I've been quiet on the subject of Farley's injury because I wasn't sure whether I was seeing some pathologic changes or not. I really really didn't want the end of Farley's career to come from something as benign as kicking at a fly and slamming her leg into a pipe corral.
After the filling went down, what I found was 2 hard bumps that were very low on the leg above the fetlock, one on the outside and one on the inside of the leg.
After 2 weeks and having the leg not be normal, I decided to make a vet appointment, even though she wasn't unsound on the lunge.
It was the best and worst of vet visits. The kind that is good because everything is going to be OK, and it was relatively cheap, and the worst of vet visits because you feel like an idiot.
It seems like there is quite a bit of individual variation in regards to length of the splint bone. When she kicked the fence, Farley broke off the end of her medial (inside) splint bone. I considered a splint but it seemed WAY too distal (low on the leg), but I guess not!
The bump on the outside of the leg was a bit of fibrous tissue on top of the suspensory. I expressed concern about it's location.....so the vet put an ultrasound on it and pronounced it fine.
"Don't do a fifty tomorrow" was his comment. "What about the end of November?", I asked. Apparently that should be absolutely fine.
WHOO HOO!
Huge relief.
Normally I wouldn't bother bringing a sound horse into the vet for an injury that is getting better, even with the changes I felt in the leg. However, my belief is that if a horse is being asked to give a performance type effort (like endurance), it is my responsibility to do "due diligence" in situations like this --> that I'm not absolutely sure what is going on, and at least get some diagnostics so I can make an informed decision about the direction of her career.
Not being able to afford to do basic diagnostics is one red flag that I have no business doing endurance, so was happy to realize that I can still do this for my pony.
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Reassurance visits are the BEST! I know what you mean about feeling like an idiot, but at the same time you're an idiot who's doing the right thing for her. Go Farley!
ReplyDelete(November - Desert Gold?)
Yeah, I've done it a couple times and it's a good first 50. It was Farley's first 50 back when she was just starting out. Mostly hard pack with very little sand.
ReplyDeleteLike when I took Indy to the vet for her eye, it was just chronic conjunctivitis and not something that would make her blind, but I learned so much!
ReplyDeleteSharlene
What is it this week about splint bones? It's not that common to break the freakin' things, but I swear Farley is the third (maybe 4th?) horse I've heard of in the past week with this injury.
ReplyDeleteHana broke hers (right rear) several years ago, and it had to be surgically removed. She's perfectly good on it now, you'd never know unless you did x-rays and noticed that the splint bone is missing. She had already been retired from endurance anyhow, because her hocks just aren't good enough for the distance.
I'm glad you checked with the vet, better safe than sorry (even if you feel like an idiot, I don't think so.) I just went through a splint bone issue too, and also checked with the vet, even did a recheck xray since it was in an awkward spot. Yeah for Farley (and you)!
ReplyDelete