Remember back to his second spider bite? The right front on the 18th? His fetlock grew two sizes too big and he was lame for a few days but then things improved. I rode and he looked fine. I had a lesson last Friday and while Trainer was a bit agog at the massive fetlock joint she agreed that he was sound and moving nicely.
It’s not supposed to be this size. Cold and non painful but enlarged. |
But it never went down. No amount of ice or cold hosing, exercise or rest helped. The darn thing just stayed big. It got worrisome and began to nag at me, so I made him his 5th vet appointment of the year and trailered down to the lameness specialist yesterday.
We both agreed that Xrays and then an ultrasound were in order. I pretty much figured this was a suspensory issue and mentally prepared myself for the next year of hand walks, tack walks and short trot sets. Maybe spring of 2021 would be our year.
Taken Monday. Maybe a little smaller but still not right. |
The vet came out shaking her head. Radiographs were clean. Ultrasound showed a ton of swelling around the joint but all the soft tissue structures were fine. The annular ligament was twice as thick as it should be but she said that is generally reactionary to edema nearby. And he has a ton of that. She said she wanted to call it a suspensory strain but it looked fine. No holes, no roughening, the bone interface was normal. All the tendon sheaths were full of fluid but the tendons were fine.
So like....WTF?
I agreed to a shockwave session to try to break up the stagnant fluid and then she put him in a sweat wrap. He is going on Equioxx for a bit and I am to remove the bandage in two days. He is permitted in the Fat Pasture as she believes movement will be good for him but no riding until the swelling is gone.
But like...WTF?
I’m going to haul him back next Friday for a recheck. Hopefully the swelling is starting to subside by then. I asked her about laser since both Dusty and I have one at our respective offices but she said all studies show in horses laser only penetrates about 5mm deep and this is useless for his needs.
At this point I’m just shaking my head and giving 2020 the middle finger. I guess it’s good that there are no shows because I wouldn’t be able to go to any right now anyway. I wasn’t planning on spending all my horse funds on vet visits though so these could stop. Thankfully Trainer has horses I can hop on for a lesson while Eeyore does his thing. I miss riding my orange Doofus though and I want him back to normal.