splints and lameness

[clairefeekerry1]

my horse has a small hard lump on his inner hind leg, kind of half way between hoof and hock. he has had 5 months of for undiagnosed hind lameness although the problem appeared to be higher up although scans, scintigraphy, x-rays and nerve blocking showed nothing. he has been off for 5 months turned out and has regular physio an chiro work. the hard lump, which i presume is a splint is about the size of 10p and has come up since he's been turned out resting. he's now been back in work 2 weeks and touch wood is sound. is there anyway this splint was the cause of the problems?? do splints cause lameness or gait abnormality?? should i ring the vet and let them know a splint has appeared?

 

[Nickles1973]

In terms of wether or not this splint could be the cause of his original lameness I would consider it unlikely. But the vet would be the best person to consult. All I can add is that when my horse threw a splint on his front leg the first thing I noticed was a small graze on the inside of his cannon bone, then a couple of days later a bony lump appeared. At no time was he lame whilst it was forming or settling and I was advised to just carry on hacking him out (albeit slowly) whilst it settled. (About 6 weeks) That was about 18 months ago and the lump is now hardly noticable.

 

[cptrayes]

There is a possibility this could have been the cause of his lameness, though the timing is rather long since the original problem. I had a mare who was being treated for slight tendon strain and kept in walk work until she went crazy with a groom on her and dumped her, when I decided to turn her away. She was at that time lame in trot. Four weeks later she was as sound as a bell with a splint the size of a walnut and she stayed sound from then on. The tendons had never been the issue, the splint was, even though it could not be seen or felt until after she came sound.

The other thing about splints that is relevant in your case is that they often don't come sound until you stop working them. It fits with your non-specific hind leg lameness, especially if he is sound now that it has produced a bony lump to stick the splint bone to his cannon bone and stop the movement in the membrane between them which was hurting him.

I have followed your problems from the start and I sincerely hope this is the answer. It is a lot less trouble than an SI strain! Good luck.


ps Nickles 1973 if your horse had an external injury to the splint bone, as suggested by the graze, then your horse did not have a true splint, which is irritation in the membrane between the splint and the cannon bones. This is probably why you were advised to continue work, and why he was not unsound.