| Title: | Equine Notes Conference |
| Notice: | Topics List=4, Horses 4Sale/Wanted=150, Equip 4Sale/Wanted=151 |
| Moderator: | MTADMS::COBURN IO |
| Created: | Tue Feb 11 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Thu Jun 05 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 2080 |
| Total number of notes: | 22383 |
I am writing this note to see if anyone has any advice/help they could
offer me. I took my horse out yesterday for a ride and noticed that
after about 100 m she felt lame. I got off and walked her home and
asked a friend to look at her ( quite a knowledgable horsewoman).
Anyway, we determined that she was lame on the left hand side. When
you allow her to have her head at trot she is okay, it is when she
brings her head up that the lameness shows. This showed to us that her
legs were okay as there was no swelling, no heat or any of the usual
signs and that it could be her shoulder hurting, when the muscle is
used in a different action perhaps? She did have a slight swelling and
little bit of heat just above her elbow. The course of action
yesterday was to stable her (she's usually field kept) last night and
today, I will go to see her shortly and let her graze on the lead for
an hour and then keep her in again tonight and tomorrow. I spoke to my
father who's up on sporting injuries and he said the best thing for
muscle strain was to rest, obviously some people think a little
movement is better than complete rest but I'm going to take his advice
and leave her resting for a while
The last time I rode her was Sunday and she seemed fine then. We've
been doing an awful lot of work with the draw reins and she has been
striding out much better than normally. She usually has quite a short
stride but I am gradually getting some lenthening from her.
My main question really is, has anyone else experienced this? Do you
think that it could be muscle strain/pulled muscle? We think that she
could have done it rolling in the field, having a gallop around with
the boys or any number of reasons. Your help with this would really be
appreciated.
By the way, I forgot to mention that I put a horse linament (now used
for people) on her shoulder last night - it's the same sort of thing as
"deep heat".
Thanks
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944.1 | ASDG::CORMIER | Fri Jan 13 1995 12:00 | 17 | ||
You might want to try running cold water on your horse's shoulder,
instead of applying a linament. This would help relieve the heat and
swelling. 10 minutes, or so, a couple times a day should be enough.
Maybe a Bute ground up in her dinner? (acts like aspirin)
Stall rest sounds like a good prescription, or a smaller paddock with a
quiet friend.
Good Luck!
Simone
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| 1944.2 | Alternate hot & cold | DECWET::JDADDAMIO | Seattle:Life in the espressolane | Fri Jan 13 1995 14:17 | 22 |
With strains/swellings, I tend to alternate heat and cold therapies:
For heat, I use towels soaked in hot water and wrap them around the
area. When the towel cools, replace it with a hot one that's been
soaking in the water for a while. Do that for 20-30 minutes.
Then, pack the area in ice or run cold water on it for about the same
length of time. It's easier for legs because there are boots to hold
the cold water or ice. There are also leg wraps with absorbent pellets
sewn in (like a bean bag) that soak up cold water and then you strap
them on.
You can also use those "polar packs" that the catalog companies use to
keep vaccines cold in shipment. I've strapped them to flat body areas
using leg wraps, etc. Heck, once I even used them on me! WHen I had my
wisom teeth surgically removed, I had to pack my jaw in ice. I took a
small polar pack and strapped it to my jaw so I could keep my hands
free. I think I used elastic sweat bands that time....
Careful with the bute. It can upset the stomach on some horses. I'm not
saying that one shouldn't use it. We do use it when necessary. But, not
very much of it and not for more than 3 days for minor injuries like
this...
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| 1944.3 | Getting there..... | CHEFS::ELKINL | Jumping Jack Flash Lass | Mon Jan 16 1995 04:09 | 18 |
Thanks for the advice, Holly has been in for 4 days now (for a horse
who is out 24 hours a day - that's alot of "non-movement". I wasn't in
on Friday afternoon so I was unable to read your advice so I've just
been applying the Deep Heat every couple of hours as the packet
advises. Anyway, we trotted her up yesterday and she was alomost sound
- mainly stiff by the looks of it so I put her in the field to "stretch
her legs". So the stupid animal thinks it's time to make up for being
kept in for four days and galloped round like nobodys business,
bucking, twisting and rearing - I think she was happy to be out!
BTW, thanks for advising bute but I always think of it as a "hide the
pain then you can still ride" drug. I am sure it is the right drug to
use in some instances but I don't think Holly warrants it at the
moment!
Thanks again and I'll let you know how she's getting on.
Liz
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