Is This The End?

On 12/22 I went on a walk-only ride with my BO.  We were walking only because it had snowed a little the night before, and our mares were newly barefoot...so we wanted to take it easy on them.  The first 25 minutes were fabulous - walking and chatting.  Enjoying the winter scenery.  Looking at the clear blue sky.  And then, it happened.  One stride, Jetta was completely fine.  The next, she was dead lame on her left hind.  At first I thought maybe her hind legs were tangled up in a stray corn stalk or branch we didn't see.  When she didn't come out of it, I hopped off and checked that foot....no signs of anything, but she didn't want to put much weight on it.  Back the barn we went, me leading my lame girl.  :(  There was no swelling, heat, puncture, nothing.  Anywhere.  Both my BO and me examined every inch of that girl.  And, nothing.  The only time I've ever seen a sudden lameness like this is when it was an abscess...and the way she wasn't putting weight on her heel led us to think she must have a heel abscess or bruise coming down. 

We had a huge winter storm coming in on Christmas Day, the day before I was to make the 6.5hour journey to my brother's house in middle PA.  So, we ran around like chickens without our heads, and were on the road by 5:30pm.  I called my BO to let her know what was going on - and asked her to please call me if anything changed for Jetta.  I talked with her many times over the 6 days I was gone - the updates were that some days she looked mostly normal, but some days she looked very lame.  All days it was always that left hind she was resting.  I knew then in my gut that it wasn't an abscess....those don't look better and then worse and then better....they look really, really bad...and then much better.  I came home late on 12/30, and on 12/31, this is what I found:

Still resting that leg.  Not wanting to load the heel down AT ALL.  Not sound, not even close.  And that's when I saw the swelling and felt the heat in her left hind.  I called the vet and left a message...and he called me back the next day, on 1/1, to tell me they BOTH would be there on 1/2.  Both vets wanted to look at her.  Ugh. 

So, here's the diagnosis: severe bow to the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon, moderate bow to the Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon....left hind.  :( :( :( :(


Directions of stall rest with 2 20-minute hand walks a day, along with incredible amounts of bute were prescribed.  After 2 days, she looked completely normal, with the exception of the swelling in the tendons, and completely loading the heel.  However, she was miserable.  My unflappable, sane, awesome horse was quickly losing her mind.  Almost 2 weeks had gone by with me walking an ever-increasingly-depressed horse, when this past Monday I walked in to find her rearing and bucking in her stall, screaming and pacing in smaller and smaller circles.  I turned her out that day.  I did hours upon hours of research and it all looks to be a crapshoot in terms of which method you use in recovery (complete stall rest vs. turnout).  I called the vet and told him what was going on, and while he's very hesitant to let her out, he is in agreement that she's going to kill herself in the stall.  So, now she gets to go out half a day, and comes in for half a day.  So far she seems to be mentally ok with this arrangement.  We have knocked all the bute back to just 1 gram at night, and so far the swelling in her tendons has continued to go down, and she's still sound and fully loading the heel.  The light has returned to her eyes, and she revels in the layers of mud she can add daily.

I'm not sure what will happen in the future for us.  The vets and all of my friends have said that if anyone can bring her back to undersaddle soundness, it's me.  But to be honest, that's not even on my list of priorities for her.  I just want her to be happy, and pain-free, and to know that her quality of life is the best it can be while she's here.  I am completely prepared for the day I get the call that she's totally blown her tendons, or any other disaster, but am hoping that day is a long way away.   Go hug your horses, cause that's what I do every day.