Some things go smoothly, and some don’t. How you handle those moments often dictates your mental attitude going forward; just a few rides into Mango’s training, he came in from the turnout with a slight swelling behind his right knee, which I now know contributed to some off moments in his trot work in his first couple of training rides. As luck would have it, Cooper Williams, DVM and lameness expert was at the barn for another horse and was willing to take a look. He suggested an ultrasound, and an Xray in hope of finding the root of the swelling. What he found was a Distal Radial Spike otherwise known as a osteochondromata.

Distal Radial Spikes can be the cause of tenosynovitis of the carpal sheath of the digital flexor tendons in young racing Thoroughbreds. When present in the most common location of the middle one-third of the bone, they are likely to cause impingement damage to the deep digital flexor tendon. The best course of action is surgery, fortunate for Mango this Radial Spike had not yet caused any major damage.

Two days later Mango under went surgery file down this Radial Spike and debride the tendon. Dr Norrie Adams at The Marion Dupont Equine Medical Center performed the surgery and was pleased with the results and recommended 1 month stall rest and one month of turnout before returning to work. He had a bandage for 10 day which was one of the most challenging pars of this process, Without the help of Megan Snyder DVM of Damascus Equine I would not have been able to compete the task. Let just say I REALLY know how to do a knee wrap now.

Mango Back Home

After a month in the stall he could go in a small paddock, and he was such a good boy for his first turnout. He has now graduated to his full-sized turnout and has been given the OK to resume work, since Mango is also eligible for next year’s Makeover, I now have just three rides to decide if I should wait or if he will succeed in the shortened time frame. Stay tuned!!

April 24th Happy 4th Birthday Mango! You are such a special boy.