So today Scottie had the vet out. Originally this was so that I could get a second opinion on if he was lame or not as he was right on the borderline of what I could see. But since Scottie has been obviously lame to even my eye the past few days, it was more to make a plan.
The vet had a quick look at him walking and trotting on the hard in a straight line and then on a circle. After this he pretty much said that the tendon should have healed by now, so that shouldn’t still be causing an issue. He also commented on how there wasn’t anything on the X-Rays or MRI to suggest there was a problem elsewhere.
Because of this, without repeating the x-ray and/or MRI, it’s hard to know what is going on in there. However, he did say that it might be a case of there is still quite a bit of inflammation hanging around from the tendon injury, which could be the cause of the lameness.
So he said that realistically, the next step would be to inject the coffin joint and if that doesn’t work, the navicular bursa. Vets like to inject the coffin joint first even if the issue is around the navicular because it is less invasive so has a lower risk factor. Also in the majority of horses, the navicular and the coffin joint are joined by a channel, so injecting one often affects the other.
We decided to inject today as the coffin joint injection is straightforward enough to do at home. So Scottie is now having a few days box rest followed by 2 weeks rest. Then we will bring him back into work and see how we get on.
Over the next few days I have to keep an eye out for any reaction he might have had to the steroids and any signs of laminitis. But hopefully, he will be fine and we can start cracking on again soon without any fuss.
Last Updated on 14/01/2022
