Splints

[corriehorse]

What are the symptoms of a horse developing a splint? Also, what would the treatment be? Something just got me thinking about this today and made me realise I wouldn't really have much of a clue if my horse developed one what to look for and how to deal with it. Thank you in advance!

 

[Squeak]

Generaly there will be heat in the leg and often they will be lame on it, once they have been forming long enough you will be able to see it. If a horse has just thrown a splint and you want to check if it is still growing then you can apply pressure to it and if it hurts then it is still forming. Most horses will need the time off when they are forming but with some horses you wont even notice.

 

[zoeshiloh]

I had a horse develop splints, and he was never lame once, they just popped up overnight. I rested him (youngster) and they disappeared completely, but as soon as he came back into work (two years later) they reappeared. There are lots of options to lessen the extent of the swelling, and I tried most! DMSO is good if you catch it early enough, but time consuming as it must only be applied to dry legs, and as cold hosing also helps it was a matter of applying DMSO, then leaving a few hours, hosing off, then drying legs for a couple of hours, then reapplying DMSO. It made no difference to mine at all. I have also tried splintex gold (for splints more than 30 days old). You can also buy splintex silver, which works on new splints. Magnet boots can make a difference - these were the only thing that seemed to shrink my lads, along with cold hosing moring and evening. For splints on the outside of the leg, they can undergo surgery to remove them. New splints can also benefit from ultrasound therapy from the vet. There are lots and lots of treatments and tricks, but few of them ever work entirely, especially on formed splints - prevention is the best cure, and failing that, spotting and catching them early enough.