Bad news - an injury
Regrettably, Forest General (Harry) has had an injury while in training. It is a tear (a lesion) in a tendon (the superficial digital flexor tendon) in his right fore leg. It is a fairly serious injury which, regrettably, is stalling his career as a racehorse.
He has not been lame with it, but that is apparently fairly common with this injury. Rather, his trainer Sarah Gould noticed heat in his leg. She wisely called out his vet who identified the lesion by ultrasound scans. Our own vets at home have seen the scan images and confirmed the opinion. No incident is known to have preceded the injury; no tripping or knocking into a jump, for example. He has however been in advanced training for racing which inevitably puts a large load on a horse’s legs.
The treatment is box rest for three months with a short time walking each day gradually increasing and, at the end of three months, rescanning to see how the tendon is recovering. Then he is likely to be turned out in a field probably for the rest of a year, with quarterly scanning, for recovery to continue. Meanwhile he is happy, in no discomfort and being well looked after by Sarah.
So, these emails will cease for a year, but hopefully will restart depending on the outcome of his recovery.
Sad news, but we always knew it was a bit of gamble. Thanks so much for your interest in the horse and your support so far.
He has not been lame with it, but that is apparently fairly common with this injury. Rather, his trainer Sarah Gould noticed heat in his leg. She wisely called out his vet who identified the lesion by ultrasound scans. Our own vets at home have seen the scan images and confirmed the opinion. No incident is known to have preceded the injury; no tripping or knocking into a jump, for example. He has however been in advanced training for racing which inevitably puts a large load on a horse’s legs.
The treatment is box rest for three months with a short time walking each day gradually increasing and, at the end of three months, rescanning to see how the tendon is recovering. Then he is likely to be turned out in a field probably for the rest of a year, with quarterly scanning, for recovery to continue. Meanwhile he is happy, in no discomfort and being well looked after by Sarah.
So, these emails will cease for a year, but hopefully will restart depending on the outcome of his recovery.
Sad news, but we always knew it was a bit of gamble. Thanks so much for your interest in the horse and your support so far.