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splint-like injury in hind leg

Sara April 03, 2009 February 22, 2011

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If this is still present tomorrow I will call the vet but in the meantime, I'm curious. Fly is dead lame today with what looks just like a splint but is in a place where I've never seen one. It's on the outside of a hind leg. I just confirmed with some quick reading that this is an unusual place for a splint. It's a hard bump under the skin right on the outside of one hind leg. It's warm and he's off even at the walk. It does not appear to be a puncture wound but I can't totally rule that out I guess. I wrapped it and buted him. This is the first lameness we've seen in this horse and we've had him and worked him pretty consistently for three and a half years.

Andrea Fri, 04/03/2009 - 21:52

Not to totally scare you, but a horse at our barn had a bump same area. Turned out to be a fracture.
They wrapped and hosed everyday with very minimal walking. Horse is sound today, but took fall and winter to get him to heal.
Good luck and keep us updated!

Sara Fri, 04/03/2009 - 22:49

Huh, no, it happened yesterday. Did the post say Feb?

He's sound at the walk today but I left the wrap on for support/pressure. Tomorrow I'll take the wrap off and have his owner cold hose it and see how it looks. If he's off at the trot I'll have the vet out.

Andrea Fri, 04/03/2009 - 23:37

Now I see the Feb date is when you joined. I missed the date in the other corner of the box.
I would almost have the vet out. Watching the symptoms of the horse at my barn mimics what you described. I know x-rays are expensive, but worth the piece of mind.

Sara Sat, 04/04/2009 - 00:02

oh definitely -- but he's my client's horse and it's not one of those obvious emergencies so I have to let it be their decision in the end. They were reluctant to call the vet right away so I said we could wait and see for a day or so.

Was the fracture in your barn a fracture of the cannon bone then?

rabbitsfizz Sat, 04/04/2009 - 15:16

I also immediately thought "fracture".
You need to support the other leg, remember, as he could well be putting more weight on that to relieve the poorly leg.

Andrea Sat, 04/04/2009 - 19:59

I don't recall which bone it was. Very small fracture and the vet wasn't optomistic on the first call. He wasn't sure they could keep the horse quiet enough for it to heal. But they did stall rest for 3 or 4 weeks with ice wraps and hosing all winter. He did heal but still has that bump on his leg as a reminder.
The other thing was the horse would walk fine on somedays and others wouldn't move.
I never knew you could heal a broken leg like that. I thought you had to do a cast and sling and all that.

Sara Sun, 04/05/2009 - 00:58

Well the bump has gone down so much I really had to feel around to find it and Fly is sound at the walk but we are continuing with stall rest/wrapping/cold hosing/bute for another couple days just in case. Weird how he was SO lame and now it's just going away!

lillith Wed, 04/08/2009 - 08:22

My friends horse got kicked on the hind leg and came in HOPPING lame, the swelling went down a lot but there was still a bump, he was sound in walk but not trot and it was sore if you put pressure on it. He had a fractured splint bone. He is on box rest for up to six months with daily (short) walks. Sounds kinda similar. It should heal fine but if he prats about on it or theres any torsion he could shatter the bone and thats surgery time so it might be worth x-raying.

Sara Wed, 04/08/2009 - 11:10

Oh, the update on this leg is that a scab and some hair came off the last time he was being cold hosed and now I think it was either a puncture wound or tiny scrape that got infected. It was amazing how hard it felt when we first found it, just like a splint would have felt.

Good thing too, because he is the worst horse on stall rest EVER. He rears, threatens to jump out, and manages to trot tiny circles in his 12x12 stall.

Sara Fri, 04/17/2009 - 15:15

It was a kick, says the vet. If he's not better in another two weeks he might need to have a bone chip removed. Not a bad prognosis, I think, but the owners are kind of freaking out about "how expensive the horse is".

dakotakdq Sat, 04/18/2009 - 01:32

yes they can be quite expensive as my hubby has now seen!
my gelding tore his leg above feltock horizontialy a week after new year. was told by local vet to keep wrapped for 2-3mths, then we had a flood and lots of rain and now proud flesh is out of control! went to specialist vet and they want $2000-$5000 to plaster leg and confine him to a stable for 1-4 mths!! :o and they say most horses will re-rip it as its rite where the feltock moves and scar tissue dosent streach. I have taken him home and am doin natural remidies instead.

all that sass Sat, 06/06/2009 - 04:30

my cousins horse was kicked in that location (by my horse, oops) 2 summers ago and had a pretty good fracture of all 3 bones! he was not lame until the whole leg swelled up to the size of a watermellon 2 days latter but about 2 days after that he was sound again. he had a pretty good size cut that did get infected so he went on anti-biotics, stall rest for 6 weeks(!!!) and then limited turnout for another 6 and then he was fine. he did get some mild sedatives for a while, because he was a 2 year old who was used to ripping around all day, but his leg is now 100% and she has ridden him a bit.