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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
 
| Im looking at a 6 year old mare. She appears to have a popped splint on her right front. Ive never dealt with a popped splint. Will this mare have lameness issues in the future? How would it affect performance? Whats the treatment? I need more info! Please! |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
 
| I would xray to see if the bone is fractured, if the healing process has started, etc.
If it was a high splint and the bone is fractured it could cause arthritis in the knee later on due to the movement of the splint due to the fracture. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | If its an old one I would not worry about it. I have had a few that would pop their splints on their own out in pasture and never had a problem.
Did you feel it, if its hard and no heat then its a old one, if its still tender to the touch and kinda soft then it just happen. And she will be tender for a few days. But I have seen where they really do some damage and needed a vet to help out, but most just heal on their own. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
| It was hard, no heat, the mare didnt care that I put pressure on it. What is considered an old popped splint? 1 month? 6 months old? |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | spitzh - 2014-11-10 11:13 AM
It was hard, no heat, the mare didnt care that I put pressure on it. What is considered an old popped splint? 1 month? 6 months old?
Could the owners tell you how old of a splint this is? To me if its hard and no pain, horse could care less you pressing on it, then to me its a old popped splint.  |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
| I asked the gal about it and she didnt even know what it was. This horse is somewhat in a bad situation/neglected/ needs some TLC. Here is the time line I know. The current owner bought this mare 7 months ago. She claims its been there prior to her owning the horse. I know the previous owner, I contacted her and she said she sold the mare with clean legs. Im guessing the popped splint is 2-6 months old. The price on this mare wouldnt be a loss to me if I couldnt turn her into a barrel horse. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | spitzh - 2014-11-10 11:51 AM I asked the gal about it and she didnt even know what it was. This horse is somewhat in a bad situation/neglected/ needs some TLC. Here is the time line I know. The current owner bought this mare 7 months ago. She claims its been there prior to her owning the horse. I know the previous owner, I contacted her and she said she sold the mare with clean legs. Im guessing the popped splint is 2-6 months old. The price on this mare wouldnt be a loss to me if I couldnt turn her into a barrel horse.
Popped Splints dont bother me at all, call your vet and ask him about the splints i bet they would be happy to answer any questions you have.
How far does it stick out? While riding her I would put splints boots on so if she crossed over she would not be hitting it. What was your plans with her? |
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| Popped splints according to my vet are a cosmetic issue only and not at all considered a lameness concern....once they are cold and the soreness from when it was originally popped is over they are good to go! He does not mark it against a horse for having popped splints. I've had more than one horse with them...no problems. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
| I wanted to try her on barrels. If that didnt work out then sorting. She has a good frame on her, low hocks, nice butt on her, cute little head. She is super super calm.She stands about 14.3/15h. She looked so sad being at that house and I seriously wanted to go grab my trailer and take her home. She needs hugs and some food. I would let her sit for the next 2-3 months and let her gain some weight and let her heal 100%. The only reason why I didnt buy her is the current owner wants to make sure she heals up first. There's a cut on her heel. |
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| a friend of mines 5 year old popped a splint and turns out it was fractured. She had both removed because she would likely do the same to the other leg. They said she shouldn't have any side effects later in life. My OTTB gelding I used to run popped one, cold hosed it and it never bothered him.
Hard to say. |
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Expert
Posts: 3147
| A horse can develop splints from poor conformation. Is the cannon bone directly under the knee or is it off to the side? Do the carpal bones of the knee line up underneath each other or are the lower ones slightly lateral to the top row? If the splints are due to poor conformation then they can cause problems. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 417
Location: CA | runs4fun - 2014-11-10 10:18 AM
Popped splints according to my vet are a cosmetic issue only and not at all considered a lameness concern....once they are cold and the soreness from when it was originally popped is over they are good to go! He does not mark it against a horse for having popped splints. I've had more than one horse with them...no problems.
^^^This^^^ 99% of the time they are no big deal and purely cosmetic. |
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