Potential tendon injury?

[ktj1891]

I am calling the vet tomorrow but looking for advice or just assurance.

My pony is lame in walk and has a fat tendon (the one that goes down the back of the front legs) and is markedly sore towards the fetlock.
She's now in, cold hosed, clayed and bandaged up for the night.

Just want to know experiences, could this go down in few days, or is it going to be something more sinister?

She lives out 24/7 and is occasionally ridden. Injury to her knee 10 years ago means she has always been semi-retired, she just ticks over hacking to keep her weight down.

TIA

 

[bonny]

No one can tell from here, could be any number of things, or nothing much but I wouldn’t bandage it until you know what you are dealing with.

 

[TheMule]

I agree, best not to bandage, it will undo all your good work with cold hosing. (Also, please don't clay, it's very out-dated practice!)
keep on strict box rest until vet has scanned, it doesnt sound good.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

A bog standard stable bandage will do no harm. It does sound as though they have injured their tendon though so vet out to scan - request they bring the scanner if they have a portable one, saves a call out fee. Clay is however pointless! It never gets anything other than the surface of the skin cool and you want to go deeper than that. Plus when it dries it warms up and keeps heat in the leg.

If your pony is lame in walk then it sounds serious. Unless of course it's just an abcess that your pony is being pathetic about!

You can easily check yourself to give you more of an idea of injury by doing the following : pick your ponies foot up, face your ponies head (I find it easier this way) hold the foot in one hand, with the other use your thumb and index finger to gently squeeze the tendon - start by the knee, work your way down to the fetlock in inch spaces, if your pony flinches at any point that's a good indicator of where the injury is. Repeat 3x over and if they flinch at the same bit that will most certainly be near the site of injury.

In the mean time cold hose or ice the leg. A decent injury will show up on a scan straight away, a smaller one will take 5-10 days to show up. Keep on box rest.

If you suspect an abcess then feel for a digital pulse, if present ring your farrier.

 

[ktj1891]

So I spoke to the vet today. He said hard to tell without seeing her but may have just tweaked her check ligament. Told me to just cold hose and bute and keep her in. I am going to have them out next week.

I cold hosed and buted her this evening. The swelling seems to have gone down and she seems to be walking fine on it now. How long should you cold hose each session?

She's very unhappy about being in, she's pretty much retired just does a little work to keep her weight down and has lived out 24/7 for almost 10 years really so is not a happy bunny!

I'm really hoping/praying she has just tweaked something and there is no serious damage.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Cold hose for 10-15 mins to let the cold get right in. If she is happier in the field and doesn't cannon about, if she is only ever going to be retired now I would chuck her back out in a smaller paddock if you can.

 

[ycbm]

So I spoke to the vet today. He said hard to tell without seeing her but may have just tweaked her check ligament. Told me to just cold hose and bute and keep her in. I am going to have them out next week.

I cold hosed and buted her this evening. The swelling seems to have gone down and she seems to be walking fine on it now. How long should you cold hose each session?

She's very unhappy about being in, she's pretty much retired just does a little work to keep her weight down and has lived out 24/7 for almost 10 years really so is not a happy bunny!

I'm really hoping/praying she has just tweaked something and there is no serious damage.

Sore towards the fetlock is very unlikely to be a check ligament injury, far too low down.

.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Could be suspensories.

 

[ktj1891]

Sore towards the fetlock is very unlikely to be a check ligament injury, far too low down.

.

Yeah I thought that when I looked up on tendon/ligament injuries.

The leg has gone right down now and she's been sound on it since the day after, before I phoned vet and then gave her bute.

Will call vet again on Monday and go from there.

 

[bonny]

That sounds promising, I would be tempted to turn her back out and see how she goes.