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[RC] question for the vets: pinfiring/freezefiring - aarenexGentle readers,
I recently looked at a batch of OT standardbreds, many of whom had "cryo marks" on their legs. I'm told that freeze firing is standard practice when a horse has a tendon injury, and that the tendons thus treated will heal up cool and tight.
My questions FOR THE VETS--the rest of you may state your opinions and I will read them, but I don't promise to believe you <G>:
1. What does the "freeze-firing" procedure actually entail?
2. Is there evidence to support or disprove the claims that freeze firing actually speeds and improves the healing process? I found anecdotal evidence to support this, but no real research. I found the same ratio of anecdote-to-research when I was searching for information about pinfiring. Is it superstition, or does it actually promote healing?
3. What is the soundness prognosis for a tendon-injured horse which has returned to soundness (either with or without freefiring)? Is the formerly-injured tendon significantly more prone to re-injury?
4. If a horse with "cryo marks" shows up in your vet line, are you (intentionally or not) more likely to pull that horse for lameness?
Just for the record, I'm not shopping for another horse. But 'satiable curtiosity is a weakness of librarians, doncha know <G>.
And if discussing my question will distract people from being nasty to Susan Favro, all the better.
--Aarene
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Distance tests the endurance of a horse; time reveals the character of a person. --Chinese proverb
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