Very lame horse - advice please

Shelby · Very lame horse - advice please

Please bear in mond that Im in New Zealkand, there are no equine vets handy to me. 3 months ago, my horse got stuck in a wire fence and cut the front of his hock. This was deep but had started to heal up nicely. There was a scab over the wound and he was perfectly sound but very unfit. Two weeks ago, a new horse arrived and they all played a mad game of run and buck. I then caught my horse and put him in a separate pen and he appeared fine. An hour later he was extremely lame and unable to weight bear on the same leg. The vet diagnosed suspensory ligament strain (from palpation, no scan or anything). His hip and sacro-iliac appear fine, he can flex and straighten through his hock but doesn’t want to put his heel on the ground. He limps severely on tip toe’. He was (is) confined in a small area (he lives outside) and seemed to improve on Bute and was able to partially weight bear until 3 days later when he went off his food and ran a temperature. The old wound also opened up a lot. He came right after antibiotics and poultices on the wound (a bit of ooze, no frank pus) but will still only partially weight bear. His leg is slightly swollen from hock to fetlock but the main area of tenderness seems to be just above the coronet. There are no equine vets where I live (they do both small and large animals, mostly cows) and I don’t see how he can travel on 3 legs to a specialised vet so I cant really get any specific diagnosis. Im thinking we have two separate issues here – something stirred up or caused the infection and he’s sprained something. Anyway, if this is the case, how long can he hobble on tip toe (he is a fat, solid clydesdale type cross bred) 15hh, and at what point do I remortgage the house and call in a specialist? Any advice or suggestions greatfully received.

PasoBaby_CarolU

I agree that you probably have two issues, but if the infection is bad, it could make the entire leg swell. The antibiotics need to be run for a full course of 10 days. If he doesn't improve or gets worse you need a stronger antibiotic. It may take IVs but your regular vet should be able to do that.

The other sounds like a pulled or torn tendon or ligament, which is not uncommon when horses over extend themselves, especially if they are out of shape. You can do a Google search for horse leg injuries and narrow it down from there. But what I do with these is first cold therapy, either ice or cold running water from the hose, 15 minutes every few hours for the first 48 hours. For the next three weeks, ice it twice a day, but in-between put DMSO mixed with your version of Absorbine or menthol. Here we have a green goo. Then wrap the leg in plastic and cover with a compression bandage, either vet wrap or an ace wrap. Keep the horse stalled for this period. I do this for 3 weeks or until all the swelling is gone and the horse is moving without pain. Once the horse can bear weight on it, begin hand walking. Increase exercise as the horse improves, but no pasture run and play time for three months. It needs to heal thoroughly. You might want to put the compression bandage on it while you walk him.

Increase the exercise to hand walking a mile a day, then up it two miles, then he should be ready for light trotting.

If it doesn't heal thoroughly, it will re-injure easily.

If that wound is still open, and it needs to be to drain, be careful not to get any menthol in it or wrap it with the plastic. That infection is your highest priority.