When Luck Runs Out

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that things with Spring have not been great over the last three weeks. She got tangled up in a fence three Thursdays ago, and although she seemed relatively unscathed she did have some superficial scrapes and bumps. The vet happened to be out that morning to look at another horse (who had somehow managed to take a chunk out of her face on HER pasture fence), so I had her glance at Spring to make sure that nothing too serious was going on.  She recommended a few days of bute and stall rest with light work, then a return to normal work/turnout.

Spring was feeling fantastic under saddle, and was more than happy to be turned out again after her brief stall rest stint. Unfortunately, she chose to celebrate her return to the pasture by pulling her RF shoe. On a Monday. The farrier doesn't come out until Thursdays. Still, she remained sound without the shoe and we got a few light rides in the indoor while we waited for Thursday to come.

The farrier felt that Spring's wedges were starting to crush her heels, and since she had been sound with one missing shoe we decided to try flat shoeing her for a cycle. The left shoe went on fine, but she acted weird about the RF, touchy and seeming not to want to put weight on it once the shoe was on. Still, she walked off sound so we tossed her back outside.  I brought her in the next day for a jumping lesson and as soon as we started trotting I felt it - the dreaded head bob. I texted my farrier to say she was lame and he advised to keep her in for the weekend and re assess on Monday.

Spring was on bute and stall rest, and when I got back from a trip to visit my family in Indiana she seemed mostly sound. The farrier came and determined that she'd most likely bruised her sole, and recommended turnout if she seemed sound. She went on stall rest with round pen turnout and I wondered exactly how long it would be before I could ride her again. By the following Monday she seemed lame again on the RF, and we determined that she probably needed the wedges to go back on. She was on stall rest with round pen turnout from Monday-Thursday morning, and I kept the RF packed with Magic Cushion.

Thursday I noticed when she was standing for the farrier that she didn't seem to want to put any weight on her right hind, which felt a little warm. I trotted her - farrier and BM watched the hind end instead of the front end and noticed that for the first time she looked lame behind. I called the vet and put her in a stall without making any shoeing changes.

The vet found no RF issues, but she was extremely concerned about the RH. She suspected a suspensory tear, but due to the amount of swelling she was concerned that an ultrasound would not yield any usable results. She left me with instructions to bute 2g twice a day, keep the leg wrapped, and cold hose/ice the leg 20-30 minutes several times a day. She planned to come out Monday to re-check.

Unfortunately, today Spring was completely unable to bear weight on her RH and was not able to walk comfortably. The vet came out as quickly as she could.

The ultrasound showed a core tear to the right hind suspensory. Due to the amount of swelling still present, the vet was unable to get a good image but suspects that the injury is extensive and that it extends quite high. The prognosis is guarded but poor at this time.

Assuming Spring improves over the next few days, I won't learn more for another two weeks. But. I know that the outcomes are not favorable for this specific type and location of injury. I know my mare will not do well on extensive stall rest. And I know that in the end, if her life looks like a year of confinement to a stall followed by pasture retirement on a leg that will never be stable again, that the kindest choice for me to make is the choice that every owner dreads making.

Always, always, always, my only goal for this mare has been to do what is right. I don't know what the future holds, but I am holding on to every day that I have with her. I'm planning for the worst, but hoping for the best. She deserves the best.