Thanks to bad weather and a day and half on box rest (of which more in a minute), Merlin weighed in at 451kg today and since he's about right on the fat scoring front (I can finally feel his ribs but can't see them and nothing else has gone too skinny) we'll try to maintain from now on. Without going back over all the posts, I think he topped out at 511kg (though he was chunkier than that when he first arrived), so that's 60kg gone since last summer or 9st 6lbs which is only 5lbs short of a whole me!
I came over all May-ish and started a new fitness regime this week. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are Merlin exercise days, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are running days. I'm taking it very gently, so I'm doing Couch to 5K from the beginning again to break me back in, aiming for the Aviemore half marathon in October, and Merlin is doing 20 minutes' walk in hand around the village.
Or that was the plan. We managed the walk Tuesday and Thursday, then on Friday evening I thought he was moving slightly oddly when he walked up the field for his supper. Sure enough, when I got closer I saw that his left front pastern was so swollen that if you looked at his leg from the front it looked straight between the bottom of his fetlock and the top of his hoof.
Since he seemed reasonably happy walking around on it, there was no cut and it was fluid rather than hard, I sloshed it with cold water and shut him in the field shelter overnight to make sure he rested it. The next morning it had filled up further, but drained almost immediately as soon as I led him out and sloshed it again, leaving a slightly less swollen pastern.
We were heading into Thurso anyway, so I called in at the vet to check if there was anything else I should be doing. As luck would have it, Bridget-the-eventing-vet was on duty. She nixed my idea of giving him a little bit of turnout on the flat area behind his shelter, advising a short walk in hand on Saturday afternoon and then a restricted turnout area on Sunday if it continued to improve. Plus stable bandages overnight to stop his legs filling.
A quick trip to the tack shop later and Merlin met his first cold water boot. What a brilliant idea, especially for those of us who don't have hoses or mains water available at their field shelter/stable! Merlin wasn't entirely convinced by the feel of it going on and the first one went sailing through the air and landed in the mud (now I know why they sell them in pairs...), but once it was on he decided it was A Good Thing and I had very little trouble when I did it again last night and this morning.
The stable bandages were a slightly different matter. I'd only bandaged a horse's leg once; I was about 11 and the leg was plastic. Still, I knew the theory, I'd found some videos on YouTube to refresh my memory - how hard could it be...? As it turned out, the bit that flummoxed me was wrapping the bandage round in the correct orientation to end up with the velcro tabs on the correct side of the bandage, the first one took me three goes to get right! I was concerned that I hadn't got the tension right, so popped down a couple of hours later to check they weren't in a tangle round his ankles. They looked fine, so I fed him an apple and went to bed, relieved I didn't have to worry about him tying all four feet together overnight.
This morning I went down to find the gate half off its hinges and no horse! He'd lifted it off the top bracket so it swung off the bolt and the bottom bracket, jumped it and taken himself off to graze on a ledge on the near-vertical part of the hill in the bottom field. The stable bandages had stayed put - result! He allowed me to catch him with reasonably good grace and when I unwrapped him, his leg looked completely back to normal :o) I stuck the cold water boot back on for 20 minutes as a precaution while he had his breakfast and I mucked out and wondered, given his overnight antics, whether it was worth restricting his turnout or not, but decided better safe than sorry and gave him an L-shaped area of flat field to potter around.
This evening his leg still looks normal, he's still being ever so slightly careful with it over the rutted areas, but he's definitely nearly mended. If nothing changes overnight he can go back on normal turnout tomorrow and we'll pick up the walking round the village again on Thursday.
Showing posts with label swelling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swelling. Show all posts
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Scan day
Or not.
Merlin's fetlock was still slightly puffy after a bit of unscheduled bouncing when he was turned out, so the vet started off with a thorough examination of the leg in question and then got me to trot Merlin up. He plugged in the clippers to shave the back of Merlin's legs (I'd run an extension cable out to the field for the scanner) and Merlin's eyes came out on stalks, he pulled his 'WTF???!' face and started river-dancing. Obviously they make a different sound to Mick's beard trimmer! So the vet went back to his car to get a twitch and a sedative and by the time he'd walked the length of the garden and let himself back into the field he'd changed his mind about doing it.
The reasons are as follows: the tendons above the fetlock feel perfectly normal, the portable scanner isn't brilliant for fetlocks and feet and he thinks we're going to need x-rays as well, as the diagnosis is veering back towards arthritis again. So we've arranged to take Merlin to Thurso on the afternoon of October 11th, which is the first date that both equine specialists and my husband (needed to drive the tow vehicle!) are all available. He'll be sedated, scanned and x-rayed and hopefully we'll finally get to find out what's going on in there.
The farrier managed to get to us yesterday, which was fantastically quick, so the feet have been sorted out :o)
Merlin's fetlock was still slightly puffy after a bit of unscheduled bouncing when he was turned out, so the vet started off with a thorough examination of the leg in question and then got me to trot Merlin up. He plugged in the clippers to shave the back of Merlin's legs (I'd run an extension cable out to the field for the scanner) and Merlin's eyes came out on stalks, he pulled his 'WTF???!' face and started river-dancing. Obviously they make a different sound to Mick's beard trimmer! So the vet went back to his car to get a twitch and a sedative and by the time he'd walked the length of the garden and let himself back into the field he'd changed his mind about doing it.
The reasons are as follows: the tendons above the fetlock feel perfectly normal, the portable scanner isn't brilliant for fetlocks and feet and he thinks we're going to need x-rays as well, as the diagnosis is veering back towards arthritis again. So we've arranged to take Merlin to Thurso on the afternoon of October 11th, which is the first date that both equine specialists and my husband (needed to drive the tow vehicle!) are all available. He'll be sedated, scanned and x-rayed and hopefully we'll finally get to find out what's going on in there.
The farrier managed to get to us yesterday, which was fantastically quick, so the feet have been sorted out :o)
Monday, 12 September 2011
Knobber horse
'Knobber horse' is an affectionate expression pinched from the Horse and Hound forums for when your horse has done something idiotic. I would call it 'having a donkey moment' except that would be an insult to donkeys...
Anyway, we were due some rough weather last Friday night so I went and caught Merlin to put him in for the night. He was being a git to lead, stopping every few strides to put his head down and graze, and by the time we'd got down into the third field I was thoroughly annoyed by it so I grabbed the leadrope about 18" under his chin, hauled his head up and marched off. He planted his feet and threw his head up - and discovered that the velcro on his field safe headcollar comes undone if he does that. He buggered off to the tasty grass and I was left with a dangling headcollar. Just the day I didn't want him to be trotting as well, because I'd forgotten to turn the fence on earlier, he'd done the splits to get at fresh grass and his right fore had started to fill again.
I stomped up to the house, grabbed some carrots, caught him and put him in, but he'd obviously decided this was a good trick because when I brought him in tonight he tried exactly the same stunt again. What he hadn't realised was that he was in an ordinary headcollar rather than the field-safe job and all he managed to do was stand on his own back feet and rip a bit of hoof wall which is now flapping like a hangnail - there's too much still attached for me to twist off and I haven't got anything tough enough to nip it off.
I'll call the farrier in the morning...
Anyway, we were due some rough weather last Friday night so I went and caught Merlin to put him in for the night. He was being a git to lead, stopping every few strides to put his head down and graze, and by the time we'd got down into the third field I was thoroughly annoyed by it so I grabbed the leadrope about 18" under his chin, hauled his head up and marched off. He planted his feet and threw his head up - and discovered that the velcro on his field safe headcollar comes undone if he does that. He buggered off to the tasty grass and I was left with a dangling headcollar. Just the day I didn't want him to be trotting as well, because I'd forgotten to turn the fence on earlier, he'd done the splits to get at fresh grass and his right fore had started to fill again.
I stomped up to the house, grabbed some carrots, caught him and put him in, but he'd obviously decided this was a good trick because when I brought him in tonight he tried exactly the same stunt again. What he hadn't realised was that he was in an ordinary headcollar rather than the field-safe job and all he managed to do was stand on his own back feet and rip a bit of hoof wall which is now flapping like a hangnail - there's too much still attached for me to twist off and I haven't got anything tough enough to nip it off.
I'll call the farrier in the morning...
Monday, 25 July 2011
Day Four in the Big Brother House...
...and the inmate is bored, bored, bored, bored, BORED! He's stayed quiet enough to remain turned out, which is good, but the swelling's almost vanished, he's sound and he can't understand why he's restricted to a 10m by 10m square of grass when there's a WHOLE FIELD to eat!
I did at least manage to wrangle him into a rug this morning. When I tried on Saturday night (because there was rain forecast) I had to give up after all three attempts to do the front straps up resulted in him pinning back his ears and lunging at me with bared teeth. It had just started to rain this morning and he was distracted by the new bit of grass (I'd just moved his fence), so he didn't object at all.
September 16th seems a very long time away.
I did at least manage to wrangle him into a rug this morning. When I tried on Saturday night (because there was rain forecast) I had to give up after all three attempts to do the front straps up resulted in him pinning back his ears and lunging at me with bared teeth. It had just started to rain this morning and he was distracted by the new bit of grass (I'd just moved his fence), so he didn't object at all.
September 16th seems a very long time away.
Friday, 22 July 2011
Retiring
Well, that's it, Merlin is officially retiring.
On Wednesday the two horses in the empty croft next door were bombing up and down because their owner had come and taken away the mini Shetland which had been in with them. It wound Merlin up and I stood and watched from the gate as he raced down the field on the other side of the fence to him. He looked slightly unlevel in trot and when he broke into canter his stride was distinctly choppy, but he walked back up the field sound so I made a mental note to loose school him as soon as possible and have a proper look.
I didn't get it done on Wednesday and spent yesterday in Inverness. He was sound yesterday evening but when I came out this morning he was in obvious pain on the right fore again, hopping lame and not wanting to put much weight on it. The vets made me second call of the morning and Guy turned up with his box of tricks. The fetlock had swollen right up again (cold water earlier hadn't helped at all). No reaction to the hoof tester, so Guy had a gentle feel around the swelling. It was an oedema (fluid swelling) and underneath it the larger of the two tendons in that part of the leg was quite badly swollen.
So I have an initial five days of very strong anti-inflammatories and a prescription of two months TOTAL rest followed by six months of near-total rest and the advice that I can probably forget about riding him again. Guy has agreed that we can try keeping him out on a very, very small sectioned off bit of field, but if he starts bouncing about when it stops hurting then he's going to have to go on box rest for the first two months which will not make him a happy chappy. We'll make a decision about scans and x-rays once he's more sound - there's a portable x-ray machine which can be brought out here, but the portable scanner isn't high-resolution enough for horse legs, so we'd have to take him to Thurso for a scan. He's insured for up to £3,500 of vet bills anyway, so whatever the vets recommend he needs, he'll have.
He seems a little more comfortable this evening (he'll have his second dose of AIs in a couple of hours), I'm just crossing everything I have that we can get him sound enough to enjoy a long and happy retirement pottering around our fields.
On Wednesday the two horses in the empty croft next door were bombing up and down because their owner had come and taken away the mini Shetland which had been in with them. It wound Merlin up and I stood and watched from the gate as he raced down the field on the other side of the fence to him. He looked slightly unlevel in trot and when he broke into canter his stride was distinctly choppy, but he walked back up the field sound so I made a mental note to loose school him as soon as possible and have a proper look.
I didn't get it done on Wednesday and spent yesterday in Inverness. He was sound yesterday evening but when I came out this morning he was in obvious pain on the right fore again, hopping lame and not wanting to put much weight on it. The vets made me second call of the morning and Guy turned up with his box of tricks. The fetlock had swollen right up again (cold water earlier hadn't helped at all). No reaction to the hoof tester, so Guy had a gentle feel around the swelling. It was an oedema (fluid swelling) and underneath it the larger of the two tendons in that part of the leg was quite badly swollen.
So I have an initial five days of very strong anti-inflammatories and a prescription of two months TOTAL rest followed by six months of near-total rest and the advice that I can probably forget about riding him again. Guy has agreed that we can try keeping him out on a very, very small sectioned off bit of field, but if he starts bouncing about when it stops hurting then he's going to have to go on box rest for the first two months which will not make him a happy chappy. We'll make a decision about scans and x-rays once he's more sound - there's a portable x-ray machine which can be brought out here, but the portable scanner isn't high-resolution enough for horse legs, so we'd have to take him to Thurso for a scan. He's insured for up to £3,500 of vet bills anyway, so whatever the vets recommend he needs, he'll have.
He seems a little more comfortable this evening (he'll have his second dose of AIs in a couple of hours), I'm just crossing everything I have that we can get him sound enough to enjoy a long and happy retirement pottering around our fields.
Monday, 27 June 2011
Update on the patient
He was still lame this morning, although came nearly sound after I sponged half a bucket of cold water over it. I phoned the vet for advice when they opened and they gave me the choice of either carrying on with just the cold water for 2 days and having a call out if it wasn't better or having someone out to see him today. Since I knew I'd just sit at my desk and worry about him without a second opinion (normally I'd have asked my vastly experienced neighbours, but they're away in Edinburgh) I opted for the call out and Guy duly turned up two hours later with a large cardboard box containing pretty much everything that might be needed to diagnose and treat a lame horse.
Merlin took one look at him and went 'YOU'RE THE VET WHO JABBED ME LAST SUMMER!!!' and promptly stomped off to the furthest corner of the field. Sometimes in this mood it can take me 15 minutes or so to catch him, but I'd put him in the strip grazing in the second field, so there wasn't too much space for him to mess about in and he gave in quickly with bad grace for a carrot.
Guy gave the leg a thorough check over from the shoulder to the hoof, but concluded that the problem was only in the fetlock and he'd either bashed it or strained it although there's a very, very slim outside chance it's the onset of arthritis - if it happens again that's an option that will be explored further.
Since Merlin doesn't do jabs without a twitch, Guy decided not to traumatise him and left me with instructions to give him 2 x 2 sachets of painkillers plus 1.5 sachets of antibiotics today, then another 3 days of the same dose of ABs and another 8 days (or as required) of 1 x sachet of painkillers per day. When I checked on him an hour after the first lot of painkillers he was moving MUCH more easily and this evening he was feeling well enough to trot a few paces towards a sheep that was eyeing up his supper. The swelling has gone down to the point where it's just a little bit puffy on the inside but you have to look quite hard to see the difference between the two legs.
Would it have been OK if I'd just carried on with the water? Probably, but he was obviously so much more comfortable with the painkillers in him that I think I did the right thing by getting the vet. Fingers crossed that's it sorted now and we won't need another visit.
Merlin took one look at him and went 'YOU'RE THE VET WHO JABBED ME LAST SUMMER!!!' and promptly stomped off to the furthest corner of the field. Sometimes in this mood it can take me 15 minutes or so to catch him, but I'd put him in the strip grazing in the second field, so there wasn't too much space for him to mess about in and he gave in quickly with bad grace for a carrot.
Guy gave the leg a thorough check over from the shoulder to the hoof, but concluded that the problem was only in the fetlock and he'd either bashed it or strained it although there's a very, very slim outside chance it's the onset of arthritis - if it happens again that's an option that will be explored further.
Since Merlin doesn't do jabs without a twitch, Guy decided not to traumatise him and left me with instructions to give him 2 x 2 sachets of painkillers plus 1.5 sachets of antibiotics today, then another 3 days of the same dose of ABs and another 8 days (or as required) of 1 x sachet of painkillers per day. When I checked on him an hour after the first lot of painkillers he was moving MUCH more easily and this evening he was feeling well enough to trot a few paces towards a sheep that was eyeing up his supper. The swelling has gone down to the point where it's just a little bit puffy on the inside but you have to look quite hard to see the difference between the two legs.
Would it have been OK if I'd just carried on with the water? Probably, but he was obviously so much more comfortable with the painkillers in him that I think I did the right thing by getting the vet. Fingers crossed that's it sorted now and we won't need another visit.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Hopalong
The decision's been made for me, for a few days at least. Went to open the gate for Merlin to have his 2 hours in the second field (I need to rest the bottom two fields but the top two are too lush for him to be on full time, so he and six sheep are on a strip for a couple of hours a day until it's grazed down enough for them to move up) and noticed he was nodding when he walked - swollen front right fetlock, poor boy.
It's a little bit warm and a little bit puffy, but he's happy enough to walk on it and take his weight on it as the front leg while grazing, so I'll keep it cold-hosed tonight and tomorrow morning and then if it's not improved by late morning I'll get the vet. I can't see any sign of a wound, my best guess is that he's charged up the hill and put his foot in one of the two new rabbit scrapes I noticed last night.
Put the weight tape on him this morning, bang in the middle between 484kg and 490kg, so he's put a bit on. He's on less grass though, now that the bottom field is shut off ready for spraying - maybe 2/3rds of an acre shared with the sheep plus the abovementioned 2 hours on richer grass.
UPDATE: 2 hours later, the swelling has reduced and the limp is almost gone :o) Looks like it had only just happened when I went down. Fingers crossed with more cold water he'll be more or less fine by tomorrow.
It's a little bit warm and a little bit puffy, but he's happy enough to walk on it and take his weight on it as the front leg while grazing, so I'll keep it cold-hosed tonight and tomorrow morning and then if it's not improved by late morning I'll get the vet. I can't see any sign of a wound, my best guess is that he's charged up the hill and put his foot in one of the two new rabbit scrapes I noticed last night.
Put the weight tape on him this morning, bang in the middle between 484kg and 490kg, so he's put a bit on. He's on less grass though, now that the bottom field is shut off ready for spraying - maybe 2/3rds of an acre shared with the sheep plus the abovementioned 2 hours on richer grass.
UPDATE: 2 hours later, the swelling has reduced and the limp is almost gone :o) Looks like it had only just happened when I went down. Fingers crossed with more cold water he'll be more or less fine by tomorrow.
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