Flash Fit for work

Three months after injuring his stifle, Flash has been given the OK to get back into light work again, with these words “Lunging exercise can commence”.

On 1st November, he presented very lame, hanging his back leg and unwilling to put any weight on it.  My local vet Kurt recommended Hisae of Essence Care who is an equine vet who trained in Japan then studied and completed Equine Surgery at the University of Sydney in 2007.   She also studied Equine shiatsu at the Australian College of Eastern Medicine and can only offer alternative therapies as she is not registered to “practice as a vet” in Australia.  She thought that his “injury may involve multiple ligaments, such as the collateral ligaments, patellar ligaments and cruciate ligaments, as well as other structures of the stifle joints.  He had moderate swelling and mild heat of the fomoropatellar joint (stifle ). Moderate swelling of the muscles around the stifle joint. Instability of the stifle joint. and crepitation sound of the stifle joint.

By early February, his hind legs had improved considerably, but his front hooves had cracked badly with the dry heat and he ended up lame on the fronts with some hoof/wall separation.   The Farrier came back after 4 weeks on Tuesday and by Wednesday,  Flash was walking properly with full extension on both his front legs for the first time in over a month.  It was wonderful to see.

Of course, Flash being Flash he threw a mild colic attack while the vet was there working on Bowie before even checking him !!   I was holding Bowie and heard Flash groan and lie down and knew immediately what it was.   His heart rate and breathing were elevated and his gut was overactive.  Hisae worked on a couple of trigger points to reduce his pain then I walked him for a bit until he pooped and his pain dropped.  You never know what to expect with Flash, but I have fingers crossed that I will soon be back in the saddle again.