Dr. Bryant left a little bit ago. Overall the news is good…not great, but good.
Lucky has two bone chips in his left front ankle. One is quite large and completely detached, the other is smaller and adhered to the bone. He also has significant remodeling going on on both sides of his cannon bone above the joint indicating that his body is still healing from a fracture or some type of trauma (no fracture was evident but it may have filled in already).
Prognosis: without doing anything, Lucky is pasture sound and could be a light-riding trail horse, walking and maybe a little trotting. Chances of arthritis settling in at some point limiting him further are likely as he ages. He can be turned out (already is) and does not require any further rehab.
Another option is surgery to remove the chips. This will cost $2300 at Pilchuck. The surgery will give him a little more ridability (maybe more trotting, some cantering) and will prolong his usage. However, it will not make him suitable for dressage or arena work.
One caveat to that is if the remodeling in the cannon bone stops and smooths out as it heals…in that case he may be upgraded to arena work or dressage (no jumping ever) if he has the surgery to remove the chips. Dr. Bryant recommended follow-up xrays to check the status of the healing in 4–6 months.
The lump on his right hind cannon bone is old and cold, he said there was probably a trauma or impact there at some point but he did not think it was a concern and we did not xray it.
On to the eyes — the left is completely cloudy, and the right has partial cloudiness. Dr. Bryant felt they were two separate events, with the right eye injury being older than the left, which is more recent and we have since learned happened when he pulled back in the cross-ties, and the snap hit him in the eye. He stained both eyes and neither took any stain, so neither are a long-term concern. He can see just fine although his vision may be a little cloudy if he looks to the right on the right eye.
Lucky is happily turned out into a paddock right now, and tomorrow I’ll turn him out on some grass. Oh, and can I say, he was a star patient? For a horse that has been in a stall for almost a week, he was super. Dr. Bryant had me trot him in hand when we first took him out of the stall and I was a little worried he was going to be a handful but he just trotted along calmly beside me, and stood very still for his xrays without any sedation even though he really wanted grass. This horse has a STELLAR temperament and is going to make someone a great partner!
