Simon pants went to the vet this morning, and I have more answers than before but not a ton.  They did flextions first, and the lameness in his right hock did not get worse with flextions.  My vet immediately thought it was a soft tissue injury, probably from him slipping or acting like a fool in the pasture.  It’s very high on his hock, higher than upper suspensory.  I asked if the vet thought an ultrasound was needed, and she didn’t think so.

They did take X-Rays of his hock, because the one that is currently making him lame is also the same hock he had the original defect with (rotation of a lower mobility joint in his hock) that fused.  I am waiting for a copy of the x-rays, but essentially his hock is interesting.  My trainer and the vet had a conversation addressing the arthritis, fusing, etc and his future as a hunter/jumper.  The vet said that she did not think any of his pre-existing hock issues are affecting his lameness now, and  she also said she didn’t see it being a problem for him being a 2’6″ horse… especially since he has been sound up until now.

So the plan is to do an aggressive rehab on him.  30 days stall rest and start with 5 minute hand walking intervals that slowly build up.  I’m bummed, and a little worried still but trying to stay positive.  In the grand scheme of things 2-3 months of rehab is no big deal, but I have really really bad luck with horses. I hear soft tissue injury, and it makes me feel like my horse is never going to be fully sound again.  So one one hand I’m trying to stay positive, but on the other I feel like I’ve kissed our future showing in the hunters together goodbye.

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