Bailey was still slightly swollen in her hind fetlocks this morning, so I called the vet out. I just couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what could be causing the swelling. She is turned out most of the day and she has a large run outside her stall, so I didn't think she would be stocking up (though, thanks to Lindsay for the suggestion). I really thought she had to have strained herself while kicking her heels up during turnout. Well, I was wrong. The vet and I talked about her daily routine, exercise and riding regimen, and her diet. Immediately after our discussion and his examination of her, the vet told me he was fairly certain her body was trying to develop epiphysitis. What?!? What's that?!?, I thought to myself. I have seen lots of funky stuff in horses, but epiphy...what? Then he explained. Bailey was on a higher calorie diet since being in Texas due to her body condition loss from the cross-country trip and because I have been working her every day. Sometimes the combination of higher calorie diet, and often genetics and hormonal desynchronization, can cause one of the conditions lumped under "Developmental Orthopedic Disease" or DOD. Epiphysitis is one of these diseases. To make it simple....her body is trying to develop and grow too quickly, which can be irritated or even brought on by higher caloric intake. More specifically, her body's cartilage-to-bone conversion is abnormal or happening too fast. Luckily, we believe we caught it very early and she should recover in a few days. We have taken her off all grain and put her on a better grass hay. We will also be turning her out even more and in a different pasture. So, hopefully this is the answer to our problem and she will be back to normal in no time. I definitely learned something new today and I am glad it was nothing too major, just yet. The vet also told me I can keep riding her, that exercise is important at this point. So, more good news there. All I can say is, "Whew"! Heading back to the barn to check up on her. Catch y'all later!
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2 comments:
Hope you did catch it in time. Do some research on feeding young warmbloods. These are big babies with substantial bone and caregivers have to walk a fine line to provide sufficient nutrients without over-doing it. You may be able to glean some info relevant to your horse.
Great idea...thanks!!
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