Splints

[Bert&Maud]

Found a lovely new horse on Saturday which I want to buy, and noted that he had a splint on his off fore, about two or three inches below the knee. We were uncertain as to whether he was completely sound, but decided to proceed with a vetting, having discussed the splint with the attending vet. He reported back to me yesterday that the horse was 2/10 lame on flexion and also on lunge and hard surface. In the end he stopped the vetting (obviously) and the plan is for the horse to be treated (is it DMSO? can't remember) for a couple of weeks, and then brought back into work and providing he is sound in four weeks he will complete the vetting and I will proceed with the purchase. In over 40 years of horse ownership, I've so far managed to avoid any splints! So what I need to know is, providing he is sound in four weeks and I buy him, how long afterwards to I need to be careful with the splint. This is a (nearly) 5 year old who was broken in Ireland at 2, the vet thinks that splints probably go with the territory! Just interested to hear other peoples experiences.

 

[Halfstep]

Once the splint is settled and cold it is highly unlikely that it will cause any trouble. It is very common for new splints to cause lameness, and 2/10 lame unaffected by flexion is around right. A splint is caused by damage to the ligament that runs between the splint bone and the cannon bone. Once the extra bone hardens and any inflammation is gone, its just a bump. However, if I were the one buying him, I would have the area x-rayed to make sure that it is a true splint and not a fracture of the splint bone itself.

 

[blueberry]

Hi, are you planning to do any showing with your horse? I know it should not make a difference but some judges will penalise in the showring if there is an obvious splint.

Did the vet mention if the splint was 'active'? When they are active they tend to cause some lameness as there is also inflammation to the area, the splint may be at its biggest at this time. Eventually the soft swelling reduces and then yuo are left with the hard lump, if they are not aggrievated too much they usually settle relatively quickly. Then the splint should not cause any problems/lameness longterm.

I believe some horses are more prone to develop splints than others, we had a pony several years ago that had very extravagant paces and he had 2 splints. I remembered thinking about his conformation in relation to soundness and thought his paces had made him pre-disposed to develop them. We bought him for showing and i asked several judges if the splints would affect his marks and they said no but on the other hand if it were a choice between 1st and 2nd place, then the pony without the splints would get the 1st.

Is your vet going to do the vetting once the splint has been treated?

 

[Shilasdair]

Splints tend to happen on the inside of the leg, and are caused by poor conformation, incorrect foot balance, being trotted on concussive surfaces, poor nutritional balance (in terms of bone minerals) and/or a direct injury.
My TB mare, now 18, has very good front end conformation and never had a sign of them...my 3yo though developed one (from a strike injury being clumsy in the field) a year ago. I buted her then left her...if you feel her leg, there is still some exostosis there...although it is shrinking.
Although splints aren't a huge soundness problem in my experience, I think it would matter for showing, so it depends what you want to do with the horse...
S

S

 

[Caritas]

I have a horse that has splints over the size of a golf ball on both fore legs. He is wrapprd in cotton wool, turned out in boots and only excercised in protective gear but has still managed to develop them. Unfortunatly they are very unsightly, but that is the only problem they cause. However, they both took up to a 12 month to settle and he was intermittantly lame on one for that period of time. Your ideal horse it maybe but although it maybe sound on the next vetting these could possibly cause you a mild problem for some time, good luck!!

 

[Bert&Maud]

Thanks so much for all the useful experiences and advice. Vet is returning after four weeks providing the horse is sound, to proceed with the vetting paying particular attention to the splint. He didn't seem to think it was a problem in the long term, but rather was unsurprised to see it in a horse of his age and background. I'm planning on taking things fairly easy with him if I have him, through the winter while we get to know each other and it's hard to do much anyway, which would hopefully give it even more time to settle.

 

[brighteyes]

My skinny legged TB x Connemara (very TB to look at) got a very noticeable splint on the inside his off fore,about half way down just over two years ago. I tried DMSO but it didn't appear to have any effect. It spontaneously disappeared about six months ago, and is now only just there to feel - not see! I didn't think it would ever go and he wasn't lame with it. I managed to aggravate it by leaving some tendon boots on and the whole inner cannon swelled slightly. It disappeared with the swelling.............

 

[oln]

definitely not a problem for top class ridden showing. have shown a pony with two enormous splints at rihs,hoys,bsps champs etc. won or highly placed many times.