Upward Fixation of the Patella

[Mahoganybay]

Hi, my mare has currently come back into work after 10 months on complete box rest following a hind leg pedal bone fracture. She has been on 6 week rehab livery (swimming, horse walker etc etc) and i have had her home 3 weeks now, on vets advise i have started her back into work very slowly and am only hacking for short periods and at walk.

She has now developed the above on the leg she injured and tbh it looks dreadful (i know it looks worse than it is) but i am gutted.

The vet advised some hill / cavaletti work and turnout, but can anyone recommend anything else or at least give me some inspiration / length of time to get better as i am seriously flagging.

 

[SirenaXVI]

This is really common in youngsters due to lack of muscle, I would imagine the same thing has happened with your mare as she has lost muscle through injury.

I would agree with the vets advice, cavaletti and hill work to build up the muscles, once they are stronger the problem should go away. Sadly this can take months, as we all know it is more difficult to put muscle on than it is to lose it.

Chin up though it is not a serious problem and she will come right.

 

[teddyt]

As above. And turnout as much as possible. Sometimes you need bute incase there is inflammation, but discuss this with your vet.