Splint Injury Help

[Andrea_Kochanski]

Hello everyone! I just decided to come here and make a post to get some peoples opinions/advice on my horse and I’s current situation. My horse Shadow is a 14 year old and he seems to have popped a splint not only on the lower inside of his right front leg but on the lower outside. I first noticed the splints around 3 weeks ago when Shadow was getting his feet done. He ended up pulling up lame but I assumed it was him needing new shoes since his feet were overgrown. My farrier recommended simply cold hosing the splints several times a day and then using DMSO underneath a standing wrap.

My problem is it has been around three weeks and I have seen little/no improvement. I am not confident enough to wrap standing wraps on my horse myself because I don’t want to cause anymore damage than what is already there. I cold hose his leg 3-4 times per day and for around 10 minutes at a clip.

Has anyone had a similar experience with their older horses getting splints? Any advice or change of action I should make? Should I get my vet involved at this point?

Thank you all so much in advance for your help! Shadow and I thank you

[Stitch_In_Time]

I had a 12yo mare pop a splint. I had the vet out and she was 2/5 lame on the leg, we x-rayed and found a fracture. We did rest and rehab, she came back sound and then she popped a splint on the opposite leg when we added jumping back in. Had vet out again and x-ray showed another fracture. This time she was rested for 4 months and then brought back to work. She was again sound until we resumed jumping, after another rest/rehab I made the decision to sell her to a home with a lower workload.

Both of her splint fractures were high on the inside of her leg and the calcification was quite large. They were unfortunately too high to have the bone removed. I would have the vet out asap so that you know what you’re dealing with and you can treat the horse properly. The vets thought that the popped splints on my horse were no big deal, but unfortunately they ended her career.

[IPEsq]

Sometimes distal (lower) splint fractures need surgery to clean up. It at least wouldn’t hurt to have the vet take some Xrays.