Sprains and Strains

[Flicker]

I think the mare has twisted her near hind ankle in the field in the mud. For the past couple of weeks it has been warm(ish) and a bit puffy round the fetlock. She has no lameness in a straight line or on the right rein in a circle but is lame in a circle on the left rein. Farrier thinks it is just a sprain and has advised me to turn her out and do light hacking (but I have not managed to get her out on a hack as I work during the week and the weather at the weekends has been ghastly lately). Waiting for the vet to get back to me.
Question I have is how long they generally take to resolve themselves. When should I start to get worried?
OH is a doctor and says that with people it can be up to 6 weeks. I don't mind, if that's how long it takes, that's how long it takes. But I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced similar and how long it took with them.
Also, I'm not sure if she's just going out and doing the same thing over and over in the mud. Don't want to have to keep her in as I know turning out is best for these injuries, but in this weather I'm at a loss to know what to do for the best...
I am feeling really down about it

 

[AmyMay]

The best person to give you advice on this would be your vet.


My horse jumped out of his field in the summer - and unfortunately had a fall the other side. He had a very big knee, which quickly subsided after two days intensive cold hosing and turnout. If it hadn't resolved itself so quickly then would have got the vet on day three.

 

[Guinness]

I would have called the vet out straight away, two weeks is a long time to be lame. My horse pulled a muscle in his stifle area and was on box rest for 2 weeks with a week of bute and a week of walking in hand.

 

[Doublethyme]

QR : Sorry to be negative, but my mare came up slightly "not right" from the field in November - was sound as a pound in the morning. She was completely box rested for a week (as I was away, normally she would have had the vet straight away), looked better when I got back so I chucked her out in the sick paddock (bad idea!), came slightly less sound again (nothing major - worse on a circle etc.

Got vet, he recommended scans and work up at vets. Anyway, turns out she had an impact injury (no signs on the outside of the leg except her windgalls looked worse than usual and a bit of localised swelling). Afraid to say, she has now been off since November, 2 months box rest, now on 3 months paddock rest with injury to her annular ligament and her superficial digital flexor tendon. She's now only 1/10th lame, but the damage is still quite extreme

Its worth getting it all checked out by your vet, as my mare really didn't look that bad and I hadn't thought in a million years that she had injured herself as badly as she had.

 

[mrdarcy]

My rule of thumb is to always err on the side of extreme caution. Even very minor symptoms can mask something much more serious and you can't mess around with potential tendon or ligament problems.

If one of mine ever has any heat or swelling even if they're not lame I'll keep them in and cold hose twice a day and bandage until the swelling and heat go - if it's very minor then two or three days of this and everything should be back to normal.

If swelling and heat remain I'll talk to the vet and discuss further treatment - generally it just to keep on doing what I have been doing. Box rest apart from walking to the hose and bandaging. After a weeks rest if things continue to improve I'll start walking in hand until I'm happy all heat and swelling have gone and make no sign of returning. Then I will do light work for a week - just walking - and turnout if poss in a small paddock. If after that week all is 100% then I'll ease back into normal work.

If things aren't improving after the initial week of box rest, hosing and bandaging I will then get the vet out for a full work up and scan if he thinks advisable - then go on from whatever that shows up.

But that's just me - probably over cautious but I've learnt over the years to think the worst!