She started having a problem with her front feet being really sore around the middle of September. Nicole and I checked her over and didn't find anything so I asked my farrier...her response was "the ground is really hard and dry and that is causing problems with a lot of horses". So Nicole started putting hoof moisturizer on her feet and that helped. Nicole also started putting her out in the arena at night so that she could exercise and not have to stand in one place on the hard packed ground in her little pen.
I also told Nicole to let her out with her horses as they had been together - or rather side by side - for almost a month. Well, Ding decided she needed to be the boss and found the herd alpha mare and started a kicking fight.
Nicole went out the next day after breaking up the fight and found that Ding's leg had a small cut. So she doctored it by hosing it and putting on ointments. That didn't seem to help as the leg started to swell.
On Oct 10, I went out and the bottom of the leg - not quite to the hock - was swollen. Thinking it was a strain, we put liniment on it and wrapped it. Well, by the 12 (Thanksgiving), the leg was so swollen and sore that Ding wasn't walking on it at all. Nicole called me and I went to pick her up calling my vet on the way.
After speaking with the vet it was determined that Ding had cellulitis really bad. Her leg was swollen all the way to the hip...it was horrendous to see (and stupid me, in my concern, I didn't take pics.).
We put Ding on stall rest, hosed the leg 2 x per day and she was on antibiotics. This went on for 6 weeks. We finally had the swelling down to just the fetlock.
In consultation with the vet, it was determined that we needed to start wrapping the fetlock to "squeeze" out the remaining fluid in the leg. So we started on that regime.
But it didn't work. So Ding went back to the vet in the middle of November. They shaved the back of her fetlock and x-rayed and ultrasounded it. They found a broken splint bone...but no tendon damage thank goodness.
She also had some small sores around the fetlock that they called scratches. I was told to take her home, doctor the scratches and once they were healed Ding would be scheduled for surgery.
On December 9, Ding had her surgery. It was short and sweet...around 45 minutes from start to finish. She spent the night there and then came home on the 10th. I have a small 3/4 inch piece of her splint bone to add to my collection.
It is now January 16, and Ding is recovering well. The fetlock still swells (stocks up) but the vet says that is normal for the trauma the joint has gone through.
She is now in one of the inside/outside pens for another 2 weeks, and then can graduate to the new board pen. We are going to bring Dolly in tomorrow to buddy up with her as she has been on her own now for over 3 months.
Here's hoping she has a complete recovery.
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