I'm a new endurance list subscriber from Quebec, Canada. I've been reading
the in-coming mail for the past few days and really enjoy it; this group
seems great! I already need some advise from anyone who can help. Let me
describe the situation and background first. I have a 10 year old paint mare
that I've been training for CT and endurance for over a year. In early July
95 I had to stop the training for 3 months because of a bow tendon due to a
bad farrier. I left her in the pasture though. She was fine in October and
I started riding her again, increasing the time and effort gradually. She
was at one hour training when she tripped and started limping. This was
during the Xmas season and my partner was riding her; he is about 60 pounds
heavier than me and the weight difference while tripping was probably too
much for her tendon. It was swollen the next day and she was lame for about
3 weeks. But we got all that under control. I walked her every day with
bandages increasing the time slowly. After a while I started riding again
and I am now at a one hour a day training. She was doing great, lots of
energy, she loves to work, no lameness etc. 2 days ago I did a 25 km (15
miles) training mostly trot and a little canter. Everything was fine but
when I went to check on her in the evening and she didn't want to leave her
stall. Actually, she didn't want to move at all. I did finelly get her in
the alley and she seemed as if she couldn't stand on her legs, she looked
drunk. Of course her tendon was swollen and very hot. I checked her 4
hoofes, none were hot. Now, the tendon is one thing, but I was worried about
her overall condition. She is usually a lively mare, always ready to work,
get out of the stall etc; her head was down and she had no energy at all. I
got her to walk a little but she seemed to find it so hard that I stopped
after a few minutes. I thought she was sore from her training, but she
didn't move when I touched her back or hind muscles. I put some cold water
on her tendon and a bandage with Osmopak to reduce the swelling and rubbed
her with alcohol (the vet told me to do so). I had made sure that she didn't
get any water or grain until at least one hour after the ride and I had
given her a warm shower after the training. She also gets electrolytes
regularly. So what can it be? Exhaustion?(she is used to harder work though)
Soreness? Tying up? Lack of selenium? (The soils are pretty poor around
this area).I went to check on her yesterday and she was a little better. It
still seems hard to start walking, but once she's started she's ok. I walked
her for about 25 minutes yesterday and even troted her a little (I ran next
to her) and you could barely see her limping at a trot, you had to know
about it. It seemed to do her good. Could the overall condition and her
tendon injury be linked together? That's all the information I can tell you
for now. I would really appreciate any help and advise. You can also email
me directly if you want. Thanks a lot!!!
Anne
scote@laurentides.mtl.net
-- Serge Cote scote@laurentides.mtl.net URL http://laurentides.mtl.net