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RE: [RC] Horse's Kick Injury - Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M.Your horse has already been running around with no catastrophic breakdown for awhile, so in your case, I think it's safe to assume there was no fracture. I would still suggest ultrasound or radiographs to try to identify an ongoing injury and therapeutic options. If such a thing happened again, then my suggestion is to put the horse into stall rest for at least a few weeks until the possibility of a hairline fracture is past. In my example, you're right that the hairline fracture didn't show up on radiographs. It might have a few days later once the fractures started to destabilize. **Usually**, fractures can be visualized, especially if taken a few days after the initial injury, as these were. This time, it just didn't show up. In the same scenario, I'd still opt for conservative treatment (stall rest) and radiographs whenever possible. BTW, coincidentally, I went to see a sudden lameness in a nice mare yesterday. Did radiographs and found a significant fracture, which will respond very nicely to treatment. If she'd just been turned out to heal on her own, the fracture would probably have destabilized and she'd have completely broken down. Moral of the story, radiographs are usually a very helpful tool. Susan Garlinghouse, DVM -----Original Message----- From: Val Nicoson [mailto:sweetmare55@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 3:35 PM To: suendavid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: [RC] Horse's Kick Injury Susan--You stated x-rays and/or ultasound make help me identify what's going on with my mare. But at the same time...in your two examples...x-rays didn't show a hairline fracture either. So (speculating) IF she received a hairline fracture of any large bone in her rear leg...how _would_ one identify such? Just strictly rest and see if it resolves or what? --- "Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M." <suendavid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: In the past month, I've had two clients whose horses received a relatively 'mild' kick from another horse, one on the inside of the forearm midway between elbow and knee, the other at the same spot but on the outside of the leg. Both horses trotted out sound at the time, but had minor puncture wounds to mark where the kick was. Both owners were agreeable but thought I was being paranoid when I told them to put the horse into a 12 x 12 stall with no exercise and watch closely. One owner let me radiograph the site a few days later, no signs of fracture, the other one passed. Both horses' legs suddenly blew up like a basketball a week after the injury from the occult spiral fractures that were invisible on radiographs, and both horses were put down. No surgery or other therapy would have saved either one in these cases, but there is always a chance that stall rest alone will allow a hairline fracture to stabilize rather than totally crumble as these did. Anyway, the tibia is a larger bone than is the radius, but my suggestion after a kick is to put the horse in a stall with no exercise and watch them like a hawk for at least a few weeks. In your exact case, Val, I agree, radiographs and/or ultrasound will at least identify whether there are problems open to further therapy (say a sequestered bone fragment, etc), and help pin down if the problem is resolving on its own, needs further intervention or is a permanent injury. Good luck, Susan Garlinghouse, DVM -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Val Nicoson Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 3:48 PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] Horse's Kick Injury How long is too long for a horse to heal from a kick injury...and where/how to proceed next? My mare received a good solid kick to the muscular area on the outside of her upper leg...behind the stifle/kneecap area. When kicked she screamed and where I board at the lady ran out to see what was wrong and brought her into the stall. She was quite sore, about a Grade 3 lame, and we carefully checked her out but no swelling, etc was obvious. The next day she had a swelling on her leg the size of a grapefruit. She was on Banamine for about a week, on MSM to help reduce swelling, and we even tried a couple treatments of photon light therapy (which seemed to help her pain/reduce swelling). She was allowed to roam the enclosed property by herself which kept her moving but away from the herd. Then after she was doing much better after a few weeks she was put back with the herd to roam about 20 acres of pasture at will. During the past few weeks she has been placed on limited pasture to keep an older gelding company for the winter. She is running about and acting normally and seems to be in great spirits. But the other day I discovered that she is short-striding on the rear leg that was kicked! Called a nearby Equine Vet Clinic and they feel that X-rays and/or Ultrasound are in order since she is still off on that leg. Phoned our vet/chiro who suggested further pasture rest and a few more photon light therapy to help heal things up a little faster. But what would x-rays/ultrasound really do except to say she's still recovering from the kick she received? Is it normal for it to take a long time for a hard kick to heal? Any advice appreciated. Thanks Val + Sania __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do? http://my.yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. 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