Saturday my horse, Khaleel, injured his left front leg. He has a swollen suspensory tendon; it's like the Achilles' tendon in your leg. It may be somewhat superficial--in the sheath surrounding the tendon--and he'll be laid up for only a couple of weeks. It may be serious--the tendon itself may be damaged--and he'll be laid up for months.

The worst thing is that our trainer believes it can be directly attributed to a poor shoeing job. The farrier (shoer) completely undid all of the corrective work on my wife's horse Valentine--we've been trying to fix problems with her feet/legs for months now--and did the same thing to Khaleel. Our trainer was hoping that nothing bad would happen for the next five weeks till they could be reshod.

We'll know in a few days how serious it is; we're praying that it's not too bad.

I hate it when people who are supposed to be professionals do a poor job and innocents suffer for it. I especially hate it when those suffering are animals who cannot defend themselves and cannot voice an opinion.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by magician
[B]I especially hate it when those suffering are animals who cannot defend themselves and cannot

 

Bill-

Good luck with your horse. I hope everything turns out OK.

 

Good grief Bill, was this a new farrier? It seems like everytime we have to change farriers the new one has different ideas on how things should be done. This always means that the horse will be at least a little sore for a few days but nothing like what your horse is experiencing. That's inexcusable not to mention expensive. I wish you, your wife and of course the horses the best of luck -- along with a new and GOOD farrier. I'll be looking for updates.

 

gALLOPING THROUGH AN OPEN FIELD IS THE NEXT BEST THING TO AN S2000. MANY DAYS I HAD THIS EXPERIENCE!! I HOPE ALL IS WELL.

 

The vet was out at the barn on Saturday so our trainer had him take a look at Khaleel's leg. He said we're doing everything right (bute, leg wraps, 15 - 20 minute hand walking each day), and that he will probably be OK in another month. The swelling is going down, but it's still very noticeable.

In a similar vein, last Thursday I went to the doctor to have him look at my left hand. In early December I was riding Khaleel (riding: (n) The fine art of keeping a horse between you and the ground) at a canter when he made a sudden jump to the right and I didn't. I landed on my left hand which has been sore and swollen since. The doc confirmed that I broke the fifth metacarpal, that the end where the little finger attaches is bent at about 20 degrees, that it's begun to heal so he cannot do anything about it now (he may not have been able to do anything even three or four weeks ago), and that it should be completely healed at about the same time that Khaleel is.

 

Here's the latest update:

The vet came out on Saturday to do an ultrasound on Khaleel's leg. The portable ultrasound maching is a pretty incredible bit of kit! He was able to distinguish the two tendons in the leg, show where the superficial tendon had been injured, and calculate the percentage (23%) of the tendon that was hurt.

The prognosis is very good: he's healing well. The bad news is that it will be another month of hand-walking before I'm allowed to ride him. The good news is that it will be only another month; a bad tendon injury couild lay him up for six months or longer.

He hates the hand walking. In a twenty-minute walk yesterday he started to trot six times. He's biting and pulling and rearing: he's obviously feeling much better and wants to get out and run. It's impossible to explain to him that he'll just reinjure himself.

 

& I bet your itchin to ride him! Patience grasshopper!

 

Damn!

Nothing worse than a hitch in your getalong!

Hope it heals soon.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by S2KFanatic
[B]& I bet your itchin to ride him!