Hey, Kathy, this may not have been your fault! A splint is a piece
of bone, and Shatirr broke one when he stumbled is a creek and whacked
his leg with his other foot.
> How do I treat this? He's just slightly off. He personally could care
less.
Old cowboys (and a better old vet! ;^) tell me "If the splint isn't
bothering him, it shouldn't be bothering you..."
That said, I iced Shatirrs, but didn't bute him because I wanted him to
"listen" to the mild pain and not behave like a fool. I took it easy
until it stopped bothering him, and went back to normal riding.
Another thing an old cowboy told me is, with a FRESH splint, (I think yours
is too old) to take a soup spoon and rub the bottom (round part) over the
splint-break to ease the edges of the bone back together, rubbing gently
for a few minutes to help seat the edges. It's still broken, but won't
leave as noticable a bump. George called it "cosmetic surgury". I actually
saw this done. He iced the splint (to reduce the inflamation and maybe to
ease the discomfort?) for 15 minutes, and then did his spoon trick. It's
a laymans perspective, but it appeared to work.
> What should I do? I'm assuming he's done it bounding down hills (we DID
try to keep to no faster than a trot)
Some horses break splints because of the way their legs are put together,
and I've been told that on SOME horses with marginal leg defects, like a
cannon not centered exactly under a knee from a front view, these broken
splints form a natural flying buttress, providing extra support once
they've healed. I would imagine that the degree of refortification would
depend on the leg conformation and location of the splint.
I'd ask a vet, next time you have one out, for a brief analysis of the leg
conformation and probable causes for the splint.
Later! Linda Cowles
Gilroy, Calif
BTW, a flying buttress is an arching support seen in many older churches
and large public buildings, NOT a female person with an ample posterior
coming off a horse.