Splint in 2 Year Old

Dogstar

Dogstar

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My 2 year old seems to have just thrown a splint. I am wondering how bad a sign this is, ie that she has developed one so young? Horses usually tend to throw splints at about 4+ when in work, but she obviously isn't doing anything yet. I am particularly concerned as it is on her pigeon -toed leg. Has anyone else come across this in a youngster? Did they stay sound long term? Hers is on the inside just below the knee. She does gallop around like a lunatic... thanks
 
I have exactly the same thing with my now 3 year old, he suddenly threw quite a big splint on the leg that has a slight pigeon toe, but never had any lameness, heat ect. I assume he maybe knocked himself or did it charging around. I'm not worrying about it.
 
Oh thanks for that irishdraft, that makes me feel better. I never spotted any heat/swelling/lameness either which confused me. I do tend to fret about that leg, so I will try not to worry if she is sound, which she is! Thanks again.
 
hi,
my 2 year old has managed to get himself 2 splints over the summer, just from charging around the field when it's been hard ground. never been lame with them, no heat etc :)
 
One of my babies had splint at two. Put this down to the fact that she grew very quickly between a yearling and two years. Never lame and is full competition pony :d
 
Dogstar said:
My 2 year old seems to have just thrown a splint. I am wondering how bad a sign this is, ie that she has developed one so young? Horses usually tend to throw splints at about 4+ when in work, but she obviously isn't doing anything yet. I am particularly concerned as it is on her pigeon -toed leg. Has anyone else come across this in a youngster? Did they stay sound long term? Hers is on the inside just below the knee. She does gallop around like a lunatic... thanks
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Splints will come along at any age - but most commonly during boney development - so that's anytime until about 6yo. They don't have to be in work and most are seen in unbroken horses in my experience.
I'mnot surprised to hear that the slightly toed in leg is the one to suffer as the forces going through the leg will be different and the splints often will develop exactly where hers is to compensate for the variation in the angles of the joints - however subtle.
Make sure the foot balance is checked by your farrier and vet together so that the balance stays as good as it can be at all times - this will minimise the development of larger boney lumps.

It won't go away :( but is very unlikely to cause a problem now or in the future. Rarely they can cause lameness as they are forming. Some people use DMSO liquid to paint on them to reduce the lump size. This frequently causes nasty skin irritation though so I don't advise it often at all. Bute tends to have little or no effect on the size, but if there's lameness that will help.
During the splint formation,restrict exercise (paddock size) to reduce overall bone trauma and thus minimise the size of the splint at the end....:rolleyes: Think that's about it :o

Imogen
 
Sirena threw a splint before she was backed, it appeared almost overnight, I was devastated, as I wanted to show her, no lameness, no heat, it disappeared completely after a few weeks, almost like a phantom splint :)

Someone did tell me that this was quite common in young horses, can't for the life of me remember who it was though :o
 
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