When your pasture pony takes a vacation to New Bolton for the weekend...
Two weeks ago now my 4yro pasture buddy pony came in lame. He has JUST been cleared from his on-going eye issues that thursday, and saturday he was on 3 legs. I cannot seem to catch a break with the little man! The vet was called, and he was prescribed stall rest and bute until the morning when she would come see him. He was noticeably lame, but there was minimal swelling and really no heat. Sunday morning rolled around and it had worsened His leg was huge, and on fire.
After the vet saw him we were concerned he may have fractured his hock. Portable Xrays were taken and we found a small fracture. More stall rest was in store for him and now he had a stack wrap on to splint the leg a bit. Friday he went in to New Bolton for more Xrays and an ultrasound.With that we found there was damage to his digital flexor and another tendon (I am unsure of the name) and here was swelling and thickening of the sheaths around them. However, at this point he was down to a 3 out of 5 on the lameness scale from his original 5out of 5. So there was improvement somewhat. We tapped into his leg to try to get fluid out of the sheaths without any luck. We got to take him home that night with strict instructions of rest, wrapping, and cold hosing.
Now 1 week later all the tests have come back with no real improvement from how he was before, Flash will be heading back into New Bolton tomorrow morning at 6am. He will be staying for the weekend and possibly longer depending on the outcome of more tests. Friday morning he is scheduled for a bone scan. Poor little man ;[ I am worried because we still cannot get to the bottom of this, and nothing we do seems to be helping him. So they say they next step is a bone scan. Thy told me he has to stay for at least 24hrs because with a bone scan, he becomes radioactive. Personally I get a giggle out of saying I have a radioactive pony ;] lol but in all seriousness I am really worried about my little man.
We really am not sure what exactly he did. We know the digital flexor and a connected tendon is damaged from the injury, but what else is going on is proving to be hard to pin point. So as of now, he goes in Friday and will be coming home Monday sometime after more lameness work ups. And assuming we do not find anything life threatening, he will be coming home Monday night or Tuesday.
Now another huge worry is how my gelding Tommy is going to react with his "brother" being gone all weekend. I am really worried about it. I am looking into borrowing another horse/donkey/etc. to try to make it easier, but I am not having too much luck. He is finally settled in with the fact that Flash is in his stall, and Tom just stands outside of it all day/night. Taking him away completely is going to cause problems.. I just know it. It is not that they are buddy sour as much as it is once Pony is gone, he is on his own (They are the only 2 at my private farm). He is fine as long as there is some companion there for him.
So please keep Pony, Thomas, and myself in your prayers over the weekend .. and feel free to jingle like mad for us
. I am hoping we all come through this okay!
After the vet saw him we were concerned he may have fractured his hock. Portable Xrays were taken and we found a small fracture. More stall rest was in store for him and now he had a stack wrap on to splint the leg a bit. Friday he went in to New Bolton for more Xrays and an ultrasound.With that we found there was damage to his digital flexor and another tendon (I am unsure of the name) and here was swelling and thickening of the sheaths around them. However, at this point he was down to a 3 out of 5 on the lameness scale from his original 5out of 5. So there was improvement somewhat. We tapped into his leg to try to get fluid out of the sheaths without any luck. We got to take him home that night with strict instructions of rest, wrapping, and cold hosing.
Now 1 week later all the tests have come back with no real improvement from how he was before, Flash will be heading back into New Bolton tomorrow morning at 6am. He will be staying for the weekend and possibly longer depending on the outcome of more tests. Friday morning he is scheduled for a bone scan. Poor little man ;[ I am worried because we still cannot get to the bottom of this, and nothing we do seems to be helping him. So they say they next step is a bone scan. Thy told me he has to stay for at least 24hrs because with a bone scan, he becomes radioactive. Personally I get a giggle out of saying I have a radioactive pony ;] lol but in all seriousness I am really worried about my little man.
We really am not sure what exactly he did. We know the digital flexor and a connected tendon is damaged from the injury, but what else is going on is proving to be hard to pin point. So as of now, he goes in Friday and will be coming home Monday sometime after more lameness work ups. And assuming we do not find anything life threatening, he will be coming home Monday night or Tuesday.
Now another huge worry is how my gelding Tommy is going to react with his "brother" being gone all weekend. I am really worried about it. I am looking into borrowing another horse/donkey/etc. to try to make it easier, but I am not having too much luck. He is finally settled in with the fact that Flash is in his stall, and Tom just stands outside of it all day/night. Taking him away completely is going to cause problems.. I just know it. It is not that they are buddy sour as much as it is once Pony is gone, he is on his own (They are the only 2 at my private farm). He is fine as long as there is some companion there for him.
So please keep Pony, Thomas, and myself in your prayers over the weekend .. and feel free to jingle like mad for us
. I am hoping we all come through this okay!
We'll be on the lookout for new toys to keep him occupied!
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