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[RC] Tendon sheath injury - andreabHi All This is a longish story, feel free to skip, but I'd like to hear some opinions and get some advice from all the very experienced people. I'll have to give you the full picture, so please bear with me. This past weekend I went to a ride and did a very slow ride. About 20 miles in over 3 hours. The road surface was very hard and being barefoot, the distance was at a maximum what my horse could handle for the day. At approximately 15 miles, my friend and I were trying to avoid the very hard road surface by riding on a soft grass verge which ended abruptly. We had to get off the verge by jumping, about a meter drop, down to the hard road. I knew my boy would do a A-grade jump instead of the needed pop down so rather unmounted and let him jump free. He confirmed what I suspected and did a huge jump! Proceeded on the ride, slowed down to a walk for the last 3 miles due to tender feet and completed sound. About an hour after the ride his one leg started swelling, no heat. At this stage I was silently worried and starting to panic but did not raise any alarm yet. We travelled home (only an hour drive) with his medicine boots on. The leg came down quite nicely during the travel and I was relieved, hoping it was related to the hard road surface. Cold hosed as usual before making him comfey for the night. The swelling came up overnight and the leg became hot. I called the vet and he came to scan him that same day. Diagnosed some bleeding in the tendon sheath, just above the fetlock. The tendon and all ligaments are 100% in tack and the sheath shows no signs of stretch or strain. He diagnosed a hard knock. Drew some fluid out of the swollen area and confirmed the diagnoses on analysis. Anti-biotic for the puncture from the needle, some bute for the inflammation and 2 weeks rest recommended. I have recked my brain to find a time that he could have knocked the leg with enough force to cause the injury. Can only think that he knocked it against a fairly big rock (about 20inch by 20inch) in thick sand which was in his temp. camp when running around to scream for other horses. I was obviously worried that he injured it with the jump but the vet feels this is not the case based on the look of the scan. My question is this: 1. Can he tell from the scan whether it is a strain/stretch or rather a knock? 2. How serious is a tendon sheath injury? 3. I am going to rest him for at least a full month and not just the 2 weeks recommended. Is this enough? 4. Does this make him more susceptible to future tendon / tendon sheath injuries? Thanks for listening and hopefully giving advice. Andrea South Africa =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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