3Beasties
Well-Known Member
Following on from my post earlier I had the Vet out to have a look at Pixie's head. She injured herself last night in the field and had a very disgusting puncture wound on her head.
This is what it looked like when I got to the yard this afternoon
The vet arrived and was slightly baffled as the infection had appeared so quickly, he though that there may have been two separate incidents. The first one was the puncture wound possible caused by a black thorn which must have gone un-noticed (she has a very think/long forelock) . Then we think the 2nd one happened yesterday when she somehow managed to whack her head on something which caused the small gash and the pain she was in. The whack also caused the older injury to erupt.
Vet sedated her, clipped the area, cleaned her up (got tons of puss out
)and gave her loads of injections. She has got bute and anti-B's for the next 4 days and I have the lovely task of D-Pussing her wound (Yuck!). The vet said that the small gash probably needed stapling but he didn't get to it in time so we are leaving it open. If the swelling doesn't go down within 2 weeks I need to get them out again to give her a scan (to check for fractures or Foreign bodies).
She behaved really well for a youngster and the vet really liked her, he kept saying what a 'nice type she is' and that she is 'such a lovley colour'
Picture after being treated (sorry they aren't very clear)
Egg head
Hopefully she will heal up nicely and won't need another vets visit!
Then I got Vet to look at Millie. She wasn't lame but I was a bit worried about her hind legs twisting on a circle so thought I may as well get a Vets opinion.
She was a lot worse trotting on the sand then she was on harder ground and is also worse on a circle. Vet poked and prodded a bit (during which time Millie tried to Kick him at least 5 times
) and did a flextion (sp?) test (she trotted sound after).
Concluded that she has pretty weak hocks which is causing the twisting and she is likely to get arthritis when she is older. Said some other stuff about suspensary (sp!) ligaments but I will have to phone him and get him to go over that again.
We can carry on working her but we have to know her limits, last weekend we pushed her to hard which is why she went lame(r) then she is. He thinks that hacking/hunting will be better then doing lots of schooling so we will have to make sure we don't overdo it. I will start lunging her in the field so she is on a bigger circle and on harder ground. She has managed all summer really well so I am not going to change her work load to much, we just have to make sure the when she says she has had enough (and she will do
) we stop and don't push her that bit further. We need to be aware that it is there and monitor any changes.
Although it is slightly worrying I am actually quite relived. The twisting is something she will always have had but we have never really noticed it/had it looked at because she was never in much work. Now I know that it MAY cause problems in later life I can do all I can to prevent it.
Any ideas on how to help her weak hocks?
I am thinking about putting her on a joint supplement and getting her some magnetic hock wraps for when she is stabled. The vet also suggested shoeing her on the back with special shoes which I will talk over with my farrier (not sure I want back shoes on due to her Moody/Marish behaviour
)
Well done if you made it to the end, have a drink on me
This is what it looked like when I got to the yard this afternoon
The vet arrived and was slightly baffled as the infection had appeared so quickly, he though that there may have been two separate incidents. The first one was the puncture wound possible caused by a black thorn which must have gone un-noticed (she has a very think/long forelock) . Then we think the 2nd one happened yesterday when she somehow managed to whack her head on something which caused the small gash and the pain she was in. The whack also caused the older injury to erupt.
Vet sedated her, clipped the area, cleaned her up (got tons of puss out
She behaved really well for a youngster and the vet really liked her, he kept saying what a 'nice type she is' and that she is 'such a lovley colour'
Picture after being treated (sorry they aren't very clear)
Egg head
Hopefully she will heal up nicely and won't need another vets visit!
Then I got Vet to look at Millie. She wasn't lame but I was a bit worried about her hind legs twisting on a circle so thought I may as well get a Vets opinion.
She was a lot worse trotting on the sand then she was on harder ground and is also worse on a circle. Vet poked and prodded a bit (during which time Millie tried to Kick him at least 5 times
Concluded that she has pretty weak hocks which is causing the twisting and she is likely to get arthritis when she is older. Said some other stuff about suspensary (sp!) ligaments but I will have to phone him and get him to go over that again.
We can carry on working her but we have to know her limits, last weekend we pushed her to hard which is why she went lame(r) then she is. He thinks that hacking/hunting will be better then doing lots of schooling so we will have to make sure we don't overdo it. I will start lunging her in the field so she is on a bigger circle and on harder ground. She has managed all summer really well so I am not going to change her work load to much, we just have to make sure the when she says she has had enough (and she will do
Although it is slightly worrying I am actually quite relived. The twisting is something she will always have had but we have never really noticed it/had it looked at because she was never in much work. Now I know that it MAY cause problems in later life I can do all I can to prevent it.
Any ideas on how to help her weak hocks?
I am thinking about putting her on a joint supplement and getting her some magnetic hock wraps for when she is stabled. The vet also suggested shoeing her on the back with special shoes which I will talk over with my farrier (not sure I want back shoes on due to her Moody/Marish behaviour
Well done if you made it to the end, have a drink on me
