I am not the woman in purple lost in that maze but sometimes I feel like I am. At the end of last week Biasini’s right front leg was puffy. I got the vet out and he was jogged . At first Lynsey thought she saw some uneveness in his stride. But the vet said:”That’s not the front leg.It’s his hind legs are stiff.” She suggested Lynsey ride him and that the movement would help the stiffness and the puffiness in the right front leg as well. There was a small cut on the right front and she left us some antibiotics to give him to help clear up any infection. Also she suggested wrapping the leg overnight with an animalintex poultice to draw out any thing that was there. We did that. Also my husband went to the local tack store and bought a stall pad for his door.
This pads the front door of his stall with a foam pad that is in a plastic cover. This is because he has a bad habit of banging his stall door when he wants attention or thinks it’s time to be fed. He does this by kicking the door with his front leg. We all felt that this was something that was not helping that right front leg. And just to top it all off he is entered in a show at the end of the week. Timing is everything!
The next day the right front was better but not 100% better. And he was no longer banging the door of his stall as much. His hind legs had also been wrapped and they looked ok.But when Lynsey rode him she said he felt tight in his back and hindquarters. The next day (Sunday) he had 20 minutes in the magnetic blanket. This blanket has helped some of the other horses with stiffness and soreness of muscles. . Lynsey was booked in for a lesson with Coach Belinda Trusell. Lynsey walked Biasini and when Belinda came in to the arena she picked up the trot. It didn’t look right. He was not lame but he was not moving with his usual freedom. So the lesson was cancelled and the vet was called. She came out later on Monday afternoon. And what did she find?
Biasini came out of his stall and was walking very stiffly. The vet felt his front leg and said”Cellulitis. He’s got celliulitis” .She told Lynsey and me that in the Florida jungle any small cut or scratch can end up like this. This is what was affecting both his front leg and his right hind leg, where he had a new scrape, and this would account for how he was moving. She then told us that she would give him an IV injection of an antibiotic and also an injection of a diuretic to get rid of the fluid in the two legs. She also did an ultrasound to rule out any possible tendon injuries. There were none.
What a relief. Cellulitis is not great but it is a lot better than a tendon injury that would have him on stall rest and no work for several months. The vet will come out again tomorrow to see how its going and may well give him more medication. She said if it clears up quickly it is possible he could go to the show. If it does not then she will give me a veterinary certificate and I should be able to get some or all of my entry money back.
So ..I can see my way out of the maze now. And I recalled that when I first arrived in Wellington at the end of December I had cellulitis in my forearm. I had to have an IV infusion of antibiotics. Mine cleared up well so I hope Biasini’s will too.
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