About this Blog

Meet my very 1st horse, Lazarus.
I couldn't wait for Santa anymore or ask one more time for a pony for my bday (after age 30 it got embarrassing). I took matters in my own hands and I finally decided to pick a pony that needed a new home. Laz found me as I contemplated with this idea. He was sweet yet very sassy, fresh off the track, Thoroughbred (OTTB).
Join us for our re-training, rehabbing from laminitis and testing all parts of mixed up horsemanship and partnership, and luck...

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Tendon sprain

Well, the weekend of fun trail riding did NOT happen.
We had glorious weather too :(((
On Saturday morning, I arrived at the barn to find Laz laying down. 
Not an odd sight being it was his naptime window, but when he stood, he was LAME. 
My heart dropped onto my stomach which dropped onto the pasture grass.
I quickly grabbed him and started looking at his hooves, sure it was that.
When I was picking out his club RF, he was gently yanking his foot from me.
Huh? 
Usually he is SUCH a gentleman and leaves his hoof in my hand. I set him down and sure enough, I noticed a slight swelling in his LF.
UGH. He seemed he twisted his leg or tweaked it. He was standing off set and not weighing his LF like he usually does.
I opted to do a cold hose for about 15 minutes and then rubbed my liniment gel on it to help with swelling.
I came BACK that night, loosing it. I went from a sane horse person who thought maybe he tweaked it, to WHY?!?! and after googling tendon injuries, it further sent me down a crazy spiral of fright. I cold hosed him again, applied a light amount of gel and used his standing wraps.  I haven't wrapped him since he was first sick a couple of years ago, which then really brought me down, down, down, down. I just felt awful for him.  I felt all those terrifying feelings rise up again from a couple years ago.  I hate seeing him in any amount of pain. I kept telling myself, HE IS FINE. HE IS NOT DYING.
BUT, he was standing better and the swelling went down considerably so I kept it barely together. Poor Frizzle for my crazzzzzy frantic emails! ;)
 Sunday morning he was better yet and he was walking 90% normal. Again, just did a cold hose and rub rub rub with liniment and I left the wraps off.
I didn't dare trot him, so I just waited until Monday to book our appointment.
 I decided that for MY sanity, I needed to have my vet out to confirm via ultrasound that indeed it wasn't major. or if it was, to prepare of how to handle it.
Otherwise, I didn't feel right saying "oh he's fine" and riding him out on the trails for miles, etc.
So, on Tuesday we had our Vet out. She confirmed that he has a mild suspensory branch strain.  She compared it to a twisted ankle.  We've had a few days of rain, so the pastures have sections of slick mud and I'm guessing that was it, or when they geldings all play and gallop around. It happens, I guess when you choose a life of turnout for a horse. 
So, our plan to help him heal;
 Rest it (no riding---der), ice it, cold hose it and apply Surpass to the area, when dry, and rub it in.
He has sliiiiight swelling in joint area that showed up on the Ultrasound. He also tested slightly when she tested him with her fingers.
So, I'm to apply the Surpass once a day, rub into his lateral and medial side for 5 minutes into the skin, until she re checks him next Thursday. She hopes he'll continue to be tough and I"ll be back on his back soon after. Hopefully, he'll stay quiet since I WONT stall him (she didn't even suggest it) and it will continue to heal.
I know I'll worry a bit on our next ride but I'll only go for it if he seems to be back to normal.  She mentioned if he isn't back to normal by his re check, to maybe think about a Legend injection---eek
Tendon issues scare the bejesus out me! 

35 comments:

  1. Oh Laz!! Why do you do this to your mom, scaring the crap out of her??

    Healing thoughts to Laz, hope he feels better soon :)

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  2. You have talked me "off the ledge" so to speak, too, and I'm more than happy to be there for you. I so <3 our little horsey blogging community--I have "met" so many great peeps, including you.
    Major sigh of relief that your sweet boy is going to be just fine. :-) I totally understand the whole worrying/spazzing out thing, as I do the exact same thing, but it just means we care about our boys with every last heart fiber we have. And that is not a bad thing!
    Hoping you're back in the saddle and hitting those gorgeous trails nxt week.

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  3. Ahh, my old friend Surpass. I still have a whole tube of it just waiting in case the need arises. I figured it was bad luck to throw it away...

    I'm glad to hear it's only a minor injury. I hope he's back to his happy self again soon!

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    1. Yes, giant tube. Hope after this treatment I'll be tucking it away too ;)

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  4. Sounds like you have it all under control. Try to stay sane and worry-free for your boy. Your vet is on the scene and Laz knows what to do too. He will rest it when he needs to (down like you found him) and start moving it when he needs to. They know what to do. You will be riding again in no time!

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    1. I HOPE :) and yes he's a smart boy. It's up to ME to not push him past what is comfortable.

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  5. Holy cow! I'm glad he's okay, nothing too serious. Horsey injuries always scare me half to death also :P

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  6. Oh geeze. Being a farrier I am the first to notice suspensory issues and tendon strains/sprains/bows. I hate to say it but I am pretty good at pinpointing a suspensory pull and before you said the vet said that's what it was, I was thinking mild suspensory strain. Either way, rub, wrap, rest!

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    1. Part of my worry was being it was on the foot that is diagonal to his RH (the casted foot) makes me wonder if he's landing too hard on it, or has been for the past couple of years....

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  7. Trooper injured his tendon quite badly last year but he is fine now. You did all the right things and it sounds like he will be fine if you just take it easy the next few times you ride. We didn't put Trooper on box rest either, he went out in the field and he was fine, I think it helps with the swelling and we didn't want him to stiffen up because of his age!

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  8. Jeeze, Laz! Give your mom a break! Sounds like he'll be back to his old self in no time though.

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  9. Glad it's not too bad and hope he's all fine soon. When Red strained his Achilles tendon (the big one above the hock) I kept him on full turnout - it can slow healing somewhat but the structures are sounder after healing than if the horse is kept on stall rest.

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  10. Oh Laz why you do this! Been there, done that and bought the t-shirt then burned the t-shirt at the end of it all!
    Seriously though, if you need help or suggestions or even just someone to talk to about all this, I'm your leg lady, since I have lost not one but two horses to leg injuries. Boo legs!

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    1. I know....trust me, I looked up Gogo posts re what you did, etc. Why do the good ones break????

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  11. Oh my, hang in there Krisen. Deap breath in deep breath out. Sending healing thoughts your way. Love me xoxox

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  12. Aw, sweets, I'm sorry! Look at you though, you did everything right:) Laz is one lucky adorable pony~take care and try not to read too much into it (I know as I type that's impossible). Take care of you ((hugs)).

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    1. Yes, I guess but he's damn good at making my heart stop. FLAT. ;)

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  13. Well that sucks, I hope he looks better soon. I've found that arnica gel works pretty well on horses- you know- in case you wanted another remedy to throw at him ;-)

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    1. Yes Arnica is a fave of ours too. I'm sticking w/ the Surpass b/c I don't want to mix

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  14. Oh my goodness, I am sad that he's injured but relieved that it seems relatively minor and he will be feeling better soon! He is lucky to have such a dedicated and loving mom/nurse. I will be thinking of you both. I agree, turnout is best even with these soft tissue injuries.

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    1. Despite him being a big burly OTTB, I swear he's made of glass.

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  15. Poor guy. Someone was having a bit too much fun. ;)

    He will be good as new in no time.

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  16. I can't imagine how you must have felt considering I nearly had a heart attack reading the title to this post! If the vet isn't worried though I am sure it will be fine. I totally understand the freak out! I am still like that and it has been YEARS since Gen got hurt!

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  17. Oh poor Laz! Hope he heals up fast. They do try our nerves, don't they? I hold my breath when I watch our 3 galloping around in the pasture, and then clattering up the hill over rocks. Yikes, guys, take it easy, please!

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  18. How do you like the Surpass? Noticed one of Harley's knees was swollen and soft. Did the same hose routine (gotta love how well OTTB's stand for hosing) and a dose of bute with homemade cardamom applesauce. But I've read about the cream and would much rather use that than bute. Would love to know how successful Laz is with it.

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  19. Yum on that applesauce ;)
    So far, I'm happy with cream but way too early to tell completely. I think it's quite popular and I'm sure there are other bloggers/readers here with more experience with it than I.
    I have noticed that when I'm rubbing it into his swollen area, which is minimally swollen to the eye, Laz stands as still as a rock and his eyes go soft and his lips quiver. Must feel good? I don't know if it's me rubbing or the med or both?
    There is also a lesser expensive human version-but I have no experience with it. My understanding from my vet is the main or only difference was Surpass stays within the applied area and the human version runs through the blood supply hitting many areas.
    Good luck! xo

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