First Vet Visit Potentially Pending
Ugh. My klutzy horse may have done it this time. When he panicked last week, he caught the inside of his front left leg with his opposite hoof. It left a nice little cut and obviously made him sore. He didn’t appear to have done much damage other than the cut, and only had minimal swelling and heat from the trauma. We cold-hosed the leg and kept him wrapped and on stall rest for three days to help the cut heal. By Sunday there was no heat or swelling, and he was almost sound on the leg.
We kept him stalled for another day to be on the safe side. For the last few days he’s been going out in the arena with the other horses during the day and staying wrapped in his stall at night.I’ve been checking his leg like crazy, running my hands over the bones and tendons over and over to make sure there’s no heat, swelling, bumps, or other signs of damage. For days there was nothing but the cut.
Last night, I discovered a very slight lump on his tendon just below his knee. It definitely doesn’t look like a bow. It’s a small, hard bump, with no swelling. It’s not visible to the naked eye, although that may just be the long winter hair hiding it.
Time to call the vet.
He was in surgery this morning, so I probably won’t hear back from him until this afternoon.
Ace isn’t having any trouble putting weight on the leg and he’s walking and trotting on it fairly well. I know I’d be sore for days if I banged myself that hard, so I’m really hoping he’ll be OK and that this is minor. But I’m not taking any chances.
Well…considering I am queen of the “call the vet ” club I think that was a wise move. Since I am also queen of the tendon and I am sure you are nervous right now I will tell you a few things. I am POSITIVE it is not a bow…if it is only a small, hard lump it can’t be. Bows make the whole leg swell within hours. Maybe you just bugged the tendon. I know I did that with the front of Gen’s leg a few weeks ago. It was like an Egg was growing out of it…but it cleared up in 3 days. My other thought is that right below the knee is a good thing. I was told that the higher the injury the better. I hope the vet calls you back soon. You know what I was thinking (and this is totally just a thought), when Gen just got his leg infection is was pretty hard, not really gushy at all. Tell Ace he needs to learn how to tie so we don’t have to worry about things like this from now on. And I hope it is nothing serious and the vet comes out soon so we can know what it is.