Update : Rescan tomorrow, vibes please!

[Birker2020]

Re: my post yesterday asking for positive vibes for my horse today.

Vet came out and watched the video my mate took on his request of me trotting in the school and said he was sound. Then he palpated his leg and said he was still sore and was suprised about this. Then I trotted him up and he said he was sound. Then we flexion tested and trotted up and he was quite lame. So then the vet was even more sure he wanted to scan as he was suprised there had been no real improvement and the findings were really dissapointing. He said there was no improvement whatsoever (for the second time in a row) and he saw calcification under the lateral branch of the suspensory which he said thought could be a bone chip in his fetlock! So he is now coming out on Tuesday to xray and start shockwave treatment, because although the ultrasound my physio friend has done on him has been beneficial and kept him in work (albeit walk only) he says it is just not strong enough to penetrate the structures at this moment in time wheras the shockwave is better in this particular situation.

So now we are looking at a possible bone chip, which I am a bit worried about in case its a hairline and he hoons around and it turns castrophic, although he said I was fine to turn him out. I am trying to stay upbeat and positive but I am quite upset tonight as I really thought he would be a lot better by now. The vet said even by his standards he is dissappointed and said that 2/3rds of horses with this injury would have been a lot better than Bailey at this stage in the healing which is why he suspects something more sinister. If its a chip hopefully it will be a little one that will be reabsorbed by the body and won't require an operation.

About six years ago he had to have his coffin joint medicated as he had a bony spur on it and the vets not sure if this could be causing the problem either. He's never had treatment with this spur since, and he went for the lameness workup with an active splint and I think the spur was just a coincidence that happened to show up on the xray and it was the splint that was the problem at the time. I think he thinks this too as there is no way that a single steroid injection would keep pain at bay for six years + but he is going to xray it for me anyway just to play safe.

If theres any advice I can impart to others in light of what's happened to my boy its this: If any of you suspect your horse is slightly lame, and there is no heat and no swelling always get the vet to have a look. If we'd missed this and I'd carried on jumping and schooling this could be a bad tear that we could have been looking at and months and months of box rest with little or no hope of a return to full function in the future. As it is I'm not sure what the prognosis is going to be, but I can only hope he will come sound eventually, even if its going to be many more months than first anticipated. Thank God I got the vet when I did before more damage was done.

Thanks for all those who gave me vibes yesterday, it was very much appreciated.

Sadly I think the airwaves must have been blocked on this occassion.

 

[itsonlyme]

Oh no, i'm really sorry to read this It all sounded so positive yesterday

Are you insured? When it comes to tendons/ligament/bones, i swear by hydrotherapy spas. If you can send him to one, i'd do it. I know it's not the same, but one of mine "did a bloody good job" (vets words!) of tearing her check ligament. We sent her to a rehab yard for a month, and she was spa'd pretty much daily. The vet was amazed at how quickly the lesion healed up - said she hadn't seen one heal so fast before. We also sent our gelding when he had lami, with fab results.

Here's a link to a random one that came up on google, so you can see what i'm talking about! http://www.horserehab.co.uk/rehab.html Most insurers will pay up to £1k for 'alternative therapies' if the vet recommends it.

Good luck with the xray though and keep us updated xx

 

[happy_talk]

Sorry to hear that AC- I'm always interested in your posts due to the history of bone spavin. Although "only" suffering from bonespavin at the moment, I'm continually worrying about the tendons/ligaments in the legs that may be over compensating now and in the future. Good luck with the x-ray & sending some more healing vibes in case the airways have cleared now!

 

[Birker2020]

Thank you so much for your lovely replies. Itsonlyme, I have seen the link and it is very interesting. I will ask my vet if he thinks that this will be of benefit in Bailey's case. I am worried that this bone chip may be reacting in some way to the tendon healing, so I'm hoping the xrays show this is not the case. I guess we will have to wait until Tuesday and take it from there. I know swimming isn't the same as hydrotherapy but I've already asked if swimming would make a difference and he said no. I says that the best thing for him is walking daily (unlimited distance/time) but I never thought about the hydrotherapy before.

Happy _talk I love listening to my physio friend (Nelson11) talk about her cases (she doesn't name them or anything so she's not contravening data protection -lol) but its so interesting hearing about their problems and how they come good. The most interesting at the moment is a canine case, a dog that had terrible CVM problems (little daschund) that was unable to stand unaided. Thanks to N11 and her owners patience and time she is now on the mend, she can stand unaided for a period and her limb placement is a lot clearer now. I know a lot more than I used to know about how horses (and dogs) bodies work from the muscular and skeletal aspects and it is very interesting to me especially with the overcompensating problems. I hope your horse remains sounds, maybe an annual or six monthly check with a physio would put your mind at rest? Funnily enough I can recommend one that can do a 100 mile radius of Solihull!!!! But seriously I said to my friend the other day that from now on, every year I am going to get my horse looked at by her so any problems can be sorted before they become apparent and therefore become either too late, or problematic as in Bails case.

 

[itsonlyme]

Definitely worth asking. When i win the lottery (£150 million should tide me over!), Im going to buy a hydrotherapy spa & all of my horses will go in it, just because! = They're amazing.
When Mo was last there, the lady who owned it said she put her daughter in it when she broke her ankle!!! Worked wonders!
As for a bone chip, we had one who shattered the splint bone in a hind leg. The vets were hopeful it would sort itself out, but after 5 months it was obvious it wasn't going to. He was operated on at leahurst to remove one of the fragments as it was irritating the tendons etc in that area & making him lame. All healed up nicely afterwards though, so even if this is the problem in your case, it won't be the end of the world - just a pain in the ar*e! But they're worth it & we wouldnt be without them really...even though i threaten mine with the meat man on a daily basis!!! xx

 

[happy_talk]

AC yes, physio has made a big difference, so much so that my saddle has had to be widened as her back muscle have been released and can now develop. I guess at the moment I'm concerned about holding herself incorrectly due to pain, but am keeping an eye on things.
But in the long term, with the fusion of the lower hock joints, something (I'm guessing ligaments) will have to compensate for the concussion not absorbed by the joints. I'm guessing that's why there tends to be an association of ligament and bone spavin conditions.