Harv has the last laugh

So for a few days I contemplated Harv having his first significant sign of aging -- ringbone.  Thanks all for the encouraging words about ringbone, but it I've seen it, and it ain't for sissies. The word degenerative says it all. I worried that this would be the beginning of a gradual decline. My poor old boy.

What the vet found...
As it turns out, Harv had the last laugh. Sure, he's lame, but it's not the injury of some old dude, it's an athletic injury (Harv would want me to point this out).  Like the weekend warriors at the gym, Harv just plain overdid it. He pulled the distal sesamoid ligament, which extends from  the sesamoid bone (at the back of the fetlock) to the back of the pastern. Do you remember a blog post about Harv running around in deep snow in mid Feburary? Hmmmm.

While pulled tendons/ligaments can be a b*tch, at least it's an acute-type injury and not a degenerative condition. And apparently Harv's situation is not considered serious.  That tendon will be more injury prone in the future, but it should heal.

Harv's leisurely spring
The treatment  light turnout, no running (Hear that Harv?), and 3 grams of bute a day for five days, then 2 grams for a few weeks.  The vet even said I could ride him at a walk!   I'm supposed to report back to him in a month. I asked about some of the fancy treatments for tendon injuries, but Dr. B---- waved me off. Overkill. Even Equioxx was an unnecessary expense in his book.

Heck, I'll take it. Harv, you're not off the hook as a riding horse quite yet. Sorry ;-).