Saturday 14th March - 2/10 lame in trot but quite a lot of swelling around the wound.
Called the vet out who gave him an injection of Metacam and started on Norodine 1sachet BID. Continue box rest.
Sunday 15th March - swelling reduced quite a lot, bit stiff when walking out of the box but otherwise seeming quite comfy. However, by the evening when the Metacam had worn off he was back to 5/10 lame.
Monday 16th March - Bit more comfy today although pitting oedema developing from stifle to hock
Tuesday 17th March - Same comfort level - approx 2/10 lame but pitting oedema quite severe from stifle to hock. Spoke to vet and started on bute - 1 sachet BID assuming developing cellulitis now.
Wednesday 18th March - leg very swollen around the hock although not overly painful to trot up. However, he really wanted to roll, struggled twice to get down and then really struggled to get up before holding his leg in the air for a few seconds
Thursday 19th March - spoke to vet again. He looked pretty much sound but is on bute 1sachet BID and swelling almost gone but discussed xrays and decided probably for the best for piece of mind.
Friday 20th March - trotted up sound and swelling all gone. Felt like a paranoid mother but went ahead with xrays. Still some mild oedema just locally to the wound and touchy about it being palpated but vet happy sound on trot up. Xrays didn't appear to show anything but vet said would double check at the clinic and call me if any concerns. Reduce bute to once daily and continue antibiotics.
Saturday 21st March - put him on the lunge in the morning as hadn't heard from the vet to say anything to worry about. He was sound in trot, but lame in canter on the left rein especially in the strike off where he jumped together behind. Vet then phoned me in the afternoon to say he had reviewed the xrays back at the hospital with David Lloyd and they had seen some little tiny fragments in front of the cranial aspect of the tibial crest so it looks like the suspected kick had actually been hard enough to damage the bone. As the xrays were only taken a week after the initial injury they recommended he stay on box rest and plan to repeat the xrays the end of the following week to see if anything further shows up and to see how much discomfort he is still in by that time. Also to wean him off the bute so it was clear of his system by the time of the xrays to assess his pain levels properly. Possible that standing surgery under sedation may be needed to re-open the wound and explore it to remove the bone fragments if he is still sore. A little concerned that even if he looks sound at this stage that he may not be once brought back into work and surgery could then be necessary which will absolutely rule us out of getting to Badminton.
If you look closely you can see the tiny spicules of bone in a kind of starburst pattern between the staples and the tibia.
Sunday 22nd March - sound in trot, last bute this morning, still localised pitting oedema around the wound and still noticeably hot to the touch.
Monday 23rd March - sound on the lunge in trot and canter in the morning, no bunny hopping, possibly just looked a little uncomfy in the canter transition on the left rein. Still small amount of localised pitting oedema around the wound and very slightly warmer than the other leg. No bute today and last dose of Norodine this evening. Removed staples from wound which has healed well.
Tuesday 24th March - was a bit wired on the lunge in the evening. Was trotting a bit fast to see well - not entirely convinced he was 100% sound on the left rein bit looked ok on the right. He was quite happy to canter and transitions were good. Still same amount of oedema around the wound and still a bit sore to palpate.
Wed/Thu 25th-26th March - Same. Looked sound on the trot up. Same amount of oedema, less bruising gradually. Still a bit touchy to palpate it.
Fri 27th March - Vet came again today. Agreed still a little bit of swelling around the wound but the wound itself had healed really well. She said he looked very happy and sound trotting him up. Sedated him for xrays and couldn't see anything obvious but had to wait for her to go back to the clinic to look at them properly. Fortunately she rung later on to say all looked good. So we have the all clear to bring him back into work, quietly for the first week then should be good to crack on. 4days of walking to start with though - that could be interesting!
Back in the field where he belongs, complete with lots of food/hay and a nice dose of 2ml of IV ACP to chill him out! Fingers crossed for no more self harming.
You can still see some little fragments of bone but they look less sharp and there is a lot less soft tissue swelling.
Thu 2nd April - a gentle week, starting with walk work. Yesterday a longer hack with some trot and a couple of very short canters on a very enthusiastic horse. Tonight a short schooling session with just soft and round work in trot and a couple of short canters. He feels sound and happy. The wound is still slightly swollen though and has some weird crepitus like feel to it to palpate still. He is much less bothered about it being palpated though.
Tue 4th April - enjoyed a weekend of hacking followed by XC schooling on Monday where he felt amazing. The crepitus feeling has gone from the wound now although it is still slightly swollen. He is no longer bothered by having it palpated.
Rest of the xrays for interest although can't really see anything on them:
left stifle for comparison:
left stife for comparison
