I am tentatively writing this update post touching all the wooden objects in the vicinity. On Thursday we had our check up visit from the vets and it all seems to be very good news! But I can’t quite trust Scottie to not throw a spanner in the works yet, so while I am about to share with you our really exciting news, it could all still change.
2 weeks of flushing and super strong antibiotics seem to have done the trick. The haematoma and swelling has massively gone done. We aren’t going to have quite the ugly stifle I thought we were. The wound has also pretty much closed and I haven’t been able to get a syringe in it since Monday morning, so massive improvement. We are also completely sound, despite having our hind shoes removed.
So what next?
I can start getting back on! The vet wants him walking for 35-40 mins a day either in hand or ridden for the next 2 weeks. All being well, after that we can start adding 5 mins of trot a day, increasing by 5 mins each week. After 4 weeks of trotting and no problems we should be able to carry on as normal.
To be safe, we are having one last week of antibiotics just in case there is anything small lurking beneath the surface still. After all the original plan was for 3 weeks strong antibiotics, he has just recovered a lot quicker that the vet expected!
He also needs to stay in his pen for the next 3 weeks, just to make sure the wound has really closed and that the muscle has a good chance to heal before he has a lot more space to be silly in. However, I can make his pen a bit bigger than it is to give him a bit more space and more importantly a bit more grass. So I need to get on eBay and get some more electric tape!
Getting back on
Annoyingly, I had taken on a few long work shifts Friday, Saturday, Sunday this week, so getting on will probably have to wait until Monday. This is because I want someone on the ground to help me. While I think Scottie will be fine, I want someone there holding him when I get on because if we have an issue, I guarantee it will be within the first 10 strides! I also want help in case it does all go horribly wrong!
After the first 2 or 3 times I think we will be fine to crack on by ourselves as we will be back into the routine of it all. A couple of people have suggested sedating him for the first couple of times. But to be honest, I need it more than him! He isn’t stupid under saddle and as long as I am calm, he shouldn’t be too bad at all. I’ll put my martingale and back protector on and hope for the best. Maybe a stiff drink first too!
Plans for the rest of the year
As I said at the beginning of this post, as well as Scottie is doing now, I just can’t trust him not to do something silly, like escape from his pen and go galloping off. Plus, he might have an issue when he comes off antibiotics next week. So at this moment I’m not getting too hopeful about being back to normal in 6 weeks.
However, if we are back to normal in 6 weeks, I am unsure how our plans for the rest of the year will work out. Typically he injured his weaker hind leg, so I am praying that we haven’t lost our right canter lead, as that took such a long time to crack.
Needless to say our original plans of first hunter trials/ODE and Novice dressage are out of the question. However, I am tentatively hoping to be back in Prelims and perhaps get out to a clear round show jumping before the end of the year.
Last Updated on 14/01/2022
