Colt's Diagnosis

And the diagnosis is...

"Left front fetlock medial collateral ligament injury"

Colt, Bella Jo, Cindy Sue and I had a very nice trip to Idaho and back for the visit to Idaho Equine Hospital. Thank goodness Cindy Sue woke me up in the early morning and I couldn't get back to sleep because I'd forgotten that there is a 1 hour time difference...I'm sure glad that thought popped into my brain as I lay tossing and turning!!!

The roads were clear except for a lil' bit of frost over the pass just west of home. I was glad when the sun finally started coming up though. It's open range with cattle and wild horses running. It's always a caution when you drive that stretch of road.

We arrived a lil' bit late...after missing the exit and having to go 5 miles farther down I-84 to the next exit to get back. It's always a challenge for me to drive in that much traffic too. I hadn't been there for 2 years. But we made it without incident.

This is their arena for excercise and also lunging

horses during lameness exams.

Directly left of the indoor arena is an outdoor round pen.

To enter the facility, you have to pull up to the automatic

gate, tell them who you are, and they open the gate for you.

The building to the left are offices, exam rooms, and

surgery rooms. The building to the right contains

some of their indoor stalls.

After parking and unloading your horse,

you are greeted by usually three people (the Dr.,

an assistant, and a student who is putting in

an internship) and the preliminary evaluation takes place

right there in the parking lot as with this horse.

These are the outside stalls. Colt is waiting for

me in the first stall on the left.

The buildings behind are part of the

Idaho Center which is a huge multi use facility

including equine events.

I packed my camera in with me, but didn't get a chance to take any photos of Colt during his exam. I needed to keep my brain focused on the Dr.

I wrapped Colt's front legs with stable bandages for the trip to give him support, and I always use shavings in my trailer. When I unwrapped his legs the left one looked much better than the day before! I haven't been able to wrap his legs because he was ripping the bandages off in a matter of minutes. But, the left fetlock was still slightly larger than the right, especially on the inside.

His preliminary trot around the parking lot didn't show much lameness, just a lil' bit of a shorter stride on the left. Dr. Knox did a flex test on the left front and he trotted off sound then too. We took him to the arena and the assistant lunged him both ways. Colt again wasn't showing any significant signs of lameness.

We took him inside for radiographs. Out of the 4 angles done, only the view from straight on showed the slight disfigurement on the inside (in just about the spot where the pastern bone meets up with the fetlock. It showed a tiny spot which Dr. Knox said was probably bone. Most likely Colt got it when the hoof and pastern went one way and the fetlock the other...I would suspect either a hole in the pasture or maybe ice, but most likely a hole. It's just one of those things that happens. He loves to play with that Brego horse.

The injury doesn't warrant removal of the bone because of it's size being so small, and Dr. Knox considered the injury to be moderate; a little more serious than a slight sprain. When the Dr. held the hoof, pastern, fetlock, and cannon bone in a straight line and pressed with a twisting motion, there definitely a reaction of soreness from Colt.

The good news is that everything I had done for Colt was correct, and there wasn't anything else to be done except for the bad news...wait for time to heal it...six weeks to be exact. Six weeks of stall/confined run rest and in hand exercise. I can expand Colt's run as the weeks go by, but we don't want him running, stopping, and twisting to re-injure himself.

Colt got to take a break after his exam. He got a lil'

bit of alfalfa and water. But, he was ready to go

home, because he whinny'd at me when he saw

me coming to get him!

Colt had seen Dr. Knox as a 2 year old when he over extended his left front knee and got a tiny, very tiny bone spur. Dr. Knox was very pleased with his recuperation; there was absolutely no swelling or soreness.

We get to go back in six weeks for a check up. Hopefully at that time Dr. Knox will give us the go ahead to start Colt back into training...starting slowly of course to build up strength in the leg.

The drive home was beautiful. The pups enjoyed

a romp in the melting snow along the highway.

The part I enjoy about the trip is that there's

only 15 miles of actual "traffic" that I have

to drive through. The rest of the drive

is open, beautiful space.

I think I could live out here too!

I saw lots of newborn calves, but could never

find a spot to pull over. There's

lots and lots of big ranches in this

part of the state.

This is coming into one of my favorite lil' towns

in Eastern Oregon, Jordan Valley. Home

of the "Big Loop Rodeo!"

Colt and I thank all of our readers that have been leaving us such uplifting, supportive comments and sending all those healing thoughts. We're on the road to recovery and you all sure helped keep our spirits up. Thank You!!!