my gut instinct as well Hoping we’re on the milder side of the spectrum. I’ll be bringing her to a soundness vet so I imagine we’ll x-ray, nerve block, scan, everything

ice, ice and ice! I'd recommend icing the injury with an iceboot. If you don't have a feezer at the yard you can buy instant ice packs from bigger chemists, that you squeeze and shake.

Ice cups are really valuable to. They are simply polystyrene cups that you fill will water and freeze. Apply open end over injury and move over area in a slow circle tearing the polystyrene as it melts. They are good as you are applying constant temperature cold.

Ideally if you have icevibe boots or can borrow some these are even better still. My old vet who has since moved practice used to say that my Icevibe boots on top of the ice cups made a huge amount of difference to the speed of my horses recovery.

I would also recommend stable bandages that can offer support to the limb for over night support.

My horse has done suspensory branches and it sounds as you describe. Over months of rehab as it got better so did the nodding or slight hopping you noticed which was apparent when the injured leg was on the outside of the circle.

The trouble with suspensory branch strains are that they can quickly look better again in respect of heat and inflammation and people then think the horse is okay to ride and will push on and can make the problem worse so its great that you recognise this and are waiting for the vet.

Might be jumping the gun somewhat but If it is a suspensory branch your vet might recommend remedial shoeing. Sometimes this sort of injury can be caused by a foot that is not balanced correctly, think its called a medio/lateral foot imbalance. Sometimes the horse might be predisposed to this type of injury due to confirmation. Its a very common injury, especially with SJ 's.

Keep us updated and good luck, hope its positive news for you.

 

[brightlights]

Thanks so much, Hopscotch, for your kind, lengthy response. I love the ice cup idea and will add that to my arsenal moving forward

My mare was sound through all tests this morning at the vet. He was happy with her foot balance (indeed an issue in the past we have worked to remedy with her farrier) but scanned based on my video from last week. Nothing showed up in her branch or proximal suspensory, though we can’t rule out a micro tear that wouldn’t show up on the scan.

Our plan now will be to give her a few days of hand walking, slowly reintroduce trot work starting next week, and see how she responds. Any recurring lameness and we’ll need to bring her in immediately rather than wait for any cool down period.

It’s the best news we could have gotten but I’m still uneasy and will probably take it all a bit slower than prescribed.

Thanks for being with me on this journey!

 

[Carrottom]

That sounds pretty good news. I agree with HB that cold therapy is always a good idea. I improvised a cold boot using an old travel boot wrapped around a sponge and stuck the cold hose in the top for a few minutes.

 

[brightlights]

Thank you! I won’t say I’m cautiously optimistic but I’m heartened. That is a fantastic idea with the travel boot! I always think I’m resourceful until I’m reminded how many better methods are out there with all supplies already at hand

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I find ice cube packs the easiest to deal with - the ones you fill with water and put in the freezer. You can mould them round any part of the body pretty much if you have the badage to hold it on - and a tea towel between the skin and ice pack. These can be strapped on and left until almost melted.

 

[brightlights]

Back with another update. Desperately hoped we’d escaped a serious injury so easily, but unfortunately not. The guilt is real. I felt slight lameness my first couple minutes back in the saddle so we went back to the vet on Tuesday and nerve blocked the suspensory. Nothing showed up on the scans, but the block told the story. My poor girl was still sound through all flexion tests and on the lunge pre-block, but the added load of me in the saddle showed enough

Our vet is optimistic that this shouldn’t be career limiting (though it will always, always be in the back of my mind now) as long as/if rehab goes to plan. So that’s a big if but I’m going to do the best I can. We’re looking at 4-6 weeks box rest with a few minutes of hand walk 3-4 days a week. We’ll be using shockwave therapy about every 7 days and I’ll be using ice boots 3 x a day and back on track wraps overnight starting a couple weeks from now. Not sure about a cool-down period as there has been no swelling or heat, but that’s likely due to the location. In case this is helpful to anyone, my vet believes the initial fetlock swelling was a result of gravity as it’s the proximal suspensory fiber(s) that are damaged.

I’ve been so fortunate never to have a soft tissue injury before, so it’s a bit scary. But I’m thankful we’re not (hopefully) looking at a longer period of box rest and doubly thankful it’s a front leg. Can’t believe my Grand Prix horse sustained this kind of damage over a few jumps of a 1.10 oxer, but there are a lot of factors and while I’ll never know for certain, I do think it was a perfect storm situation.

If anyone has any ideas for nice boredom busters for my beautiful mare, I’d so appreciate it. She has a stall toy, a nice view, company next to her, and I pick a bucket of grass for her a few times a day. I guess the only other thing would be a hanging snacky thing?

 

[Carrottom]

Does she like swede? A whole one kept one of mine happy for an hour (that's how long it took him to eat it).

 

[brightlights]

Does she like swede? A whole one kept one of mine happy for an hour (that's how long it took him to eat it).

I have never given her swede! Added to the shopping list, sounds entertaining

 

[hopscotch bandit]

That sounds pretty good news. I agree with HB that cold therapy is always a good idea. I improvised a cold boot using an old travel boot wrapped around a sponge and stuck the cold hose in the top for a few minutes.

That made me smile, I've done similiar with my 'placid when tied up with a net horse' as well as shoved her leg in a ice cold tub of water and left it there for a few minutes at a time.

 

[horselover11]

Some horses that would come and stay for extended periods of time at the practice I used to work would come with jolly balls to throw about in the stable.

I’ve also seen people used bizzy bites stable toy, Likit horse stable boredom buster and there was one owner who used to ask us to chop apples into small pieces and put in a tub of water for the horse to apple bob ?