Oy vei. If I don't love her so much, I'd shoot her and save myself the time.
Most of you know I've had problems with Zierra's left foreleg for YEARS. Shoddy farrier work for several years left her already bad feet so underslung that she sustained tendon sheath damage. The ultrasound essentially showed damage but no tears, so the vet advised 6 months off. Which she got.
The wierd part? Zierra has NEVER gone lame. Ever. Not even an ouchy. She still has a hard lump on the back of her tendon that resembles a mild bow. However, more recently, the leg seems to have FINALLY settled itself - it's been months since I've had any swelling in it (it usually gets puffy if I work her hard without boots).
And now that THAT leg is fixed, she went and blew the other one. A LOT more defined this time though - 2 weeks ago she developed a very large lump and puffy swelling. At this point we shod her to finally force her angles because we're getting NOWHERE with barefoot.
I gave her two weeks off to see what the leg was doing and let her get used to her new footwear. She went out for her first ride a couple days ago and was pro - she was fresh as all heck from the time off, but we agreed to do an impatient jog most of the way. The leg is completely back to normal, no heat or swelling but she DOES have a massive hard lump on the back now.
The farrier just re-shod her thrown shoe, and said it feels just like a mild bow to him.
So million dollar question - can a horse bow tendons and never go lame? :-| I am SO confused. The number of lumps this creature has on her lower legs should be illegal and she has NEVER GONE LAME. Not once. Not for an instant.
I'm keeping her work extra light right now while we work to pull her heels back and get that toe growing staighter, as I know it's her god awful angles messing up her legs.
Any advice or similair situations? I'm truly lost. I could get the vet out again, but last time she just told me 6 months rest and it really didn't change a thing - even during rest, she'd spend three days fine and then three days puffy.
Most of you know I've had problems with Zierra's left foreleg for YEARS. Shoddy farrier work for several years left her already bad feet so underslung that she sustained tendon sheath damage. The ultrasound essentially showed damage but no tears, so the vet advised 6 months off. Which she got.
The wierd part? Zierra has NEVER gone lame. Ever. Not even an ouchy. She still has a hard lump on the back of her tendon that resembles a mild bow. However, more recently, the leg seems to have FINALLY settled itself - it's been months since I've had any swelling in it (it usually gets puffy if I work her hard without boots).
And now that THAT leg is fixed, she went and blew the other one. A LOT more defined this time though - 2 weeks ago she developed a very large lump and puffy swelling. At this point we shod her to finally force her angles because we're getting NOWHERE with barefoot.
I gave her two weeks off to see what the leg was doing and let her get used to her new footwear. She went out for her first ride a couple days ago and was pro - she was fresh as all heck from the time off, but we agreed to do an impatient jog most of the way. The leg is completely back to normal, no heat or swelling but she DOES have a massive hard lump on the back now.
The farrier just re-shod her thrown shoe, and said it feels just like a mild bow to him.
So million dollar question - can a horse bow tendons and never go lame? :-| I am SO confused. The number of lumps this creature has on her lower legs should be illegal and she has NEVER GONE LAME. Not once. Not for an instant.
I'm keeping her work extra light right now while we work to pull her heels back and get that toe growing staighter, as I know it's her god awful angles messing up her legs.
Any advice or similair situations? I'm truly lost. I could get the vet out again, but last time she just told me 6 months rest and it really didn't change a thing - even during rest, she'd spend three days fine and then three days puffy.