After having another set back with Scottie and not being convinced what is going on with him I got my vet friend to have a look at him. He’s definitely a little bit lame on that leg, suggesting that he has reinjured that tendon again.
With the amount of time he has been off resting it, she doesn’t think it’s going to get much better than it is now. Obviously there is a chance it will get better with more rest, but she thinks it will probably always be niggling him once he starts working again.
It is a fairly minor lameness. Very slight on a straight line and maybe 2/10s on a circle on the hard ground. And he isn’t lame all the time, he does seem to have mostly sound days with lame days if he has done too much.
She is fairly confident that he can do light hacking with the help of bute. Whether that is bute every day or just bute when he has a sore day. He could probably do more on bute but we run the risk of making the injury worse.
I obviously don’t want to make the injury worse and I don’t like the idea of giving him bute every day unless he needs it. So my plan is to get him out hacking and only give him bute when he goes lame. As long as we are careful on what ground we go on, there is no reason why he can’t have a trot and the odd canter.
I’m going to give him a bit of rest until he is sound again and because we are heading into winter, I am tempted to maybe give him the winter off as it’s not going to be very nice for hacking for much longer. But I haven’t really decided yet and it really depends on how quickly he comes right.
In the meantime, we have a few new things to try. We have a new joint supplement from Aviform which is also good for tendon injuries. I have also bought some new magnetic bands from Equ Streamz as these can be left on 24/7 whereas his other boots can only be on for less than 12 hours. I’m hoping these will help keep him ticking along.
Since he will be doing less work, I am thinking of taking his back shoes off. He didn’t have them on when I bought him and he was in a reasonable amount of work then so he should cope without them. Long term I think I will also look to have him living out all year round. But for the time being, nothing really changes for Scottie.
This isn’t the update I was hoping to give you all. As when he has a good day he really feels incredible. But I do think it’s the best option for both of us and we will continue to do what we can together.
Last Updated on 14/01/2022
