Nodular Necrobiosis, Oh No! (long)

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Nina Vasiliev rides4fun@hotmail.com
Campers,
I have an 8 yr old chestnut gelding, whom I have been riding in
 LDs.  We have been together for 4 years. We've
 had several months off here and there due to injuries, (mostly
 mine.) Hope to do our 1st 50 this year. He loves the trail. 

Ihave been involved with the great saddle hunt with him for 4
 years.  I get a saddle that works, have it checked out by my
 vet, trainer etc.  Train in it...every thing is great.  Then I
 do a ride and he vets thru fine but the next day has welts,
 usually no soreness,later some white hairs. So I consult, try
 sending the saddle back to be fitted to his wither tracings,
 try different pads, everything.  And again, when things looked
 good, they'd go bad.  Ramere never complains.  I have been thru
 several saddles.  I have had him "saddle teched" and now I
 think I have the saddle thing licked. (knock on wood.)


Our problem is...
He developed a cystic lesion on his back last year.  No pain,
 vet wasn't conserned.  It looked like scar tissue but
 spherical, not flat like a healed wound. It was under the
 saddle area, near his spine.  We ignored it, every few months
 the top sluffed off, no big deal.

This last fall, he developed hives for the first time.  Vet
 treated him.  They returned a few months later, disappeared on
 their own within a few days. Then in Feb, more firm lumps began
 growing in the saddle area.  They were just like his other
 lesion and I became conserned when there were 15 growing
 lesions.  Ramere did not react to having them examined.  No
 problems with riding.

My vet biopsed one of the new lesions, the results were nodular
 necrobiosis.  May be caused by a hyper reaction to insect
 bites, sweat, sometimes even pressure.  So my vet injected them
 with steroids, twice, and they shrunk to nothing. He had time
 off until he healed and wasn't sore. My horse was paranoid about
 having anyone examine his back, he hated the shots.  So when
 some lumps started growing back, I started treating them with
 hydrocortsone 1% cream once a day.  They started to respond.
 The top of the original lesion, (which the vet did not treat
 because she thought it was too large and too old to respond to
 the injections,) sluffed off.  After a few weeks, his back was
 sore and swollen. Vet shaved the area, he had an infection.
  Probably due to riding, grinding in some dirt into the
 original lesion. There were several small pustules draining on
 his back.

Okay, time off.  Treated with antibiotics.  The vet had to
 scrape away as much of the big lesion as possible to open up
 the infection to let it heal from the inside out. She couldn't
 remove it completely because the skin is so tight up on a
 horse's back that she didn't think that sutures would hold the
 wound closed well. 

Weeks later,had the vet out to clear him on a Thursday.
  I wanted to ride a 30 that weekend but I didn't want to ride
 if he wasn't healed up completely.  No soreness, no infection.
  She cleared Ramere for the ride, checked his pads and saddle
 and wished us a good time. Ramere completed with a minimally
 sore back.


The next day, his back was swollen for 6 cm around the
 lesion,and a few small welts near by, hot and tender.  Back on
 bute, antibiotics for three days. Everything looked great after
 a few days.  Kept him off work for two weeks. Then took him on
 the flat, for 6 miles, no soreness after the ride.  Took him
 the next day for another 5 miles, lots of turns, gentle ups and
 downs, trotted most of the way.  He's swollen and very tender
 again.

I am so depressed... 

He's my only horse, no backup.  I think 
he's going to need more time off than 2 weeks at a time, but how
 do I judge when he's ready?  Has any one had experiance with
 this?  Any advice?

Nina
Ramere (time off is fun too)