Big Bang

[teabiscuit]

well I went out to feed Finn and Bonnie yesterday morning to find some odd behaviour.

Finn was no whare to be seen and Bonnie was fluttering around like a hen.

I walked up the feild to see finn stagering around and my heart sank

on closer inspection he has a huge knee, and patches of fur missing from his hip and his shoulder, and a rip in his rug at the shoulder

vet and i think he's been flying around the feild and gone with a bang on his side on a rocky patch.

he's very stiff in his hind leg and his knee

we think he must have a lot of bruising

treatment so far:

Bute

hosing his knee

loading dose of cortaflex

short walks to ease stiffness

antibiotic spray on big knee to keep infection at bay

rest

i'm more worried about his stiffnes in his hind leg, i am going to get him some homeopathic arnica tablets.

how do I feed them?
have you wonderful people any other advice on how i can help him recover?

Many thanks,
x

[poohsmate]

sounds like your doing all you can... the arnica definitely:D

[Teehee]

Sorry to hear he's hurt & I hope he gets better soon!!! :)

[jumpingkatey]

We have been giving Daisy arnica tablets as the help with swelling and we have just been giving her 2 tablets in her feed.

[becs]

Sounds a good regime. Only other thing is ensure enough protein in diet to help all that repair / mending going on.

[teabiscuit]

thanks everyone, jumpingkatey are the arnica tablets helping at all?

[Bobbin]

I normally hollow a carrot out for arnica tablets. You aren't meant to touch them as the actual arnica is the dust on the tablets not the tablets themselves. I would normally give 4 in a day and yes I found them to be of great help.
Something that would be even better is Arnica spray, my instructor on my ET course kept spraying it in my mouth as my foot had been crushed.

[Mehitabel]

poor chap. i believer you're not meant to touch the arnica tablets, as i think the stuff is a coating, so just click them straight into a bit of food, if they're the little white jobs in the blue tube.

[Whatanejit]

Oh bloomin heck - what are horse like?

I hope he is feelikng better soon.

hugs to you both.:)

[teabiscuit]

bobbin that's really interesting-must pop out and get some spray-finn will be most old fashioned about me spraying his mouth i reckon :D *what are you doing now!!!!*


yes Mehitabel i just got some in the blue clicker tube thing, i will be careful not to tuoch them
i didn't realise that was why

[teabiscuit]

Oh bloomin heck - what are horse like?

I hope he is feelikng better soon.

hugs to you both.:)

thanks, they like to keep us on our toes don't they?

[julia gulia]

Barney got a huge knee a couple of years ago (perhaps a kick?) and apart from the bute he got a series of Adequan shots to help ensure that the injury wouldn't cause any long term problems like arthritis. His knee was huge:eek: (filled with fluid). I was also told to exercise him , only at a brisk walk , to keep the knee moving so it didn't stiffen up. I used a heat pad on his knee before the ride and cold pack afterwards. I would fill a thermos with warm water and put the gel pack in it to keep it warm until I needed it. It all seemed to do the trick.
The Adequan is very expensive though. Of course Finn's injury may be totally different from Barney's.:)
Poor Finn:o I think apples and carrots help as part of the treatment too:D

[Jessey]

With the arnica a small dose more often is best, when Bo was on his box rest he got 2 with his breakfast and 2 with his tea and 4 disolved in his water each day - this meant when he had little drinks through the day/night he was getting another small dose, our vet and the ones in Newmarket who were consulting thought the arnica made a huge difference to Bo's recovery - they though it would take about 2 months more than it did :eek: I used 30c early on then went to 6c for the longer term.
You can also get arnica cream (I think global herbs do one) which is very good but you can't use it on open wounds.
There are other homeopathic things which help with swelling etc Rhus Tox (http://www.worldwideshoppingmall.co.uk/body-soul/Rhus-tox.asp) would be a good one, good for swollen or sore joints and aches and pains and Ruta Grav (http://www.worldwideshoppingmall.co.uk/body-soul/Ruta-grav.asp) would also be good, for sprains and strains etc.
This Arnica massage balm (http://www.edirectory.co.uk/pf/880/mia/pid/5216820) is very good, i also use Radiol MR Muscle embrocation - its great stuff and might help releave the sore bruised muscles :o

Poor lad, what a mess, sounds like you are making him comfortable though :p

[teabiscuit]

thanks Julia
i was thinking about heat and cold treatment but not sure the best way to go about it so that's really good stuff

was Barney's knee filled with synovial fluid or was it bruising and odema type fluid?

Finns is bruising and tissue type fluid i think

i am unsure of wether to walk him out too much too fast because his hind leg is quite stiff, from the bump to his hip.

but he's out in the field during the day so moves about a little bit then, and i walk him about 200 yards 4 times a day but at his own pace

poor Finn, did you have to be quite hard on yourself and force Barney to walk briskly?

[teabiscuit]

Jess idiot here went and bought the 6c

i'm off to the shop for the 30c now. what a gobbin :rolleyes:

and spray

i have the gel but he shrivels his side away when i go to touch it and i think the bruising will be too big-i'd need 20 tubes *sigh*

[Mehitabel]

it is hard, deciding whether rest will help or make them stiffen up. i'd leave the massage for a bit until he is more comfy on it, and go easy on the walking out while he is sore. could he turn out in a school so he can have a steady wander on his own terms?

[Jessey]

Forgot to say, I use that massage oil in the bath, just soak in it and it helps really sore bits loads, so putting it in some warm water and using an old towel, dunked and wrung right out and just letting it sit over the sore bits would probably have the same effect :p

[teabiscuit]

that sounds a nice thing to do for him Jess, will give that a try

just got some more arnica cream too, they didn't have any spray though

Mehitabel, he's out in our emergancy field during the day- a small field we keep them off during the winter just in case we need some grass or a clean area for a poorly horse, so he pottered about there during the day yesterday

he is reluctant to move too much, and keen to come in to rest after a few hours.

i will take it easy with him and let him go at his own pace for a few days.

thanks everyone
x

[The Flying Irishman]

Poor Finn:o


For the first week I would recommend 5 arnica tablets a day and perhaps the same amount of rhus tox tablets, just to get it into his system quicker.
Hope he gets better soon:)

Kath x

[teabiscuit]

he's less stiff today
been giving him the arnica and did the towel thing (which he snorted at :) )
will get some rhus tox and try that too!
also been carefully massaging his knee on the swelling with tea tree and lavender oil in a 50 50 mix, neat. I think a bang can make it easier for celulitis to set in and am taking preventative measures-makes me feel like i'm doing something to help too :)

thanks again everyone, you're great

[Jessey]

Bless him, glad he is not so stiff :)

[teabiscuit]

just a quick update- Finn still favours his hind leg where the hip got bashed, and his knee swells up to 2 x its normal size when he's in overnight, but reduces to almost normal after he's spent the day out.

the great thing is he's no longer staggering sideways like a drunken crab, so much relieved about that

he's still on bute, arnica and rhus tox, also lavender oil massaged into knee swelling, and the warm arnica soaked towel is used morn and eve on his hip

he's nice and perky in himself and hurt his hind leg again after trying to canter away from an invisible field monster but not as bad as origanal injury

his knee also gets heat and cold treatment once a day

takes ages, but well worth it.

he's improved no end

thanks for all your advice
x

[Mehitabel]

glad he is on the mend.

[Jessey]

Oh thats sounds like very good news, glad he is coming along :D

[julia gulia]

Wonderful news Biscuit. You must be feeling relieved:)

[teabiscuit]

thanks you lot :)

i'm very relieved :)

[becs]

Thanks for the feedback - interesting to hear what a difference moving around makes to the swelling. I know they always say that it does, but it's good to see it help.

Glad things are looking up.

[Whatanejit]

Oh thank goodness TB that he is feeling and looking and acting better.

What a relief for you.

Keep positive.

[Nik-n-Kia]

Teabiscuit

Arnica cream works better if you place a warm cloth on the would for a few minutes then rub the arnica cream in it absorbs better. You can also use the cream as a poultice.

I used it for Kia's legs/feet last year and it certainly worked a treat. I also bought arnica oil and I was putting it in his water and his feed as it is tasteless and colourless!!!

Nikki xxxx

[teabiscuit]

nearly 3 weeks on and he's finally started moving regularly with his left hind leg. you could hear the irregularity in step especially up hills, but not actually see a lot wrong.

i rode Sandy over the weekend and my friend kindly led finn out, and boy could i see where he was stiff from my birds eye view up on Sandy's back

his poor banged hip was stiff!!!

anyway he loved his walk out with "the Boss"(Sandy is the man in charge at 27 years old, they all respect him) and it seemd to free him up

sooooo
will try a little tiny ride on finn this weekend!!!

:)

[Jessey]

Aw bless him :D glad he is on the mend though.

[teabiscuit]

well three months later and he's back to his usual cheeky self, 100% great.

thankyou everyone for your advice,

tbh when i first saw him in the field, blood pouring down his knee (i left that bit out, knees i can deal with , it was his hip that worried me) rug in tatters and unable to walk without nearly falling over from his injured hip, i thought the worst for a couple of hours...

time and TLC are wonderful healers. i'm so glad he's ok now...

[Peanut]

So glad to her that Finn is well again. What a long time, but what a relief to have him back to his old self. :)

[teabiscuit]

thanks Peanut

i wanted to post because it has been such a long time, just to say that it's worth the wait :D
never give up hope!

[Whatanejit]

Oh brilliant news TB - yes 'time' is a wonderful thing.

So is all your love and money!!

[teabiscuit]

Oh brilliant news TB - yes 'time' is a wonderful thing.

So is all your love and money!!

thankyou W'ejit. i've been smiling like an idiot all day, last night he did an athletic leg yeild, both reins, so he is feeling good, in that scarey banged hip :)

my love and money he is more than welcome to, he has my heart in the palm of his hoof :o

[Mehitabel]

good news!