GWR - 2014-03-27 2:25 PM Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.  This is a head horse that his performance has gone down hill over the last year or so.  Bad owner, I am, for not checking him sooner because he proved that on two grams a bute a day he worked like himself.  Finally took him last week to a very reptuable lameness vet and he blocked his right front heel and he didn't go sound.  Then blocked just above that and he went sound, but then lame in the left hind.   He's got a little issue in his left stifle and we injected.  The vet said he didn't think it'd be worth my money to have an MRI of the right front and said I needed to change the way he was shod.  So we changed his shoeing, injected the stifle, and put him on previcox for 20 days.  Went and roped last night with nothing but the previcox (started him on that on Saturday) and he didn't work so hot.  The thing is I'm 13 weeks pregnant and only have about 2-3 weeks left that I'm going to rope, so maybe it's better like one poster said to just give him the 4-6 months off and then see where we're at.  He is 12 and is a very nice horse, so I sure don't want to do anything that would be career ending.  Everyone kept telling me, "Oh well if he is better on 2 grams of bute then it can't be anything too serious."  The hard part with that is I know the horse has a very high pain tolerance...figured this out because he coliced and had to have surgery...long story to explain why we know his pain tolerance.   



So another question...when you give the 4-6 months stall rest do you do hand walking or what?  And then what was your program conditioning them after they're done with stall rest? 

 

ACEINTHEHOLE - 2014-03-27 12:36 PM You need to figure out what it is and how bad.  4-6 months stall rest might not be enough, and if you start to ride again, you can possibly do more damage.  I would start with the U/S and posbbily x-rays and see if you can figure it out or if you need more diagnostics done and go from there. 

Clancy0407 - 2014-03-27 3:51 PM I had one who ripped his DDFT. Took him to a very reputable lameness vet in the NW and we were able to find the tear/"rip" by ultrasound. It was right below his fetlock on the backside of his pastern on a back leg. His was so bad, we weren't sure if he would ever race again, but I faithfully did everything I was supposesd to do and didn't cut any corners. I invested in a Game Ready machine and he was on stall rest. First couple weeks he was on strict stall rest (his tendon sheath was also severely inflamed) with icing (I spent about 40 hours icing/soaking/cold hosing his leg in the first 2-3 weeks and that was after the correct diagnosis, not previous time spent doing so). After the first couple weeks, we gradually worked up to hand-walking an hour a day (that happened over several weeks) and I continued to use the Game Ready machine for about 30 min. everday after his hand-walking. After several months of hand-walking for an hour a day, we added in some trotting. I also used SmartPak's Smart Tendon supplement for the last couple months of his stall rest (not sure if it really played a part or just coincidence). He was on stall-rest for about a year and 2 years after the initial injury, he came back and won a state title for my sister and made some of his best runs ever...with NO bute or drugs. It was a long process but I'm glad I just took it slow. The vet also had us put him in 3 degree wedges on his back feet. Thankfully I also have an awesome farrier. Over the course of his year on stall rest, we gradually decreased the degree of wedges until he was back down to a regular shoe. Sounds like yours is in a similar area (other than being on a front leg). My lameness vet was able to diagnose it just fine with an ultrasound. If you have any doubt, don't be afraid to get a second opinion. Mine actually injured himself out in the pasture when the ground was wet (early spring) and he slipped...Initially I couldn't figure out what was going on, his leg swelled massively...and quickly. The "everyday" vet came out, injected him with penicillin thinking it was an infection (he spiked a high fever the first few days as well). After a few days of him not making a huge difference, she finally decided to ultrasound him and said he had a tear (although when I asked her where, she couldn't tell me the exact location/which tendon, but she was looking at the suspensory area) and went ahead and did a shockwave treatment. My gut was telling me that there was something more that she wasn't getting...sure enough, took him to the lameness vet and they didn't find any tear up higher where she was "saying" it was...and they believe that the reason his tendon sheath was so severly inflamed (in addition to the DDFT tear), was because of the shockwave treatment she did. I think in this case, it was shockwave was not a good treatment, just caused more problems. I do believe it has its uses (as long as the person using it is knowledgable). Needless to say, I will NOT use the original vet again. Lesson Learned. It never hurts to follow your gut and/or get a 2nd opinion. This horse of mine also has high pain tolerance. Good Luck!! Sounds like it will be good timing to do stall rest during your pregnancy!

GWR - 2014-03-27 2:25 PM Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.  This is a head horse that his performance has gone down hill over the last year or so.  Bad owner, I am, for not checking him sooner because he proved that on two grams a bute a day he worked like himself.  Finally took him last week to a very reptuable lameness vet and he blocked his right front heel and he didn't go sound.  Then blocked just above that and he went sound, but then lame in the left hind.   He's got a little issue in his left stifle and we injected.  The vet said he didn't think it'd be worth my money to have an MRI of the right front and said I needed to change the way he was shod.  So we changed his shoeing, injected the stifle, and put him on previcox for 20 days.  Went and roped last night with nothing but the previcox (started him on that on Saturday) and he didn't work so hot.  The thing is I'm 13 weeks pregnant and only have about 2-3 weeks left that I'm going to rope, so maybe it's better like one poster said to just give him the 4-6 months off and then see where we're at.  He is 12 and is a very nice horse, so I sure don't want to do anything that would be career ending.  Everyone kept telling me, "Oh well if he is better on 2 grams of bute then it can't be anything too serious."  The hard part with that is I know the horse has a very high pain tolerance...figured this out because he coliced and had to have surgery...long story to explain why we know his pain tolerance.   



So another question...when you give the 4-6 months stall rest do you do hand walking or what?  And then what was your program conditioning them after they're done with stall rest? 

 

halter_ego - 2014-03-28 12:14 PM Mine was just diagnosed with 3 DDF tendon strains.  One above the fetlock, one between the heels, and one on the very bottom of the foot.  We did not do a MRI, my vet was able to ultra sound and see the upper 2 very clearly.  He then injected a dye and took xrays, could see some that way, and also ultra sounded from the bottom of the foot and was able to get a good idea of what was going on there as well.  My suggestion is to find a VERY GOOD lameness vet, I am about 95% my general vet would not have been able to do what was done.  Good luck, they say these are long, long healing injuries.  I opted to go with stem cell, still in my 3rd month on walking only.