The vet appointment

 The morning of her vet appointment this is what Gussie's leg looked like. Very not good   Her lameness actually increased since the original incident so I was very glad that she would have this looked at too.  

My lovely nervous nelly doesn't like hauling, by the time we got to the clinic, a 25 minute drive, she was sweated up from her ribs to her ears. 

Tell us how you really feel, Gus !

I was actually glad the vet was late; he is super busy with breeding season being still in full swing here. It gave Gussie time to decompress and relax in these surroundings. 

Oh so watchful!

By the time the vet got there an hour later she had relaxed considerably and was very well behaved in the clinic. The breeding exam ultrasound showed no issues but we took a culture just to be sure; should have those results in 5 days. So she will be going to the stud in mid June. 

As for her leg, the first thing he did was test her hoof with the hoof tester- there was no sensitivity.

So it was on to xrays.

She stood very still, no sedation, and they said what a good girl she was

Again, no problems there; in fact he was quite surprised that she shows no sign of arthritis or ringbone in a 22 year old horse. 

Then it was ultrasound time again. And that's where the issue was found, right where it shows in the photo above. He figured the original ligament injury  escalated with some kind of puncture that allowed infection to set in. That was confirmed with the ultrasound. So antibiotics, bute, and her leg wrapped at the vets and he sent me home with a tetanus shot and oral antibiotics, as well as more bandaging supplies.  

The bandaging seems to have given her the support she needs; the joint isn't " clunking" any more. I figure she will be sound again in a couple of weeks. 

So maybe she won't be retired from riding after all!

Today we moved Dallas to Shayla's place and turned her out with her stallion, Rex. More on that next post!