I was a bit terrified what our vet appointment would hold today. I was half convinced that Dan had torn his meniscus. Or just... totally destroyed his stifle. But I also didn't want to assume that it was the problem when it was something else aggravating him. Because, while I know his stifle is awful.. it's been awful and he copes. So the fact that he was acutely lame....
Anyways... we got to the clinic right on time and I unloaded him. He came off the trailer READY TO BOLT!! He was shaking, heart pounding, and neck straight up like a giraffe. What on earth dude? It was a barking dog, but... so what?! Well.. there was something that was spooking him that he couldn't find, but then he was also spooking at the horse skeleton. Mind you, he saw it last year too. He was all bowed up and I almost lost him one time as he tried to go the other way and drug me a bit. Luckily I had the rope halter on and was able to reel him back in. I then bribed him with a cookie and sweet talk and we walked up to "skelly". Oh... it's just a fake horse... Dan sniffed noses with him and then decided he was harmless and then he was fine. good gravy!
Dr Barrow watched him go and watched my short video and said it was left front. But then on a circle she also saw the right hind. She said that the right hind didn't look any worse than usual but the left front was dramatic. He didn't want to bring it forward and had a shortened cranial phase. On palpation he was quite cranky over the point of his shoulder, at the bursa, and also at his neck base. And when she palpated his tendon, he was flinchy midway down his cannon bone at the flexors. She tried to flex him but he was a very unhappy pony for his fetlock and jogged off VERY lame. He was a bit lame for the shoulder flexion but not as bad.
So we ultrasounded his shoulder. No tears or lesions but a big bruised muscle over the point of the shoulder and a teeny little lesion in the insertion tendon of the biceps brachii. Then we ultrasounded his tendons. His deep and superficial flexors looked good. His suspensory looked good. But his check ligament was a bit angry. No lesion. Just angry. And right where he was palpating sore. Then we x-rayed his fetlock. Just one lateral but it was rather beautiful. Phew!
So... the diagnosis is that it was likely that was the limb that got hung in the fence and was essentially the pivot point creating the twist and flip, so he likely tweaked the tar out of that whole leg! The plan is to rest him and shockwave the shoulder and he should heal up fine. I did ask if I could do some rides, and she said walk trail rides would be fine but avoid trotting. So yay! We'll get to do our walk trail rides until my surgery and then he can rest even more and then we'll revisit and see if we need to inject the stifle again or anything else and hopefully he'll make another comeback. :) Phew!
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