Poor Queenie, my draft cross buddy, has a splint. For my non-horsey friends, a splint is a bony swelling usually on the inside of a front leg. Splint bones on horses are the remnants of prehistoric horse toes. If the bone is damaged or over-worked, the body starts to lay down new bone to the injured area. We have been doing lots of cold therapy. 15 minutes of cold water and then an ice boot for 20 minutes. She is on stall rest for two weeks and not too happy about it.
This is the third one she has had this year. My lessons and riding are on hold which gives me time to focus on Maddy. She was much better on Friday when I walked her in the arena. I set up a bunch of cones and earlier in her stall rest I did some "clicker training" with her where I taught her to touch with her nose where I point. So we walked around the arena and I pointed to cones and she touched them and I clicked and gave her a baby carrot. She enjoys this game. It is great because in order to touch the cone, she lowers her head which helps her to relax. I was pretty proud of her on Friday. I was ready for more "crazy," and she really impressed me by staying "checked in".
Poor Queenie, my draft cross buddy, has a splint. For my non-horsey friends, a splint is a bony swelling usually on the inside of a front leg. Splint bones on horses are the remnants of prehistoric horse toes. If the bone is damaged or over-worked, the body starts to lay down new bone to the injured area. We have been doing lots of cold therapy. 15 minutes of cold water and then an ice boot for 20 minutes. She is on stall rest for two weeks and not too happy about it. 
This is the third one she has had this year. My lessons and riding are on hold which gives me time to focus on Maddy. She was much better on Friday when I walked her in the arena. I set up a bunch of cones and earlier in her stall rest I did some "clicker training" with her where I taught her to touch with her nose where I point. So we walked around the arena and I pointed to cones and she touched them and I clicked and gave her a baby carrot. She enjoys this game. It is great because in order to touch the cone, she lowers her head which helps her to relax. I was pretty proud of her on Friday. I was ready for more "crazy," and she really impressed me by staying "checked in".
