Swollen leg!?

  What a way to start the year. I don't even know how to begin this story. I guess it starts three days ago when Udex was avoiding having his back right hoof picked up. He would pace and pace and pace. When I finally would manage to pick up his hoof he would pick it up really high and kick out. Over the next few days it had just gotten worse; even to the point where he would downright refuse to lift it.

The white one is the swollen one.

The resting one is the infected hoof.

  Other then being weird during hoof time, Udex was displaying no other signs of pain, injury, lameness, or anything else abnormal... Until yesterday that is. I got to the stable in the evening and did the usual. Got all the supplies I would need for the evening (sweat blanket, grooming supplies, etc.) by his stall. I took him out and was about to do the hooves when I realized his back right leg was about 4x larger then the other one!!! Of course I was having a mini heart attack, thinking of the worse right away. "Uuuuudex!? What did you do to yourself this time!?" My friends had a look too and confirmed that I wasn't crazy, but yes indeed Udex's leg had turned into a balloon. When I touched it he picked his leg up as to kick. After a few minutes he calmed down and let me feel around on it. It didn't feel too warm, but it did feel squishy. I took him to the arena to see if he was limping any. Once again, no apparent signs of anything wrong! Not even a limp in walk or trot! While I was trotting him in-hand he actually took a canter step, threw his head, and bucked- a thing he only does when he's very fresh and happy!

holding him for the vet.

  I was stumped. Why did his leg look like it belonged to a draft horse instead of a sporthorse?? After I had walked him for about 30 minutes and saw no difference in the swelling my friends helped to do the best for Udex. We put cold water on his leg, but still no change. We also put a special cream on it, once again, no change. We called it a night and decided if it wasn't better tomorrow we would call the vet.

Holding him for the vet.

  Today was tomorrow. The leg was not any better. Still swollen. Udex still wasn't limping or displaying any signs of being uncomfortable. Needless to say, the vet got a call!! Those moments waiting for the vet to come out are always the worse. I don't know about you, but for me I always start to assume the worse.

I'm not the biggest fan of twitches but
he needs it!

  Anyways, our Vet came out as soon as possible!! The prognosis?? A wooden splinter in his leg that had gotten infected. How did he get the splinter?? Udex and the horse in the stall next to him are always fighting. The mare is very food focused and when she isn't eating 24/7 will bite/kick at Udex's stall. Him still being a stallion in the head fights back. He has some pretty powerful kicks, and when he kicks the wood it splinters off. Obviously finding a really tiny splinter through thick fur would be almost impossible. The wound had already healed, but the swelling was from an infection.
  Udex got two shots in the chest, and will take three doses of antibiotics for the next two days. On Thursday we will repeat this process again and see how he's doing. (Oh, the farrier also comes then!) For probably the rest of this week I will be hand walking him for about 15-20 minutes. Oh boy will he be fresh the day he can finally free run!
  Our vet was truly amazing! She was so calm with him and understanding. What makes her so great is that she's a horse girl. She thinks of the horse and how he's feeling before anything else. I was so impressed with the way she treated Udex!! Wow! Total respect! I know that no matter what the situation, with her as the vet it will be okay.
  Right when you think your horse is in a stall 24/7, no way can he get injured; you're wrong. Horses are really accident prone (especially mine!!) and they can really surprise you with what they can do to themselves. It's a good reminder for me that with a horse you can never be too sure. Like I said in the beginning.. What a way to start 2012! I sure hope it does get better!

"Rollkur opponents care for horses. Rollkur proponents care more for success."