Nobody Died

After I rode Speedy on Thursday, I turned him out to roll. After he did that, he played and ran and then picked up speed and ran some more. He didn't run or play any harder than usual, but when I brought him out of his stall on Saturday, I noticed a distinctly unhealthy looking swelling on the back of his canon bone. It was small, but it was there. My heart sank. That particular swelling goes with only one thing, a tendon bow.

I called my vet that day, but he wasn't working that particular Saturday, and while I have the utmost respect for BVH's other doctors, I wanted to see Dr. Tolley. We scheduled the appointment for mid-week.

As soon as he saw the swelling, Dr. Tolley had a good idea of what was wrong, but an ultrasound was needed to determine the degree of the injury in order to formulate a treatment plan. The good news is that the damage is so small that Dr. Tolley had a hard time finding it. And even though he landed on a questionable dark area, he was the first to admit that the ultrasound machine is not his specialty as he doesn't see a ton of sport horses on a daily basis.

Even without being an ultrasound expert, he felt that the spot was questionable enough to take it seriously. He had no issue with me pursing a second opinion, but I don't need to do that. Dr. Tolley tends toward the conservative end of things which means he gives the worst case scenario and outlines an appropriate treatment plan. So if that dark spot isn't tendon damage, we're certainly not going to hurt Speedy or make the condition worse by treating it as a minor bow.

So for now, here's Dr. Tolley's treatment plan:

• A pressure bandage (hello, my old friend) changed every other day for the next four weeks. During the first week, I'll slather Speedy's leg with Furacin wrapped in plastic with the pressure bandage on top. He'll also get 2 grams of Bute daily during the first week. The following three weeks, the bandage will be dry.
• At the end of the month, we'll ultrasound the leg again. Given that the damage to the tendon was so small, there is a chance that Speedy will be allowed to go back to work. If there is even a question about the health of the tendon though, Dr. Tolley would like to do a gello cast for two weeks followed by a second gello cast for another two weeks.
• Again, based on the results of a third ultrasound, Speedy would then either go back to work or get two months of rest.

So, in the worst case, Speedy will be healing and recovering for four months. At the end of the four months, if it takes that long, Dr. Tolley will suggest a return-to-work schedule.

Since we were there, we did dentals and vaccinations as well.

This is most certainly not what I wanted to hear as show season begins. In fact, we were supposed to be at show this Saturday and Sunday, a USDF show (I am still trying to get at least a partial refund). But, it is what it is and crying over it isn't going to help at all. Instead, I will now have plenty of energy to focus on getting Izzy into the show ring. That's why I have two horses.

Look out, Izzy, you've been called up!