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Too much, too young: Splints - Page 3© Sally White Your vet may use x-rays to confirm the diagnosis and find out how bad the damage is. The x-ray will tell you if the splint bone has fractured, and will also tell you if the damage extends up into the knee area (sometimes known as a "knee splint"), or affects the ligament running up the back of the leg. Both of these are rare, but they are serious complications, and your horse's chances of making a full recovery will be reduced. Further diagnosis can be made using ultrasound, which will tell you if the splint is affecting other soft tissues in the leg. Finally, a nerve block may be necessary, especially where a blind splint is suspected, to determine exactly where the lameness is located. Nerve blocks work on a system of elimination. They involve systematically numbing all areas of the leg except one, and then trotting up the horse; if the horse goes sound, the area of the leg which has been left unblocked can be ruled out as the area where the lameness is located. A splint will require complete rest for your horse. He should be put on box rest, with some short walking in hand when the worst of the pain and swelling subsides. If the horse is not given a complete or long enough break from work, the splint may persist, becoming larger and more painful. Your vet will probably prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs, and you will need to cold-hose the area for 15 minutes, twice a day. Support bandaging will also be helpful. Stable bandages need to be applied over a padding, such as gamgee, to eliminate any pressure points, and it is also a good idea to bandage both legs (either forelimbs or hindlimbs) so that the unaffected limb doesn't bear a disproportionate amount of weight and suffer muscle damage. For really serious cases, or if the splint is affecting the ligament at the back of the leg or the knee, surgery may be necessary to remove the bony growth. This may also be an option if your horse is used for showing, in which case a permanent splint would be undesirable and would limit his prospects. Horses usually get over splints with nothing but an unsightly lump to show for it, and given the above treatment and enough rest time, will recover soundness and go on to start work again. But, if the splint has been caused by conformational problems, he may be unable to recover. Some conformation faults can be corrected, by remedial shoeing, for example. Should the conformation problem be a permanent one, the horse which develops splints because of it is likely to suffer from lameness for the rest of his life, and will probably be unfit for any kind of ridden work.
The copyright of the article Too much, too young: Splints - Page 3 in Young Horses/Foals is owned by Elizabeth Batt. Permission to republish Too much, too young: Splints - Page 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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