I rescued an OTTB from a feed lot in April of this year and have recently started working him. He came to me with an old bow that the vet felt and didn’t seem worried about.
I’m working on getting an ultrasound of it. I’m kind of peeved that the vet didn’t suggest it then and I was distracted by other things and didn’t think to ask. She’s no longer my vet because of several other things she did at the same visit with my other horse. But I digress…
It’s a mid-high bow on his right front. He’s not lame on it, it’s not reactive, and it isn’t warm or soft. It hasn’t changed the rest of his leg either (no dropped fetlocks, etc). However it is kind of ugly. We are getting back into work very slowly so I’m not too worried about going too quickly. We’re walking ~10 minutes a day and working on flexion and moving away from pressure. Probably get to 30 or 40 minutes a day before we even start trotting.
I have no idea how he got it as he came from a feed lot and they will no longer communicate with me (and doubtfully knew anything anyway). He’s been off the track since July 2015 but came with race plates so may have been in training as recently as March/April 2016.
Is there anything I can do to reduce it/tighten it? A friend ages ago had a home made poultice she’d put on them, even cold, but I’m no longer in contact with her to get the recipe. I know that really only time and being careful will help.
You should be able to see it in the picture below which is about two and a half months old, but the bow hasn’t changed much.
It’s unlikely you can do much at this point appearance-wise-- particularly if it’s somewhere between six months and several years old. But an ultrasound to be sure it’s fully healed is never a bad idea.
I’ve never had much luck in reducing ones that were any more than a few months old. If it isn’t fully healed yet, you may have a better chance, but you’ve had him long enough that there may not be much you can do.
If it’s cold and set, other than being unsightly it should not cause a problem. Racing is the hardest thing they’ll ever do. I don’t see a reason for a vet to ultrasound an old set bow unless the owner wants a baseline. Why do you want to “reduce it”?
Thanks! That’s what I was thinking but it doesn’t hurt to see if anyone’s had luck. I’m not too worried about it so I’m not rushing for the ultrasound, but since I don’t know what caused it I’d like one just out of curiosity and to make sure we have something to compare it to in the future if anything does happen.
The only reason I wanted to reduce it is because I’ve read when they’re bigger it can make them more susceptible to injuries in the future and also cosmetic (it still alarms me to see it because my retired guy had a suspensory tear and when his leg gets big again I know he’s reinjured it - lots of conformation issues going on there and been working with the vet for 6+ years to keep him pasture sound).
It will still reduce over time. I had one on a show horse that very gradually almost completely went away over a course of several years, and it was a banana in the beginning. When I sold her I disclosed it, and had to put my fingers right on it because they buyer was saying, “Where? I don’t see it.”
But I’d ultrasound it before doing any hard work with him. He is too cute!!!
Yeah, do the ultra sound. It will help tell you how far along in healing it is and how much work you can attempt. I had one off the track whose leg looked like a tree log but was sound to work.
Some years ago BO bought a pony for classes who came with a “free mare”. The vet checked her and diagnosed sesamoiditis, the bulge on her fetlock was very big and everybody predicted that it would not reduce. The mare was a month later relocated to a farm where she could be out on pasture.
During that month I took care of her. Every day I showered the fetlock with cold water for about 15 min. then massaged with cooling gel for about another 15-20 min, from pastern upwards, pressing the fetlock with the full hand as if I was intending to give the shape of a sound pastern. Then standwrapping for the night. That what was I did when my mare had windpuffs, only the bump was very hard and it hardly seemed to reduce from one day to another. So in about 20 days I took another picture to see the progress, this is what I saw:
Well, if you WANT to spend money, you can get it ultrasounded. You can also get every bone and joint xrayed at the same time, if you like. I wouldn’t, but you could if you wanted. This is quite small, and apparently set. It may or may not be the reason why he was taken out of race training. The enlargement you see is scar tissue, which formed with the healing process. The key is to try to get that scar tissue as well aligned as possible, which will reduce the size of what you are seeing on the outside. Exercise aligns scar tissue better than anything else. As with every horse, run your hands over his legs daily, get to know what is normal for him. Any change from this may be important. Cute horse, I like his shoulder and neck set.
[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8818696]
He is so cute!!!
It will still reduce over time. I had one on a show horse that very gradually almost completely went away over a course of several years, and it was a banana in the beginning. When I sold her I disclosed it, and had to put my fingers right on it because they buyer was saying, “Where? I don’t see it.”
But I’d ultrasound it before doing any hard work with him. He is too cute!!![/QUOTE]
Thanks! He’s got an adorable personality too, so he’s doubly spoiled.
That’s very good to hear. Congrats on getting your girl’s to go down. Was it just time that did it?
That’s what I’m thinking. I mean, the vet palpated it and didn’t seem worried about it but I know that palpation tells you very little about bows usually (unless they’re obviously bowed and painful).
[QUOTE=eternalbeginner;8818747]
Day 1 of treatment, as she came: http://i.imgur.com/2IZftMK.jpg
After 20 days of intensive treatment, and new shoes (yes, I paid for them myself): http://i.imgur.com/JAf5o7r.jpg
So I think, yes, it is possible. Maybe time would have just reduced it, but I preferred to do it myself.
Of course this is only for bows and bumps that are old, not hot or painful.[/QUOTE]
Wow! That’s an impressive reduction. Might be worth it to try, although I’d be hard pressed to wrap overnight because I board and I have to leave for work at 6:30 in the morning as it is.
My farrier hasn’t recommended shoes for it because the angle is good (and he overreaches and would probably step them off anyway and do more damage to his thin feet).
I understand that. My trainer always said not to go looking blindly, because every horse has a handful of abnormalities that will show up that aren’t necessarily anything serious. I’d only get the ultrasound to make sure it’s as set as I think it is since I have no knowledge of the original injury nor any way to get that knowledge.
I definitely feel his legs every day. I’m paranoid about legs especially so you can bet I feel for any changes (I also take pictures once a week and compare – a habit from my other horse with the suspensory issue where things could change slowly and I may not notice just from palpation).
He is super cute. I bought him from a picture and a 30 second video of them leading him around the feed lot. I’m really hoping things work out with him, even if he’s just a lower level prospect. I’m not a professional so I don’t need to go upper level. I’d rather have fun and dabble in different disciplines (I was an eventer with my other horse, schooling Intermediate before his injury). He’s also very sane. Nothing scares him and unlike typical TB, he thinks before he runs (and he prefers not to run fast because it’s too much work). I joke that he’s a follower because he always lets his pasture mates lead when they run, and that’s why he wasn’t a good race horse.
If you don’t have a PPE, I would like to have blood parameters, ultrasound and x-rays of any new horse we want to keep for a while, especially if it comes with any questions, just to have a baseline if there are problems later.
It is one more insurance to know what we have there also, if something shows up that we have questions.
With ultrasound, you can tell what you have there, what all is involved and if there are any knots in there, or just thickening, but properly aligned fibers all along.
