Feather - do I/dont I?

Louby*eko

Louby*eko

Member
Jun 19, 2008
523
3
18
Berkshire/Hampshire border
I have a bit of a dilema; Samson has to go into the vets this week as he for a lameness investigation. He has been slightly lame now for weeks on his near fore. Vet thinks its his knee so hopefully nerve blocks/scans will show the cause.
Vet has said he will have to clip his leg (I dont post much so for those who dont know Samson is a shire, clipped out when I got him and just about grown back after 9 months)
I have said I will clip them before he goes in. Today he had the farrier so he had his 6 weekly feather wash and I am suprised how upset I am about clipping his legs. Its not often I see him without mud/oil in all its hairy glory.
Shall i just leave them and hope the vet only clips a little away (although they have said its will all probably have to come off) or am I just being silly? after all I know it will grow back.

Heres a little pic from today...
Feathers.jpg
 
:eek:
That would break my heart too.
Obviously you want what's best for your horse, but if it isn't *necessary* to have it all off ... I would leave it and let the vet do the clipping. they'll take what they need. Make sure they know it's OK to have it all off if required ... then you can clip the others to match at home.
 
Awww, bless his big furry feet. It'll grow back. Better bald and a solution to his lameness.

You might find they only clip around the knee and leave the feather lower down. That would grow back quicker.

Hope they get to the bottom of it anyway. Fingers crossed it all goes well for him.
 
Didn't need to clip my horses' feather off when she had nerve blocks and X-rays. They just clipped a patch on the injection site, turned out the lameness was in her pastern so she only had one small patch of bare skin which quickly grew back.
 
colettybetty said:
Didn't need to clip my horses' feather off when she had nerve blocks and X-rays. They just clipped a patch on the injection site, turned out the lameness was in her pastern so she only had one small patch of bare skin which quickly grew back.
Click to expand...

That would be great, I hope its the same for Samson. Thanks guys I think I will hold off on the clipping.
Vet said that as he has so much hair and is a heavy it makes it difficult to pinpoint the area(he is only 2/10ths lame at most). He thinks he can feel a slight swelling on the outside of his knee, so I presume that will nerve block that first? and if the result of that is negative they will try another area? must confess I dont really know what nerve blocking involves, presumably just an injection? so why would they need a huge bald area? any advise from anyone thats been through it would be appreciated, I am getting quite stressed about the whole thing. They have said he might be in for a few hours or a few days, they dont know.
 
Ive just had to do exactly what your worrying about :( Indy went in for a lamness investiagtion suposedly near his stifle-great I thought no feather clipping but it turns out they found the problem near his fetlock so at first they had to just clip the back (pic below-and yes it is that swolen poor boy :( ) and the he had an op so the WHOLE leg has gone! :( will see it for the first time on mon when he gets his stitches out.Youve just got to think thoug...it WILL grow back!! :)

pic of his half naked leg
badleg.jpg


and one of his feather in all their glory :)

S7300168-Copy.jpg


I hope yours doesnt need the whole leg clipping like indy!
vicky
x
 
Bless, poor Indy! How long did it take to diagnose? if you dont mind me asking?
That is my worry really, the lameness may end up being anywhere. I had a friend say that at least if he has a shaved patch people will know he has had an op, and that if I shaved them someone might think it was my idea! not that I really care what people think but having one bald leg would certainly annoy the OCD in me!
 
im a feather fan so id say keep the feather!!:D:D:D but if it has to come off then it has to come off, they will grow back and i know how you feel cuz i went thru the same when i had to have my cob clipped due to really itchy legs, i was cringing when the lady was clipping him but they are slowly starting to grow back already and with a bit of help from the pig oil;) hopefuly they should be back soon :)
 
Hold onto the feather - he might not need it all taking off. You can always take the other three off if he comes back naked.

Get your hands on some Megatek Rebuilder, it'll help to grow it back quickly.
 
it only took a day, he came home in the evening looking like he did in the pic and went back then next week for the op.I knew they'd have to clip the whole leg off for the op though but when they were just investigating the nice vet did ring 2 ask my permission to clip lol!!
If it were me id wouldnt clip cos he may not need it,and if he does the vet will do it any they will only take off what they absolutly need to-well thats what ive found in my experience anyway :)
good luck!!
x
 
Louby*eko said:
He thinks he can feel a slight swelling on the outside of his knee, so I presume that will nerve block that first? and if the result of that is negative they will try another area? must confess I dont really know what nerve blocking involves, presumably just an injection? so why would they need a huge bald area? any advise from anyone thats been through it would be appreciated, I am getting quite stressed about the whole thing. They have said he might be in for a few hours or a few days, they dont know.
Click to expand...

Its an injection of local anaesthetic, usually the vet starts off at the lowest part of the leg(with fore limbs). Then the horse is trotted up and if there is no lameness, because the anaesthetic has numbed the area, the vet then knows where the problem is. The process maybe repeated further up the leg until the right place is found. (With fore limbs its often quite low down.)The injection site is shaved so the vet can see where to jab.
Don't worry too much, Samson will probably be a star. Its quite a common procedure and the vets and nurses are well used to wobbly owners.:D Good luck, Samson is lovely.
 
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